What's so bad about Highwinds?

[Cabalo]

I've seen a lot of people badmouthing their service, and I'm curious to know what are the major recurrent issues they present to their users.

A couple of days ago I signed with thundernews, which IIRC is a highwinds reseller, and so far I haven't any complaints.

So, spit it all out.

[hdjunky]

They suck. Newsdemon which owns thundernews tends to cap people when they hit a certain amount of gbs downloaded. Completion blows on old stuff. They are cocky pricks of a company too.

[Radon0r]

I signed up with Thundernews as well and I like it so far. However, ages ago I was with Newshosting, and when they merged with Highwinds the service quality did take a hit iirc. It was a long time ago so I'm hoping they have their act together now. I think the people complaining about Highwinds have gripes from the past rather than gripes about their current service, but I could be wrong.

About the download caps...I don't think I download enough to hit any caps. I would be very upset it I did hit some hidden cap and started to have my connection throttled. So I hope that isn't the case.

[Cabalo]

What caps are we talking about? Around 300Gb ?

[hdjunky]

What caps are we talking about? Around 300Gb ?

I think people have said like 200 - 300 GB with newsdemon and considering they own thundernews it is prolly the same. I wonder if it is way lower though on the 5 buck plan. Someone with the accunt and a fast line should do a test. Run up 500 gigs or even a TB as a test and see what happens.

Also some people say cmpletion on the old stuff sucks really bad.

[tesco]

What caps are we talking about? Around 300Gb ?

I think people have said like 200 - 300 GB with newsdemon and considering they own thundernews it is prolly the same. I wonder if it is way lower though on the 5 buck plan. Someone with the accunt and a fast line should do a test. Run up 500 gigs or even a TB as a test and see what happens.

Also some people say cmpletion on the old stuff sucks really bad.
So highwinds/thundernews and newsdemon are all the same servers?
In that case, I agree with the others, because I have a newsdemon account and a giganews account, the newsdemon has sever completion issues.
I also used to (2 years ago) have a lot of connection issues with newsdemon as well, can't say how their service is nowadays though.
The same files that I could not download from newsdemon (and we're talking sometimes only 300 days old, they claim to have 700 days) I could download from giganews without issues...

[nntpjunkie]

What caps are we talking about? Around 300Gb ?

I think people have said like 200 - 300 GB with newsdemon and considering they own thundernews it is prolly the same. I wonder if it is way lower though on the 5 buck plan. Someone with the accunt and a fast line should do a test. Run up 500 gigs or even a TB as a test and see what happens.

Also some people say cmpletion on the old stuff sucks really bad.

I am using usenetserver which is on Highwinds network and the retention is excellent as well as the speed - I just downloaded several 697 day old files across multiple groups without any completion issue any missing parts were repairable - the top end of their retention is as advertised. For the price usenetserver has proven to be a favorite for me. Also download caps do not exist at usenetserver - newsdemon is a reseller they are not highwinds, newsdemon is responsible for the capping not Highwinds. Rather than speculating about services that use Highwinds and talking about what used to be back in the day, try talking about what is and that is that usenetserver is cheap and reliable as hell, $10, 700 days...done. Service is excellent.

[hdjunky]

try talking about what is and that is that usenetserver is cheap and reliable as hell, $10, 700 days...done. Service is excellent.


My bad, I will talk like it is, Usenetserver only has one server (US) and only has 700 days retention for 10 bucks. No deal in my book...plus highwinds dreaded DMCA crap. No thanks!

[nntpjunkie]

try talking about what is and that is that usenetserver is cheap and reliable as hell, $10, 700 days...done. Service is excellent.


My bad, I will talk like it is, Usenetserver only has one server (US) and only has 700 days retention for 10 bucks. No deal in my book...plus highwinds dreaded DMCA crap. No thanks!

Usenetserver does have one server farm that is true, but the network is solid that's what counts. By your educated statement of "DMCA crap", I assume you mean the DMCA takedown of articles - check the boards Giganews suffers from the most takedowns and whats more all providers are required to comply with the DMCA, if they do not, they are breaking the law. This is no secret to anyone who understands usenet.

Rather than argue based on an uninformed opinion, I suggest you actually try the service before you blast it - then you may have actual credibility as a contributor to FST.

[Monaco]

Technically, if they don't comply with a properly filed DMCA request, they simply cannot rely on any safe harbor protections for service providers and may be subject to liability.

[siryak]

It has been great for me. *shrug* Actually I am getting better speeds with fewer connections than I was with Readnews.

[Beck38]

I tend to 'monitor' most of the 'biggies', i.e., GN, Astra, and Usenet-News. and all of them tend to suffer 'gaps' or 'fades' in certain groups now and again. But over the last couple of years, I'd say that Usenet-News/Highwinds is the worst, and particularly their EU server (although their US sometimes isn't much better).

I tend to think it's simply poor monitoring by the 'staff', in most/all cases.

[Malcontent]

I But over the last couple of years, I'd say that Usenet-News/Highwinds is the worst, and particularly their EU server (although their US sometimes isn't much better).

