Usenet provider recomendation?

[Airbander]

Hello

Looking for a Usenet provider and wanted to see what up to date list is based on users experience

Please advise

Thanks

[rsdno]

Bintube.com 10.99 month unlimited and has its own search engine and a very easy reader its a ll in the $10.99 price . But that doesnt mean you shouldnt try other NZB search engines but Bintube has 3 or 4 worth checking out ,been there many years ,if I can cancel this I will in a w e e k because I dont want over popularity I wish it was all like Firesharing talk

[vigor5000]

Frugalusenet is cheap and really fast but it has a 300 day retention so its good if you just want the latest stuff.Astraweb is also another good provider with good retention.

[Beck38]

The 'top tier' usenet server plants have retention back to what I call 'day one', which is when they all stopped rolling things off, which was around Aug08.

The problem generally remains, however, that virtually none of the indexing engines (or at least the main ones like Binsearch or NZBIndex) don't go back anywhere near that far (and don't think that any of these fly by night NewNab operations go back much further than a few months).

The only indexer run by a plant that actually does is Giganews, and you have to get a plan that gives you the capability to 'go back' that far (they currently have it at 2367 days which works out to Sept. 21 '08). But the minimum is fairly cheap at $10/month or so (but has only 10GB to transfer), so if you used that to 'hunt' then another, cheaper 'unlimited' account at a decent (super-high retention) server, that's a way to go.

[Airbander]

The 'top tier' usenet server plants have retention back to what I call 'day one', which is when they all stopped rolling things off, which was around Aug08.

The problem generally remains, however, that virtually none of the indexing engines (or at least the main ones like Binsearch or NZBIndex) don't go back anywhere near that far (and don't think that any of these fly by night NewNab operations go back much further than a few months).

The only indexer run by a plant that actually does is Giganews, and you have to get a plan that gives you the capability to 'go back' that far (they currently have it at 2367 days which works out to Sept. 21 '08). But the minimum is fairly cheap at $10/month or so (but has only 10GB to transfer), so if you used that to 'hunt' then another, cheaper 'unlimited' account at a decent (super-high retention) server, that's a way to go.

You give best answer anyone could hope for so no matter who we get bottom line is index site and retention basically so the files can be still on servers but if the source to file is removed then no way to get that file basically and if most provider even when they say their retention is XXX date that means nothing as retention will be 300 days or so unless someone get Giganews service.

Thanks in advance

[jetpackgorilla]

+1 on frugalusenet

[Beck38]

that means nothing as retention will be 300 days or so unless someone get Giganews service.

There are lots of plants out there with 08 retention (2300+ days), Astra/Blocknews/UNS come immediately to mind (and UNS is supposed to have a 'new and improved' search engine as well, and is now bundling a VPN service so they are trying to be 'Giga-like' at a cheaper price point). The only potential drawback I see with them is that they only allow 10 connections (but do have an $ option to add 10 more), but I haven't used them in quite a while so I don't know if their ports are faster than other providers (most others allow at least 20 if not 50 which is maybe why Giganews/50 is a bit steep).

Anyway, a lot may depend on the the route between yourself and their plant (which is located on the 'telecom row' in eastern Virginia outside of DC, and no, they don't have a Euro plant). So if you're on the U.S. west coast, dragging the bits across the continent (or across the pond if you're in Europe) is possibly a killer.

Add to that it's a 'Highwinds' owned operation, which you may have a religious objection to.

Anyway, like many others I've used Blocknews as a 'fills' server for many many years, and despite their record of running off the rails pretty consistently, Astraweb (both them and Giganews though are 'right down the road' from me internet routing wise so the speeds and connections are generally pretty solid).

So a lot has to do with how good the connection is (speed or consistency wise) with price added in. It's all a mix of what works for you with what you're trying to get.

[shaina]

that means nothing as retention will be 300 days or so unless someone get Giganews service.

There are lots of plants out there with 08 retention (2300+ days), Astra/Blocknews/UNS come immediately to mind (and UNS is supposed to have a 'new and improved' search engine as well, and is now bundling a VPN service so they are trying to be 'Giga-like' at a cheaper price point). The only potential drawback I see with them is that they only allow 10 connections (but do have an $ option to add 10 more), but I haven't used them in quite a while so I don't know if their ports are faster than other providers (most others allow at least 20 if not 50 which is maybe why Giganews/50 is a bit steep).

Anyway, a lot may depend on the the route between yourself and their plant (which is located on the 'telecom row' in eastern Virginia outside of DC, and no, they don't have a Euro plant). So if you're on the U.S. west coast, dragging the bits across the continent (or across the pond if you're in Europe) is possibly a killer.

Add to that it's a 'Highwinds' owned operation, which you may have a religious objection to.

Anyway, like many others I've used Blocknews as a 'fills' server for many many years, and despite their record of running off the rails pretty consistently, Astraweb (both them and Giganews though are 'right down the road' from me internet routing wise so the speeds and connections are generally pretty solid).

So a lot has to do with how good the connection is (speed or consistency wise) with price added in. It's all a mix of what works for you with what you're trying to get.

I would add that speed isn't everything. Quality of retention is a plus for me. Even if you loose a few minutes of time on the download at least all of the parts are there, and you don't have to look around for fills.

[Beck38]

I would add that speed isn't everything. Quality of retention is a plus for me. Even if you loose a few minutes of time on the download at least all of the parts are there, and you don't have to look around for fills.

Which is why lots of folks use 'block' accounts from Blocknews as a 'fills' (superb retention and completion), and nibble away at it as needed set up as such in their newsreader or downloader, I have an old 100GB chunk I've been nibbling away at for several years (with Astra as the unlimited 'main') that's still got about 50GB left in it.