yeah, free hosting is pretty much either junk filled with pop-up ads and banners, or just totally unreliable. They are ok for practicing web design or something but never host a site you care about on them.
I did find one free host however that has proven to be very reliable so far. They do charge a one time $11 .00 activation fee for new accounts but after that the hosting is free.
http://www.ms11.net