Hosting Companies - How to Pick?

Method for picking hosting companies
I don't much like my hosting company. Sometimes they are nice to me and I feel differently but mostly, emails get answered with 1-2 word answers, they don't take calls regularly etc etc.

So, I want to switch hosting companies to one that has 24/7 staffing and telephone support and a great record of up time and support.
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Is there an objective / reliable way to check out a hosting company's statistics on uptime? On history and reputation?
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Can I check who is faster?

I found a site that lists who is bigger than who. Also, it has stats on domains won/loss accounts.
http://www.webhosting.info/webhosts/

I looked at the record of what my target accounts show to see any pattern. And I tried contacting some of the sites that left the hosting companies that I'm considering but this does not feel like a terribly productive exercise.

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My situation, I am currently on a shared windows server with alot of .Net programming and one sql database. My current vendor has had a series of crashes relating to connections between the db and site. His "fix" is to upsell me to dedicated server. I've decided instead to switch to a site with better support & track record...

I'm considering:http://www.ixwebhosting.com/ - based on my programmers recommendationhttp://www.layeredtech.com/ - based on a personal contact
www.sultanhosting.com/ - where I have a reseller account.
http://www.netfirms.com/ - where I have an account
http://www.godaddy.com/ - where I have an account.
http://www.verio.com - major & local
http://www.mindspring.com personal contact....
Any thoughts on the methodology for deciding?


http://forums.webhosting.info/showthread.php?p=22913#post22913 - I posted this question.
http://www.dnsstuff.com/pages/forums.htm - I posted this question.

I'll tell you what I learn....