Supernews or Astraweb

[jordash]

I'm new to the newsgroup scene but been using torrents and rapidshare for years. For the past three months Ive been using my isp and its capped to 512 kbps with 4 connects. We live in a instant gratification day in age. So like most of us when u see something u want it sooner than later.
So doing some research Ive narrowed it down to Supernews and Astraweb(cost to performance based). If anyone could share with me there past experience with the company's it would be very appreciated.

[c0ld]

Supernews = giganews = more mpa takedowns than astraweb.

[jordash]

I guess my next question is do more connections really mean faster dl speeds? Im running a 7mps connection.

So i went with supernews. Thanks for the recommendation c0ld. I was instantly impressed with the speeds im getting. Newsgroups for now on for this guy.

[ericab]

I guess my next question is do more connections really mean faster dl speeds? Im running a 7mps connection.

So i went with supernews. Thanks for the recommendation c0ld. I was instantly impressed with the speeds im getting. Newsgroups for now on for this guy.



:stupid:

ahahaahaha

c0ld's point was, you should go with astraweb NOT supernews.

as for connections please see this;

http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=1885

[c0ld]

I guess my next question is do more connections really mean faster dl speeds? Im running a 7mps connection.
I had an argument with the shills from giganews over on slyck once, after their 'huge' announcement of upgrading to 50 connections. For most people, anything over 10 is overkill. The more threads you have, the more CPU and hard-disk resources you are going to consume to download the same articles. There are very few points on a network that more connections will lead to a higher prioty for your traffic either, because most of the bottlenecks occur when your connection is inside an L2TP tunnel. The only benefit of more connections come when you live in some distant part of a 3rd world country, ie where the number of hops between you and the server is high and the routers on those hops as less than stellar quality.


So i went with supernews. Thanks for the recommendation c0ld. I was instantly impressed with the speeds im getting. Newsgroups for now on for this guy.Oops? Supernews isn't too bad though, it's an easy second imo.

[whiteboy]

So supernews gets stuff taken off but Astraweb doesnt??? I got into supernews this month and I've been very impressed.

Is there any info to back up this statement about takedowns. I thought content was the same for all providers as long as you had binary access.

[c0ld]

Is there any info to back up this statement about takedowns. not really, just the occasional comment here and there from ppl on giganews who get 'article not found' errors.

[topicaltapioca]

As said, number of connections, 20 is more than enough. I've used 100Mbit connections that maxed out at 12 connections with Astraweb. I switched from Giganews and have been very happy with them since. The cable connection I use now I use 3 US and 3 Euro SSL connections and I max my connection 100% of the the time.

[whiteboy]

So supernews is the same as giganews??

[Rart]

Yep.

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/-critical-path-sells-supernews-business-/2008/03/12/3324109.htm

[whiteboy]

Ah I see, thanks for that. I have been extremely happy with supernews. Havent found any files that have been removed so far.

[iLOVENZB]

Ah I see, thanks for that. I have been extremely happy with supernews. Havent found any files that have been removed so far.

Hardly any providers remove files, I think the last time a server removed something was when the X-Men Origins: Wolverine WORKPRINT was leaked.

I'm not sure about the new coming providers, but the well established providers don't :).

[dette]

I have Supernews as well. I am perfectly happy with there service :D I use 29 out of the 30 connections because that is what they recommended I do, even though that probably is overkill I still max out usually. :D

[ericab]

I have Supernews as well. I am perfectly happy with there service :D I use 29 out of the 30 connections because that is what they recommended I do, even though that probably is overkill I still max out usually. :D


please refer to

http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=1885

[whiteboy]

I use 10 on my crappy 3mb dsl line and it seems to be fine. Max speed pretty much all the time. (supernews)

[best]

i'm using Astraweb now as they have $11/month unlimited thing..

never had any problems so far.

[unoriginal]

I use 6 connections to Astraweb and max out my 6meg dsl at 625K/sec consistently when downloading. You really shouldn't need 29 connections to max out anything short of a Fios connection.

[dette]

I am now using 10 connections on my Hackintosh Box and I seem to be maxing out fine

[topicaltapioca]

I have the 96/yr Astraweb plan. #2 in retention at a third world price. 11/month is just fine too. Used it in US, SE and AU and it's worked flawlessly, even with a 100Mbit connection.

