This review I about net4.in. The domain registering service of net4india This is the first time I am registering a domain with net4india. I found out that if you have ever thought of a great domain com for your company that is still available and you want to register it immediately, then do not even think of using net4.in to register the domain.
Many of us may think of some good domain or as an ad agency you might come up with a good domain for a great campaign. Then as soon as you decide you might want to book it. The reason for urgency is a blackmailing business that has started with domains and is reaching new heights. It is known as "domain grabbing" and/or "domain squatting". A domain squatter is slightly different from a domain grabber(also known as domain kiting).
A domain squatter thinks of good domains that people or companies would need in the future and book it and then literally "squat" on it. When the company with that name or someone who need a particular domain wants it these "squatters" offer it for sale. For example musafir.com was booked my one lucky person for this very purpose years ago. today when the travel and tourism business is booming, his domain was purchased for $24000. Shiskha.com was purchased for $22225.
Now domain squatting is not as bad as domain grabbing. Many on the net do not differentiate between the two. But I am doing it. A domain grabber grabs the domain after he comes to know that a company has decided to book it. They come to know this via espionage and spying. There is an entire industry that is involved in corporate spying. For example rival ad agencies may book a domain that was decided for the ad agencies client in order to force the client to switch over to them. Most of the time they either bug the boardroom or they have a spy working in there. Who then tells them or messages the domain to them and they try to book it before the other party. Now how does this apply to net4.in. This is how. When you book a domain in net4.in it is not booked instantly. Yes even after your credit card is been accepted and the transaction is successful, it still take 2-4 hours for registration. Now this happens because net4.in does not have a direct api with ICAAN. like other registrars. in other reputed registrars when you click the submit button after entering your payment details the domain is immediately booked. Their website has a direct link with the main registry (ICAAN) and it books that domain. After it is booked this domain is not available to anyone else. As you know there are many different registrars and all have access to any available domain. This is where net4.in falls behind. If you register a domain and then think it is yours you are mistaken. Anyone can book that domain for the the next 2-4 hours from any other registrar that has instant registration. The chances are that at least 90% of registrars have instant registration. Some of you who are individuals may feel that this does not apply to you. It may not apply if you are booking a personal domain. There may be no competition for you name and if it is, it will be purely co-incidental. (it happened with my name I thought of registering it but delayed for a day and someone booked, I hope you are not that unlucky). But if you are an organization then you have to be careful. The other aspect to this is that one thing is pretty obvious that net4.in is not technically sound. To have an instant registration facility you need to be able to design a bug free website that can "interact" with the international database and book it as and when it is needed. But net4.in is accepting a booking request via their website and then their staff is manually booking the domain through their interface with the "international database" (which all registrars have ). Net4.in is choosing the manual route when they can go automatic can be only due to one reason, they do not have the technical expertise or capacity to do so. Yes a website that can do instant registrations is very complicated and has to maintain the highest quality and security standards to work smoothly. I dont think net4.in has that capacity. So I suggest you always book with a registrar that offer instant registration like godaddy or enom to name the two leaders in the business. It am not telling you to avoid net4.in but to avoid any company that does not offer instant registration. As your domain is never booked as soon as you have finished the transaction. The worst is sify.com if you book a domain with them on friday after 6pm then it will be booked by them only on monday after 10am as saturday and sunday are holidays. I have to dedicated some time to write a review about sify too, or it wont be fair on my part.