Can I change the domain associated with my hosting if they're both with 123-reg.co.uk?

Question

I've recently been trying to set up a website for the first time for an academic project.

We bought 4 domains from 123-reg.co.uk:

• primarydomain.com
• secondarydomain1.com
• secondarydomain2.com
• secondarydomain3.com

I want all secondary domains to point to the primary domain, which should be easy enough using 301 redirects.

We also bought a hosting package at the same time with 123-reg (which appears to have been an unwise choice, based on opinions I've read recently about keeping host and domain provider separate). Unfortunately, this hosting package is erroneously linked to secondarydomain1.com, not to primarydomain.com.

I figured that this shouldn't be a problem and that I could just change the domain associated with the hosting. Wrong!

Domain names associated with a 123-reg hosting package can not be changed once the hosting package has been purchased. If you require another domain name to be hosted, you will need to purchase a new hosting package for the appropriate domain name. (From 123-reg Support)

Then I thought that I could just change the A records (@ and www) for primarydomain.com to point to the IP address of the hosting package (xx.xx.xx.100), while changing the A records of secondarydomain1.com to match those of the other secondary domains (xx.xx.xx.200).

Now, I've only changed the A records yesterday, so it may be within the acceptable timeframe for the changes to propagate. I'm unsure, though, since 123-reg specifically states that once a hosting package is purchased, you can't change the associated domain. If all else fails and I really can't change the associated domain, I can always buy cheap webspace elsewhere (any recommendations, by the way?) and point primarydomain.com there, but before I spend more money, I want to be sure that I can't rectify the situation.

If anyone has had experience with combined hosting + domain registration with 123-reg, I'd be very grateful for any input.

Thanks,

Daniel

Answer 1

I work on behalf of 123-reg.

Just to let you know 123-reg are currently developing a new feature domain mapping which will be available as part of our hosting packages.

The domain mapping feature will allow you to map any domain to your package and then point the A record to the relevant IP address.

Whilst currently there is no official launch date for this feature to be introduced it is hoped that this will be available within the 123-reg control panel within the next month or so.

I would also like to thank you for your feedback , we are actively monitoring all customer feedback so we can improve our systems and services that we offer to customers.

Regards,

Ricky