I tend to think it's simply poor monitoring by the 'staff', in most/all cases.

Usenet-News dumped Highwinds several weeks ago and they now resell "Readnews" usenet service. Which is a big improvement in my opinion.

[Beck38]

If so, I just saw them (usenet-news) take a HUGE dump to their database. Since I'm 'old school' and troll through the headers, just about a days worth all of a sudden 'disappeared' when I did an update this evening.

And yes, they do 'resolve' to readnews. Shows how out of touch I am with them, I only use it for 'fills'.

[nntpjunkie]

I tend to 'monitor' most of the 'biggies', i.e., GN, Astra, and Usenet-News. and all of them tend to suffer 'gaps' or 'fades' in certain groups now and again. But over the last couple of years, I'd say that Usenet-News/Highwinds is the worst, and particularly their EU server (although their US sometimes isn't much better).



Usenet-News was never considered a biggie by anyone....no offense. IMHO the Highwinds network is solid - true this was not so true two years ago during the retention wars, but today the usenet is an entirely different scene. I use Usenetserver right now and have no issues with content ~730 days old. There is no issue if you prefer to browse for content via headers - although with all the indexing sites available today, using headers is border lined retarded :) As an actual user who uses the service today, I can say that Usenetserver is a solid provider with excellent retention and completion, heck they suffer less DMCA takedowns than Giganews. If it was not for the fact that Astraweb has issues with up to the minute content uploads I might have used them for the decent price. That's my two cents...

[jefffisher]

i'm the last person to complain but newshosting which is i believe highwinds i am getting files as little as 300 days old or less downloading so corrupted it's not even repairable with par2's, it's pretty consistent as well i have had to turn to torrents over ten times in the past week. the retention goes upto 600+ days but with many files unreliable it's pointless.

[tesco]

i'm the last person to complain but newshosting which is i believe highwinds i am getting files as little as 300 days old or less downloading so corrupted it's not even repairable with par2's, it's pretty consistent as well i have had to turn to torrents over ten times in the past week. the retention goes upto 600+ days but with many files unreliable it's pointless.
That's exactly the issue I had with newsdemon.
Files over 300 days were really hit and miss. With giganews I don't generally have any problem up to 800 days.

[nntpjunkie]

It's been smooth sailing with usenetserver for over a year now, no real issues other than the occasional DMCA takedown , but giganews has more takedowns than any other provider lately so that's not really a surprise...

[MrMoneybags]

I had NewsDemon for a while. This was about 6 months ago and I had their $11/unlimited plus plan, with like 650 day retention and unlimited downloads. Let me say that so often a 450 day old post was so incomplete that PARs couldn't even save it. I didn't even bother trying to download anything older than a 500 day old file due to its horrific retention. It was absolutely HORRIBLE. I never felt confident that a file would fully complete.

I switched to Astraweb and I haven't looked back. I've downloaded files 825 days old with VERY few incomplete parts, and I've downloaded 825 day files that are 100%. I'm not saying Astraweb is perfect but I've downloaded a lot and I've never had an issue with a file up to Astraweb's advertised retention not finish, though that does include PAR help.

[siryak]

IMO the best thing to do is get Highwinds/Astraweb/Supernews whatever floats your boat and couple that with a Blocknews account. Although it is having some speed issues as of late, Readnews still has the best reliability for completes of anybody. So you get the best of both worlds. You get speed from the 3 I listed and the Blocknews account can fill in any gaps.

[zot]

Can anyone claim that it benefited customers when Highwinds bought up many of the formerly-independent newsgroup providers such as Easynews, Newshosting, UsenetServer, Eweka? It indeed seems to have benefited copyright owners, who can get a movie or show taken down across many different NSPs with a single filing.

I think that one reason Highwinds is disliked is the same reason that big corporations like Microsoft, Yahoo, and Symantec are resented by a lot of people.

They're big and monopoly-seeking, they buy out their competition, and then often run those companies into the ground. Being big also means bureaucratic.

Case in point: Easynews. This service once had an extremely loyal following, with quite a few people who had been customers for many years. A couple of years after Highwinds bought Easynews, the service went through a period of serious problems that rendered easynews virtually unusable for 6 months or more. Most of the original employees had left, and soon most of the customers would leave too, fed up with being strung along with empty promises month after month. Their discussion board, which had been up for a dozen years, was closed down (to public view) after it became a giant bitch-fest.

Newshosting has also apparently lost customers, as its ranking on top1000.org is today far below its level of 5 years ago, before Highwinds bought it, when it ranked near the top. A few months ago Newshosting announced that they would discontinue (or was it raise the price of?) their $15/mo unlimited plan, only to soon reverse that decision after a groundswell of complaints.