[dette]

I have the 96/yr Astraweb plan. #2 in retention at a third world price. 11/month is just fine too. Used it in US, SE and AU and it's worked flawlessly, even with a 100Mbit connection.

Damn nice. Astraweb is where I would go if I wanted to switch :)

[iLOVENZB]

I have the 96/yr Astraweb plan. #2 in retention at a third world price. 11/month is just fine too. Used it in US, SE and AU and it's worked flawlessly, even with a 100Mbit connection.

What speeds did you have in AU and how many connections did you use?

[zot]

It seems that Giganews Inc. has chosen to hold the retention of Supernews to 350 days (vs. Astraweb's 480+), even though they're currently spooling up the servers, and Giganews own retention, like Astraweb's and Highwinds, increases every day. Powerusenet, another Giganews-owned reseller (if that's not an incorrect term) had its retention jump in spurts: from 125 days, to 200, to the current 400. The question is will Supernews still be at 350 when Astraweb and Giganews are pushing 700?

[whiteboy]

It seems that Giganews Inc. has chosen to hold the retention of Supernews to 350 days (vs. Astraweb's 480+), even though they're currently spooling up the servers, and Giganews own retention, like Astraweb's and Highwinds, increases every day. Powerusenet, another Giganews-owned reseller (if that's not an incorrect term) had its retention jump in spurts: from 125 days, to 200, to the current 400. The question is will Supernews still be at 350 when Astraweb and Giganews are pushing 700?
hMM THATS TRUE, iM HAPPY WITH SUPERNEWS BUT THIS MIGHT MAKE ME JUMP TO ASTRAWEB. (stupid caps)

[c0ld]

hMM THATS TRUE, iM HAPPY WITH SUPERNEWS BUT THIS MIGHT MAKE ME JUMP TO ASTRAWEB. (stupid caps)

There is a button on your keyboard that looks like an arrow pointing left. It is often accompanied by text reading 'Backspace'. It is very useful.

[whiteboy]

hMM THATS TRUE, iM HAPPY WITH SUPERNEWS BUT THIS MIGHT MAKE ME JUMP TO ASTRAWEB. (stupid caps)

There is a button on your keyboard that looks like an arrow pointing left. It is often accompanied by text reading 'Backspace'. It is very useful.
If I cared that much to take the time I would have. Hopefully my post in caps didn't ruin your day too much.

[sefar]

i am useing Astraweb i am likeing it already:w00t::w00t:

[dette]

It seems that Giganews Inc. has chosen to hold the retention of Supernews to 350 days (vs. Astraweb's 480+), even though they're currently spooling up the servers, and Giganews own retention, like Astraweb's and Highwinds, increases every day. Powerusenet, another Giganews-owned reseller (if that's not an incorrect term) had its retention jump in spurts: from 125 days, to 200, to the current 400. The question is will Supernews still be at 350 when Astraweb and Giganews are pushing 700?

This is a very, very good point which I have already thought of. I will be jumping to Astraweb if Supernews retention doesnt change. Or mayber UseNetServer because they also have a $10 deal

[ericab]

youd be better off with astraweb.

[TrollinThunder]

I have tried both and they are both good enough for me.

I went with Astraweb $96/year plan recently because it's just easier to take care of it in one shot.

The only drawback is that I've seen some slower speeds during high peak times due to the popularity of AW. But I don't monitor that closely so maybe it was a freak thing.

[SonsOfLiberty]

It could be you ISP doing that and not Astra, I rarely if ever see any gigantic speed drops, if I do, I un-plug modem/router for a few minutes and back to normal, it seems I have to do this about every 2 weeks or so....

[whiteboy]

Im using supernews but the sheer fact that astraweb has almost 100 days more retention is making me think I should cancel supernews before they bill me again.

Is there any real reason not too? I only get 350kb/s downloads so Im assuming they can max that out all the time.

[dette]

Im using supernews but the sheer fact that astraweb has almost 100 days more retention is making me think I should cancel supernews before they bill me again.

Is there any real reason not too? I only get 350kb/s downloads so Im assuming they can max that out all the time.

