If you are truly looking for speed across the globe, then having your systems/site closer to the end-point (customer) will be the trick.

CDN is the answer – Akamai or Limelight. And since WordPress is the chosen technology, then the chose can be as easy as a plugin for Wprdpress with Limelight. The hosting platform you should consider then is Rackspace. And they are a passionate bunch.

As far as judgment of host quality the age old adage “You get what you pay for” is your best friend. The pricing structure of a company is the biggest indicator of personality, philosophy, and organizational structure.

I’ve always had the impression of mediatemple as taking a “make it easier for the user to do it himself” approach . You’ll often find the first reaction of support at mediatemplate is to direct you to the relevant wiki article.

This approach works well in the huge majority of instances but its important to realize that the hands on direct help and support structure is almost non-existent. You’ve to go through allot of bureaucracy and waiting before you’ll find someone to talk to and help walk you through something.

Slicehost takes a less wiki heavy approach and instead fosters a community of individuals willing and ready to help you. The forums at slicehost are a excellent resource for direct help from other slicehost users. Rather than have bunch of people to link you to a relevant wiki post they have a dedicated support staff who will either help you directly or help you find someone who can.

All hosts cut costs of course, but its how they cut costs that is most revealing.

So hosting ultimately remains a massive grey area and you’ll probably suffer downtime wherever you go. The biggest consideration in deciding who to go with though, is passionate & effective support imo.