the server divide

I recently migrated my websites over to a VPS server. At first, I was impressed with the WebHost Manager (WHM) software, and the fact that I could create hosting accounts and packages whenever I needed to. Unfortunately, my migration has not come without a set of drawbacks. For one, the response time on the server appeared to be slightly slower than when I was on a shared account. I immediately contacted tech support, thinking that must be a mistake, or that I must be missing some sort of performance setting or tweak.

I received a response indicating that due to the architecture of VPS systems, they can be several seconds slower in delivering websites than their shared counterparts. Say what? So you're telling me that I'm now paying 3-4 times what I was paying before, for a slower webserver? What is this BS?

After doing a bit of searching, I ran across several forums and tech reports stating this to be true, many of which also disregarded the proposed "benefits" of a VPS account as being no more than an overpriced (and often overloaded) shared account. Feeling a bit disgusted (not to mention stupid for not doing my homework before I switched to VPS), I am left wondering where to go. On one hand, I certainly cannot afford dedicated hosting, but I need more account functionality (and unlimited domain hosting) that isn't usually included in typical shared hosting accounts. So for now, I guess that I need to just ride it out, until my sites are profitable enough (and busy enough) to warrant paying for a dedicated server.

It's a shame that there isn't some sort of in-between service that offers some of the benefits of dedicated hosting (like stability and speed), but with a price closer to that of VPS hosting. It's like there is a divide (of several hundreds of dollars a month) between VPS and the next level of web hosting (dedicated).

I looked into doing my own hosting, but quickly gave up on that idea when I saw what was involved. Even if you can get through the initial setup process, the maintenance, security, and configuration of a server in my home looks like a bit too much, even for me.