Hmmm.. Thats what I am thinking too :/ I want more retention

[whiteboy]

Threads like this dont help though.
http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/f-general-newsgroups-79/t-slow-and-inconsistent-speeds-astraweb-383090

(http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/f-general-newsgroups-79/t-slow-and-inconsistent-speeds-astraweb-383090)They seem to be having issues I'll probably wait another month to see if they can fix things.
(http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/f-general-newsgroups-79/t-slow-and-inconsistent-speeds-astraweb-383090)

[akademiks]

I've found that many older NZB's are incomplete on Astraweb.. I've downloaded tons of HD movies and many are missing 5-10 rars that I have to try and find other places because they're not available on any Astraweb server and I don't have enough blocks to repair, even though they say it's 470 day retention and 99% complete..

I've actually gotten fed up and I bought a megaupload account to go along with my Astra sub.. Anything older than 150-200 days I just get with MU to avoid incompletes.

[dette]

Threads like this dont help though.
http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/f-general-newsgroups-79/t-slow-and-inconsistent-speeds-astraweb-383090

(http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/f-general-newsgroups-79/t-slow-and-inconsistent-speeds-astraweb-383090)They seem to be having issues I'll probably wait another month to see if they can fix things.
(http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/f-general-newsgroups-79/t-slow-and-inconsistent-speeds-astraweb-383090)

Same here. Thats very unfortunate. I just paid for this month on Supernews so I will wait that out anyways

[whiteboy]

Threads like this dont help though.
http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/f-general-newsgroups-79/t-slow-and-inconsistent-speeds-astraweb-383090

(http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/f-general-newsgroups-79/t-slow-and-inconsistent-speeds-astraweb-383090)They seem to be having issues I'll probably wait another month to see if they can fix things.
(http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/f-general-newsgroups-79/t-slow-and-inconsistent-speeds-astraweb-383090)

Same here. Thats very unfortunate. I just paid for this month on Supernews so I will wait that out anyways
Im very happy with supernews so I guess if it aint broke dont fix it.

[ericab]

enjoy then :)

[dette]

Same here. Thats very unfortunate. I just paid for this month on Supernews so I will wait that out anyways
Im very happy with supernews so I guess if it aint broke dont fix it.

Good point you have here :)

[SonsOfLiberty]

Well to be honest, you missing 150 days of content staying with Supernews....I've been finding myself downloading old TV shows I cannot find at the rental stores here (we have like 15 in the general are if not more :lol:) and most are at 400-450 days and work great :)

[whiteboy]

Well to be honest, you missing 150 days of content staying with Supernews....I've been finding myself downloading old TV shows I cannot find at the rental stores here (we have like 15 in the general are if not more :lol:) and most are at 400-450 days and work great :)
Yah I agree with you there. I just keep reading about the issues they are having. I never really find anything that is older then 350 days. But I'd rather have that retention.

I still have a few days to cancel super I might go for it. Has astra been going good lately? Are you getting full speeds always? (I'm in the US)

[zot]

I never really find anything that is older then 350 days. But I'd rather have that retention.

I still have a few days to cancel super I might go for it. Has astra been going good lately? Are you getting full speeds always? (I'm in the US)

Slow speed is usually due to a routing problem between you and the server. Astraweb and many other providers can re-route your connection if needed. For most people, speed is really not a major issue, as most any usenet provider will normally max out your internet pipe. Even using an overseas server should nearly max you out, but it just takes more connections the longer the distance.

For me, retention has always been more important than completion. It's rare that pars can't take care of any incompletes, and in case pars are not enough, I keep an extra block account as a 2nd fill-server. The last major downloading project I did was a TV series that went right to the very edge of server retention (and the missing/incomplete episodes of the first few weeks I had to get on BitTorrent).

Astraweb and Usenetserver(Highwinds) have improved a lot in the last few years, while it seems Giganews has got comparatively worse, so there's not nearly as much difference between them as there used to be. If any. Except that the price gap remains.

[whiteboy]

Cool, I think I'll give astraweb a try then. THanks for the feedback. Im sure any news service can max out my crappy dsl connection.

**EDIT** Done, leeching now on astra, so far so good!!

[technovert]

Astraweb at $96/year it was a no-brainer

[0990pollp]

As said, number of connections, 20 is more than enough. I've used 100Mbit connections that maxed out at 12 connections with Astraweb. I switched from Giganews and have been very happy with them since. The cable connection I use now I use 3 US and 3 Euro SSL connections and I max my connection 100% of the the time.

