New hosting on the way - Possible down time

[casper]

Over the Christmas break I'm hoping to purchase some new web hosting. The package I currently have is up for renewal on the 2 January and to be honest it's more expensive than I need so have my eye on a cheaper solution.
If the purchase goes ahead there will be some downtime. Timeline of events is:
Purchase new hosting
backup and migrate site to new hosting
Point site's DNS to the new hosting
Cancel old hosting.
I'm hoping that the downtime is minimal but will update you closer to the time.

[Sneaky_Nikon]

Would crowdfunding help?

[breney]

Would crowdfunding help?

Forum members in the past have donated towards the running costs of the site. But regardless, sitting on hosting that is more expensive than needed isn't benefitting anyone, so switching to a better deal is a good move

[Causeway74]

tsohost is pretty good if your needing recommendations.

[casper]

Thanks guys. The issue isn't the hosting, just what I'm paying for. Like all companies my hosting company don't tell you that you're on an old plan and that there are cheaper alternatives available - i.e. more or less the same benefits but less price. Only came across this when I popped on to their online chat facility and asked. Will work out around £40 - £50 less per year.

So have to purchase the new hosting first, move the site over, then cancel the old hosting.
Will mean I'll have to put the site in to maintenance mode so no new posts can be made - backup and migration should only take a few hours. The big downtime is the time it takes for the new DNS to kick in, this can take up to 24 hours.

I'm probably looking at somewhere between Boxing Day and the 31st - old hosting is due for renewal of the 2nd January so have to get it cancelled before then.
I'll hopefully be able to give plenty of notice.