[Stryker]

I had the same problem recently. My host refused to give me SSH access and wouldn't dump the database for me through sheer laziness. In the end I dumped it using the built-in vB backup tool in the control panel. I cleared the search index first and this cut the size of the DB in half. I managed to download a 25 meg-ish DB in one continuous stream using a 56k modem, so it can be done! phpMyAdmin was absolutely useless - it would timeout without fail long before the dump was complete. The host I moved to supports SSH so that stage of the process was made much simpler. In any case, if they hadn't offered SSH to their clients I'm sure they would have helped me out if I'd asked. Customer service is everything when you're looking for a host.