1. hmmm interesting, I only used one SSL server from Astraweb, but I think connecting to all SSL servers on Astraweb gives better speed when there is alot of ppl online(slower speeds)?

2. Is it possible to download same file simultaneously from all servers at same time or does it have to be differend files?

3. is there any difference between SSL EU and the normal SSL for astraweb, I only see 3 SSL in the 12usd/mo plan?

[captive]

astraweb, £6 pm, cant go wrong at that price for unltd ssl.

[omgwtfbbq]

Astraweb at $96/year it was a no-brainer

I'm on the same deal. Will definitely stick with it unless something really dramatic changes.

[apvm]

Anyone can confirm supernews retention? I was told they are about the same with Astraweb altho they didn't advertise more than 350 days.

[unoriginal]

Supernews isnt the only Giganews reseller that limits their retention to less than what GN themselves offer. Powerusenet and Usenet.net both offer about 400 days while GN is now above 500 for their own customers.

[zot]

Anyone can confirm supernews retention? I was told they are about the same with Astraweb altho they didn't advertise more than 350 days.

If Supernews is giving the same 500+ days retention of Giganews - and not limiting it to the stated 350 days - then that would certainly seem to be the best deal going. Anyone with Supernews who can test this?

[dette]

Anyone can confirm supernews retention? I was told they are about the same with Astraweb altho they didn't advertise more than 350 days.

If Supernews is giving the same 500+ days retention of Giganews - and not limiting it to the stated 350 days - then that would certainly seem to be the best deal going. Anyone with Supernews who can test this?

I have Supernews and its 350 days retention :(

[apvm]

Thanks, I think I'll go usenetnow

[DasFox]

I've used Newshosting.com for a few years now and been great, but at $14.95 I'm thinking I'd like to save a few dollars so when I saw the $9.99 banner up top for Supernews that caught my eye.

Personally I've been downloading mainly movies and TV shows, so haven't had to many that are old retention, so 350 days should be good for me...

But still thinking...

[unoriginal]

With Newshosting you are buying from a Highwinds reseller. You could go with Usenetserver, also Highwinds, and get 500 days for $10/mo: https://accounts.usenetserver.com/special/

Only downside is no EU server farm with this account.

[dette]

I've used Newshosting.com for a few years now and been great, but at $14.95 I'm thinking I'd like to save a few dollars so when I saw the $9.99 banner up top for Supernews that caught my eye.

Personally I've been downloading mainly movies and TV shows, so haven't had to many that are old retention, so 350 days should be good for me...

But still thinking...

I am with supernews because usenetserver wouldnt take my debit card haha and it didnt do paypal. but yes I like supernews its fine.. the retention could definitely be better but for 10 a month.. whatever in my opinion. i can torrent something if I need it from more then a year ago and its not on usenet

[Trottel]

Signed 1 year for 96$. Never have problems with my 50 and 100 Mbit connections. Support is also very quick and helpfull.

[n07]

i switched from hitnews to supernews a few months ago and i cant fault them

[dette]

i switched from hitnews to supernews a few months ago and i cant fault them

except for the retention :/

[n07]

i switched from hitnews to supernews a few months ago and i cant fault them

except for the retention :/

supernews beats hitnews by 150 days

[ericab]

except for the retention :/

supernews beats hitnews by 150 days


yeah wtf are you talking about..... "except for the retention" .... :ermm:

[Rart]

He could've just been talking about supernews in general, which is significantly less than astraweb and GN.

[SonsOfLiberty]

All these smaller places there talking about anyway are all owned by 1 of the big 3 or 4 Usenet providers anyway, there all the same, they offer you less retention then what the main competitors offer, and give you a cheaper price...granted if you just get new content, well those will do, but as for most users, when the new "good" content runs out you hunt for other stuff and other stuff it always seems like is in the 300-450 day old bracket for me....I'm fine spending $39 every moth for Astraweb, I've not had one problem ever, well besides the maintence things and when those cables got cut, but other than that it's been rock steady for almost a year now.

[whiteboy]

39 every month???

[SonsOfLiberty]

Every 3 months...

I just pay the extra $6 (every 3 months on the $11 plan = $33), I not a man of money and I like stuff payed in advance, only way I can do it :) I would save $6 by going monthly, but I like up front payed off for x amount of months.

[whiteboy]

Ah I see that makes sense now.