Fast Hive reseller hosting is built to stay invisible: your clients should see your brand in the nameservers, in cPanel, on the invoice and in every email - and never see ours. Private nameservers are one half of that; this guide covers the other half, and lists every place your provider's identity can leak if you do not check it.
- Nameservers on their domain
- The cPanel login page and interface branding
- The hostname they use to reach cPanel and webmail
- Welcome and system emails
- Invoices and billing
- Support links inside cPanel
1. Private nameservers
The most visible one. Clients set ns1.yourbrand.com and ns2.yourbrand.com on their domains rather than ours. This requires glue records at your registrar plus configuration in WHM - the dedicated private nameservers article covers the whole process.
Do this first. Everything else is cosmetic by comparison.
2. Brand the cPanel interface
In WHM, look under cPanel for the customisation and branding options. Depending on your WHM version these appear as Customization or a similarly named interface. You can typically set:
- Your logo, shown in place of the cPanel logo.
- A favicon for the browser tab.
- Your support links - documentation and help pointing at your own knowledgebase and ticket system rather than the defaults.
- Your company name and web address in the interface.
3. Give clients a hostname on your domain
If clients reach cPanel at a hostname that is obviously not yours, the branding work is undone at the login screen. Point a subdomain of your own brand - for example cpanel.yourbrand.com or server.yourbrand.com - at the server, and tell clients to use that.
Once the domain resolves to the server and a certificate covers it, they can log in at https://cpanel.yourbrand.com:2083 with no mention of anyone else. Ask Technical Support to confirm the certificate side is set up correctly for that hostname.
Your clients can also use https://theirdomain.com/cpanel and https://theirdomain.com/webmail, which is entirely neutral and worth putting in your welcome email.
4. Rewrite the welcome and system emails
The default new-account email is where provider details most often leak. Rewrite it so it contains:
- Your company name, logo and web address.
- Your support contact route - not ours.
- The cPanel login URL on your own hostname.
- Your nameservers.
- Nothing that names your upstream provider.
If you use WHMCS, these templates live under System Settings → Email Templates. If you create accounts directly in WHM, review the account creation email content there.
5. Bill under your own name
Your reseller plan includes a free WHMCS licence. Configure it so that:
- Invoices carry your company name, address and logo.
- The client area runs on your own domain, for example
billing.yourbrand.com. - Payments go to your own gateway account.
- Outgoing mail is sent from your domain, with SPF, DKIM and DMARC published so it reaches inboxes.
6. Audit it from the client's side
The only reliable test is to become your own client.
- Create a real test account on a spare domain you control.
- Read the welcome email exactly as it arrives - every line, including the footer.
- Log in to cPanel from that email's link. Check the logo, the page title, the browser tab and the help links.
- Click a support link and see where it takes you.
- Open webmail and check its branding.
- Look at the domain's nameservers as a client would.
- Run through your billing flow and look at an invoice.
Anything that names another company is a leak. Fix it, then repeat the test.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause and fix |
|---|---|
| Client asks who really hosts their site | Something leaked. Run the audit above - it is usually the welcome email or a support link. |
| Branding changes do not appear | cPanel caches interface assets. Clear your browser cache and check in a private window before assuming it failed. |
| Certificate warning on your branded cPanel hostname | No certificate covers that hostname yet. Confirm it resolves to the server, then open a ticket with Technical Support. |
| Welcome emails land in clients' spam folders | Your sending domain is not authenticated. Publish SPF, DKIM and DMARC for the domain WHMCS sends from. |
| Clients using our nameservers, not yours | The defaults were never changed. Update them in WHM and in WHMCS, and migrate existing clients in small batches. |
| A client received an email from an unexpected sender | A system notification is still using default content. Review every email template, not just the welcome one. |
Frequently asked questions
Do my clients ever see Fast Hive?
Not if you complete the six steps above. Staying invisible is the design intent of the reseller product - not in the nameservers, not in cPanel, not on the bill.
Can I remove cPanel's own branding entirely?
You can apply your logo, links and colours. cPanel remains identifiable as cPanel, which is both a licensing requirement and completely normal to clients.
Do I need my own SSL certificate for a branded hostname?
Yes, that hostname needs to be covered so clients do not meet a warning at login. Ask support to confirm it is in place.
Can clients open tickets with Fast Hive directly?
No. You are their provider, so client-facing support is yours. Our engineers support you at server level, 24/7.
What happens if I move to another provider later?
With private nameservers, you update the glue records to the new IPs and your clients never touch their domains. That portability is a large part of why private nameservers are worth setting up early.
Is the free WHMCS licence tied to my reseller plan?
It is included with the reseller plan. Ask Sales & Solutions about the terms if you are planning around it.
