The Net Now - Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions - Domains

Q. What is a domain name?

A. Like postal codes are used for street names, computers connected to the Internet have unique numerical addresses so that electronic information is delivered to the correct computer. The Domain Name System (DNS) translates the numerical addresses of computers into more user-friendly names. The resulting Domain Names are easy to remember and help people to find information on the Internet.

Domain Names form part of web site addresses (technically known as URLs - Unique Resource Locators), for example http://thenetnow.com or www.thenetnow.com, and they are often used in advertising to point people to information about an organization.

Domain Names are also used in e-mail addresses, for example, joe@mydomain.com, that allows people to send and receive electronic messages.

Q. Why Register a domain?

A. The domain name is a name you have chosen for customers to easily find your business online. The first part is usually a derivative of your company name (i.e. thenetnow) and the second is a standard extension such as .com, .net or .org or .ca depending on where you register your name and the nature of your business.

There are many reasons why a business or individual would register a domain.

Easier to remember, shorter, recognizable.
Conveys more professional image.
Fully portable no matter who offers you web hosting.
More hosting features available when you have a domain.
Better ranking in search engines.
Advertise yourself, not your hosting company .

With your own domain name, your website address would look something like: http://mycompany.com

The Net Now is an authorized registration service provider of OpenSRS (Tucows), an ICANN accredited company. As such, we can reserve domains on behalf of individuals and businesses wishing to use domains ending with the following extensions .com, .net, .org, .ca, .info, .biz, .us.

Don't take the chance that the domain name you want will be registered by someone else tomorrow!

Q. What are the costs?

A. We offer all domains at the same cost regardless of extension.
1 year: CAD $25.00
2, 3 or 4 years: CAD $22.50 per year
5 or more years: CAD $20.00 per year

You are able to register for between 1 and 10 years periods.

The Net Now will assist and consult with you regarding your selection of domain name and process your registration. You may register your domain with any other registrar if you prefer, however, if you register it elsewhere, you will need to modify the domain records with our nameserver information and it can take 1-2 days for these changes to propagate the internet and for your site to start to resolve on our servers.

Q. Who 'owns' my domain name?

A. As the registrant, you will always retain the sole right to make changes to your domain name. At all times, you are in control of your domain name. You will be listed as both Administrative and Billing Contact on the registration and we will be listed as the Technical Contact only. We hope you will choose us for your web hosting company. However, you are not obligated in any way, and may choose whoever you like for your web hosting. If you have questions before forwarding your domain registration, please let us know and we can assist you. Should you eventually choose to host your site elsewhere, you can simply use the online domain change forms to switch your domain elsewhere.

Q. Do I have to host with The Net Now?

A. If you are not yet ready to proceed with a website, but would like to register a domain for future use on our servers or anywhere else, we will "park" your domain for free until you are ready to use your site. You will only be required to pay for your domain registration. You will not have access to a website or email until you notify us you are ready to use your domain and pay setup fees and hosting. Please note, we do not offer domain name redirection or email with a parked domain.

If you simply want to take advantage of our low domain registration fees, but are hosting elsewhere, you will be able to change the technical and nameserver information after you have reserved and paid for the domain name. The domain registration is NOT live....we must approve your domain first. However, once it is registered, you are able to transfer it as you require.

Q. What are the residency requirements for .US and .CA domains?

For .CA domains, please see the requirements here.
For .US domains, please see the requirements here.

Q. How can I check if my domain is taken?

A. Click here to find out if your .com, .org or .net domain is available or to find out more information on a particular domain, you can visit the WHOIS site. If the domain is registered through another registrar, you will need to go to their website to perform WHOIS searches. The website for the other registrar will be listed in the search results.

Q. How long does the process take?

A. To reserve your domain name only takes a few minutes of your time. Just fill out our simple-to-use online forms. Once you submit the forms and payment for your domain name, we will review your request and if there are no errors, the domain will appear on the WHOIS database by the following day. If you have also signed up for hosting, you should be able to put your site up within 24 hours. Please note the delay for viewing your new domain occurs because the root registries must update and then ISP's all over the world must update their records. Often this is only done once per day.

Q. What methods of payment do you accept for domain reservations?

A. We prefer to have payment for domain registrations made using credit cards. We currently accept VISA and MasterCard. If you cannot make payment by credit card, please contact us to arrange other payment options.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Do NOT register a domain unless you are sure you have the name you want. ALL information on the registration can be modified later, but the NAME can not be changed.