Many shared hosting servers just don’t have the module enabled on the server, so if the module isn’t enabled, the plugin can’t use it even if you tell it to.
I’ve dealt with 1&1 support, and either they’re all totally clueless or their service is absolute garbage. They just don’t allow for hardly any options or configuration. I think their basic package limits you to something like 32MB of memory on the server. Either way, I’d recommend moving to a different web host. A lot of people like BlueHost (they’re one of the recommended hosts) but I’ve been using Hostgator for a while and I’ve got no complaints.
Bluehost’s tech support is pretty knowledgable, but they don’t allow gzip either. They use a version that is kind of like it. They use mod_deflate. Your speed tests would still show gzip is not enabled, but mod_deflate does help.
ah yes, same goes for HostGator – no mod_gzip, but you can use mod_deflate. I’ve actually seen some people say mod_deflate is better than mod_gzip anyway, because mod_gzip adds more of a load to the server than mod_deflate. (both do gzip compression)
1and1 doesn’t have mod_deflate or mod_gzip enabled on its home or business shared server packages which means that many of the usual .htaccess tweaks to compress your web pages won’t work.
I’m not sure what changed exactly, but about an hour after I called support, it started working properly. The only thing I might have changed during that time was to use basic disk cache instead of enhanced. Hate to be vague, but I tried the same settings on another 1and1 site I maintain and it worked properly out of the gate. Go figure. Great plugin. Thanks all for the tips.
