What should I have as a backup for Astraweb?

[MultiForce]

I want 2 unlim accounts since I'm going to switch from GN to AW.

What else should I have as the backup (not block accounts!) that isn't too far off in retention, speed etc.?
SSL and EU server would be nice too.

[Hypatia]

I would go for supernews (giganews's "offspring" =), 10 bucks deal) if 800-802 retention is enough for you or one of the readnews resellers.. but they mostly have slow speeds on older stuff...

i myself have AW and supernews which is still cheaper than one $25 giganews account

[sandman_1]

Why have 2 accounts? Is it mainly for uploading? I just have AW and have been able to download everything I ever wanted at max my speed. I rarely upload though because of my abysmal upload speed.

[MultiForce]

I would go for supernews (10 bucks deal) if 800-802 retention is enough for you or one of the readnews resellers.. but they mostly have slow speeds on older stuff...

i myself have AW and supernews which is still cheaper than one $25 giganews account

Is supernews a GN reseller?

Slow speed on older stuff? That sounds a bit weird.


Why have 2 accounts? Is it mainly for uploading? I just have AW and have been able to download everything I ever wanted at max my speed. I rarely upload though because of my abysmal upload speed.

I just want to have a backup without having to add GBs now and then. I download 1+TB/month so I just want an easy fix in case it's needed.

[Hypatia]

Slow speed on older stuff? That sounds a bit weird.
you probably misunderstood me. i meant readnews resellers(ngroups\usenetnow etc)

Well supernews is practically more than just a reseller=) like father like son lol

they cant possibly reduce prices without "harming" that snobbish, elitist status thay've got.. so..supernews is their way of dealing with those 10-11 bucks deals out there :D in a manner of speaking

[MultiForce]

I guess I'll have to try that combo then.

Thanks for he help.

[Hypatia]

well, perhaps others will have something else in mind considering the choice of a backup (not block) account.
so dont rush it=)

[MultiForce]

well, perhaps others will have something else in mind considering the choice of a backup (not block) account.
so dont rush it=)

I'm always rushing :P

I think AW will be fine but I like the idea of a GN backup.

I'm not going to cancel the GN account yet either as I wan to see that AW is maxing out my (slow) connection.

[nntpjunkie]

Newhosting gets my vote as a backup - 9.99/month for life for unlimited - you will get blazing speed all day long...

[zot]

For anyone who doesn't mind paying for two unlimited accounts, I would agree that Supernews should make a good compliment to Astraweb. Especially now that they "flipped the switch" and nearly doubled retention in one pop. And if Supernews should get stuck at 800 days retention for too long, there's always the Readnews (+ Highwinds) resellers to consider.

MultiForce, I think you once said that the main reason you were using Giganews was because of the excellent VPN that came with a Diamond account?

.... A bit off the subject .... but what do you plan to use now for a VPN? I'm only asking because I've looked at and tried several proxy/VPN services and not one gave me what I needed:

* A US-west-coast server plus a selection of servers in several different countries -- that don't force me to pay extra for each additional server just to split my time between. (as most free streaming services are country-specific.)

* Having the option of a SOCKS/HTTP proxy server (again, without paying extra). Although each has its own pros and cons, If I could only pick one or the other I'd probably prefer a SOCKS/HTTP proxy over a VPN because a SOCKS allows me to selectively choose which applications to tie into it.

* open ports (not NAT'd or firewalled) for using P2P.

* and ideally, having multiple and ever-changing IP adresses, so I won't find myself permanently banned from a site just because some jerk once used the same server.






OK, back on topic ..............


Is supernews a GN reseller?

Giganews bought Supernews a few years ago, and then shut down the old Supernews servers after several months. (I was sorry to see that happen because Supernews previously maintained extraordinarily high retention on single-part binaries such as MP3s)



Slow speed on older stuff? That sounds a bit weird.

It's true. And not just Readnews but Highwinds also. I've only experienced it rarely - that I've noticed - but I've virtually always been able to max out my line speed just by increasing connections to the maximum number whenever it happens. (I'm waiting to one day see newsreaders that will do this automatically)

[MultiForce]

MultiForce, I think you once said that the main reason you were using Giganews was because of the excellent VPN that came with a Diamond account?

It was the main reason but I got another option through some friends.

I would pay for something else with more options though as I only have a few different EU/US servers to choose from. Another thing is that I don't like using stuff that friends "pay" for in case something happens.

[technovert]

Rather than paying for two monthly accounts, why not get block accounts from multiple providers? Will give you redundancy with only one monthly fee to worry about once you have purchased your fill server blocks in case of DMCAs/incomplete posts on a particular provider.

[zot]

@technovert --

I believe that your question was already asked -- and answered -- in previous posts.

Anyone who downloads over a terrabyte each month would obviously not be saving money by getting block accounts --unless they are rarely used.

[MultiForce]

@technovert --

I believe that your question was already asked -- and answered -- in previous posts.

Anyone who downloads over a terrabyte each month would obviously not be saving money by getting block accounts --unless they are rarely used.

You forgot to add that I'm lazy too :P

[zot]

If it's a matter of having to fill out credit card details each time, it might be worth noting that some of the lesser-known block-account sellers do in fact auto-renew block accounts when they run out -- which I always felt was a terrible "feature" to get stuck with.

[hdjunky]

You could always use frugal usenet for everything under 100 days and then your other for everything over that. I guess if you really only get new stuff it is a good fit with occasional old stuff. I do the same with blocknews and then frugal usenet. You must really like redundancy with two providers each month!

[MultiForce]

You could always use frugal usenet for everything under 100 days and then your other for everything over that. I guess if you really only get new stuff it is a good fit with occasional old stuff. I do the same with blocknews and then frugal usenet. You must really like redundancy with two providers each month!

I find old crap to download all the time.

You don't even get a movie ticket for $10 so I don't see any point in not having that backup. I've already had 2 releases that needed a few blocks (rather 3 100MB files) so it's working great so far :happy:

[nntpjunkie]

I am using Astraweb ($11/month) + Newshosting ($9.99/month), the combo has worked out to be pristine...Asta's retention is around 890 days and Newshosting is at around 850 days so the accounts really cover for missing blocks - MultiForce, best part is the two together are cheaper than the GN platinum account :) I am a former GigaFool... I download 2-3 terabytes/month

[Hypatia]

Newshosting has got around 850 days?
Sweet... it was 810 not so long ago

[mesaman]

Weird, I've never noticed more than a few scattered articles missing from Astraweb and I don't understand how your setup would be filling in 3 whole 100MB files from a backup server.