Highwinds was gobbling up usenet companies left and right during 2005 - 2006 (and even had the highest retention of any provider for a short time in late-2006) but they've since switched gears and they're now concentrating on branching out into the content delivery network (CDN) business.

see http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/highwinds-acquires-bandcon-98015544.html

It's interesting that while Astraweb (which started out as a web-hosting company) has dropped it's other businesses that are not strictly NNTP-related, in order to concentrate on running its usenet service, Highwinds (which started out writing NNTP server software) has lately gone in the exact opposite direction - away from the usenet business. The fact that a big company like Highwinds, with its immense resources, has chosen to drop out of the "retention war" also says something about Highwinds goals.

Just my opinion, but I think that Highwinds sees "the writing on the wall" and is following the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" philosophy. They undoubtedly know that due to copyright issues usenet is on a path destined to be a victim of its own success, and that's why they're hedging their bets by buying up more "mainstream" (i.e., Hollywood-approved) companies.

Highwinds once-dominant position in the usenet provider business appears to have been eroding in recent years. Companies such as Newshosting, UsenetServer, and Easynews seem to have a smaller footprint in the overall industry than they did when Highwinds bought them years ago, while companies such as Astraweb and Readnews have a larger footprint. Independent usenet resellers that flocked to Highwinds in 2005-2006 are reversing course these days. Blocknews/UsenetNow dumped Highwinds a year ago, as did Ngroups/Usenet-News a few months ago. If other resellers such as Newsdemon/Thundernews follow suit, this could spell the beginning of the end for Highwinds as a dominant usenet provider.

[Hypatia]

zot
its a very nice article=)


that due to copyright issues usenet is on a path destined to be a victim of its own success,

There are simple ways to avoid DMCA takedowns. Once posters are not that reckless it'll be all fine

but since the majority of them use nowadays Astraweb which doesnt comply with DMCA , these days of recklessness will not be gone for a while

[tesco]

There are simple ways to avoid DMCA takedowns. Once posters are not that reckless it'll be all fine
Can you give an example?

[Hypatia]

Well,

1)Scene releases - use only scene names. Thats quite enough especially if they have nFO
Too many times i noticed how scene stuff going by a full title was removed yet the one without it on the same NNTP provider was left intact



2)Scary and complex rapidoor method once popular on a certain site dedicated to High Def movies. Google it) Personally i dont really like it that much mostly because it relies also on third party file hosting sites like rapidshare, megaupload etc

3) Easy, simple, efficient
check it out (http://nzbindex.nl/search/?q=u4all+meet+black&age=30&max=100&sort=agedesc&minsize=&maxsize=&dq=&poster=&nfo=&hidespam=0&hidespam=1&more=1) or something very similar to this one. You get the idea..

They cant do thorough search in automatic\semi-automatic mode, you know..at least for now.
And the real bitch is they have to fill manually all those letters :D


And if at some point they invent something else, we can always find a countermeasure

PS perhaps we'll be forced to use simple 'passwords" like "password' in the future for the most releases out there lol just to avoid archive scanning feature( the one mysterbin has) because, you now, it wont take much time for them to set up something like this in their 'lair" lol.


of course all this cant guarantee you that this stuff will be there 100%

But it will certainly make it more difficult for these lazy( and you know , those members of copyright mafia are really lazy, just look at how they do things shaking down poor old ladies for hundreds thousands of dollars for nothing ..) bastards

[tesco]

Well,

1)Scene releases - use only scene names. Thats quite enough especially if they have nFO
Too many times i noticed how scene stuff going by a full title was removed yet the one without it on the same NNTP provider was left intact

Isn't a scene name like this:
Fair Game 2010 BRRip XviD AC3-Rx

I've never seen a scene name not include the full title.

Or maybe I misunderstand completely.


3) Easy, simple, efficient
check it out (http://filesharingtalk.com/external/?http://nzbindex.nl/search/?q=u4all+meet+black&age=30&max=100&sort=agedesc&minsize=&maxsize=&dq=&poster=&nfo=&hidespam=0&hidespam=1&more=1) or something very similar to this one. You get the idea..So the NFO would get taken down, but the rest stays up because it has a different subject?
What I don't like is that it's harder to find this stuff using search engines like binsearch or supersearch.
For example in supersearch I usually watch the file sizes of collections to find what I want, in this case all I would have to go on is an nfo and I would then have to type in the new subject to even get a glimpse at the files to see if I would want it.

[Hypatia]

Isn't a scene name like this

i meant like this "cowry-vw", for example

Unfortunately more and more stuff is released under the full title..back in the day mostly all of them were like this one..


So the NFO would get taken down, but the rest stays up because it has a different subject?
and different title for all those rars\par2 files. which u can find out looking at this small file\subject


t's harder to find this stuff using search engines like binsearch or supersearch. How's that? Uw ant a movie titled Blabla, you type it in a search field and get this subject\file that has all the information u need.


I usually watch the file sizes of collections to find what I want
u mean blind search? Sometimes i use only size filter myself. =) for spotting blurays especially
It plays nicely on every day basis..


to type in the new subject to even get a glimpse at the files to see if I would want it.
maybe i didnt get you.. Doesnt this given subject\nfo have all the information you need to now to be sure if you really want it?
Like title, quality(Bluray rip, resolution ?