In reply to Darren.

That's not true across the board of all shard hosting. There are outliers, and not all are the same. Better does tend to cost more though.

I think the unrealistic expectations came from the way the hosting industry began and has generally been marketed by the oldest, biggest players. Plus most people have no understanding what is involved in hosting and what is different between hosts or types of hosting. Value-focused "premium" hosting is relatively new for the mass market.