Astraweb, Supernews, or Frugal Usenet?

[PoundSign]

Noob here still, but on usenet for years. I've used mostly Giganews and usenetserver, but I want to try something new sine Giga's been crappy lately and way too expensive for the value. Does Astraweb, Supernews, or Frugal Usenet provide the better experience? Another option I'm missing? I just want decent downloading and completion.

[chakara]

Threre must 40 threads asking that very question, have you read them ?

[usersname]

40? You been over to Reddit lately - Try 400 threads asking the exact same thing!

[piercerseth]

40? You been over to Reddit lately - Try 400 threads asking the exact same thing!
GUYZ what's a usenet and how do I make sickbeard and couchpotato work?

One of the 40(0) threads mentioned:
http://filesharingtalk.com/threads/455828-Best-Paid-Usenet-service-provider

[Beck38]

Even forgetting those that offer free 'trial' accounts, simply buying a month (or so, many also have 'starter' multi-month trial packages) are so cheap (<$10) that one can figure out for oneself which works for them; now of course, if they were all the price and restrictions of a Giganews, maybe not, but no service is. Just give yourself a few bucks (or a small percentage of what you pay for internet access....you ARE paying for that, not leeching off your parents or college/university account or something else, right?

[PoundSign]

Wow, thanks so much for the extra dose of snark rather than an actual answer. Yeah, I read a bunch of threads that didn't answer my specific comparison question (didn't ask for generic best, asked about 3). No, I'm not on Reddit, no, I'm not a Usenet noob. I just wanted some actual opinions with actual experience from, you know, humans. Forgive me for thinking that's what a forum is for. I did mention I was new here, so also forgive me for not having years of time to scroll through the compendiums of you Monarchs of Usenetery.

[piercerseth]

My duties as Viceroy Regent to the esteemed Usenet Council of the Big Four keep me rather busy. Alas, here's the snark free answer you want: Astraweb. $7.50/mo, 2100d retention, excellent speeds, and dare I say more forgiving with takedowns compared to the other two. You'll still want a block account provider in any case.:king:

[robertrust]

I'd say definitely stick with UsenetServer! Industry high retention with encrypted access and their prices have remained steady for years.

[hdjunky]

My duties as Viceroy Regent to the esteemed Usenet Council of the Big Four keep me rather busy. Alas, here's the snark free answer you want: Astraweb. $7.50/mo, 2100d retention, excellent speeds, and dare I say more forgiving with takedowns compared to the other two. You'll still want a block account provider in any case.:king:
Are you serious? Astracrap was the first to offer up fast and free auto DMCA removals to those who sent them in. That right there is reason enough to not use them and not support that behavior. Anyone should be used besides Astra.

[piercerseth]

My duties as Viceroy Regent to the esteemed Usenet Council of the Big Four keep me rather busy. Alas, here's the snark free answer you want: Astraweb. $7.50/mo, 2100d retention, excellent speeds, and dare I say more forgiving with takedowns compared to the other two. You'll still want a block account provider in any case.:king:
Are you serious? Astracrap was the first to offer up fast and free auto DMCA removals to those who sent them in. That right there is reason enough to not use them and not support that behavior. Anyone should be used besides Astra.

Of the three OP asked about, yeah I'm serious. You go on about automated dmca, but it's the Highwinds/UNS/Demon users who are always first to bitch about things missing. Then GN/Supernews. Why is that? I can tell you anecdotally from viewing nzb comments and checking completion that AW is towards the bottom of the list.


EDIT: Plus, the majority of posters are using Astra servers to upload their files to intially.

[hdjunky]

Are you serious? Astracrap was the first to offer up fast and free auto DMCA removals to those who sent them in. That right there is reason enough to not use them and not support that behavior. Anyone should be used besides Astra.

Of the three OP asked about, yeah I'm serious. You go on about automated dmca, but it's the Highwinds/UNS/Demon users who are always first to bitch about things missing. Then GN/Supernews. Why is that? I can tell you anecdotally from viewing nzb comments and checking completion that AW is towards the bottom of the list.

Yea but frugal Usenet is not any of those three. He did not ask about any highwinds sellers in the three mentioned.

[piercerseth]

Yea but frugal Usenet is not any of those three. He did not ask about any highwinds sellers in the three mentioned.
You're right. He mentioned usenet server and I only bring up HW/UNS as an example of real aggressive dmca. I don't have issue with Readnews or its resellers, but Frugal loses out with 300d retention (which I understand is their point), I believe the extra $2.50 for Astra's 1800 additional days of retention is good value. Against Supernews' $12.00 plan it's a no brainer.

[PoundSign]

Thank you kind Viceroy...some real info from real experience!

[DngrMs]

Are you serious? Astracrap was the first to offer up fast and free auto DMCA removals to those who sent them in. That right there is reason enough to not use them and not support that behavior. Anyone should be used besides Astra.

Disagree and disapprove. They're not the best but they're far from the worst.

[Beck38]

EDIT: Plus, the majority of posters are using Astra servers to upload their files to intially.

Of course, main reasoning with that is that Astra was one of the first, and continues, to offer block accounts that NEVER run out (if you don't actually USE the bits you buy!) and have, over the years, allowed lots of decent payment options. I still have a couple of block accounts (that I use daily) that were bought with an untraceable gift card and are over 10 years old.

Not to say that others have the same, on occasion. I have several other such block accounts with UNS and others as well that I also use.

But really, if one looks at the DMCA issued per server plant, then go to either Google or EFF/Chilling Effects, one would find that all the different wacky ways folks try to 'hide' things are either very good, or very poor. No matter what the header obfuscation is, if one doesn't use encryption on top of it, it's useless an will get whacked pretty quickly, and that includes these 30+ character nonsense posts.

Either you play the pay-walled web site with the 'keys', the Sickbeard or other rapid response systems, or figure out a system that doesn't rely on such.

[hdjunky]

Are you serious? Astracrap was the first to offer up fast and free auto DMCA removals to those who sent them in. That right there is reason enough to not use them and not support that behavior. Anyone should be used besides Astra.

Disagree and disapprove. They're not the best but they're far from the worst.You're right they aren't the worst...highwinds is just because they are highwinds. Astraweb is second worst because they aren't highwinds.

Are you saying Astra doesn't do auto takedowns as soon as they receive the notice? How do you know? The only way you could know was if you knew when they receive the notice to begin with. Astra started this tactic and their rep even posted they did this and seemingly had no intention; f changing it.

[Beck38]

'Auto'/'Instant'/whatever, it still gets whacked. So for the lack of smarts on the posting end, folks are 'expected' to go the 'autograb' route (and it's costs) or go down the pay-walled site route.

Both are ridiculous. Lots of folks use that melon on top of their shoulders, expect others to do the same, and avoid it all.

[chakara]

We're downloading tv shows and movies man, we don't want to have to think about it more than 3 seconds. We want it quick and easy because we don't care about Usenet per se, it's just a means to an end.

Like taking the bus. You wanna see your girl, you don't give a dime about whether the bus is electric, diesel or whatever. You want it to be there, be effective and certainly don't wanna have to rack your brains thinking how you're gonna use it.
And maybe if at some point taking the bus is just too damn of a hassle, you'll take your car. Yeah parking is a bitch and driving is stressful but still, better than the bus.

Torrents are the car is my great analogy btw :D

[DngrMs]

Are you saying Astra doesn't do auto takedowns as soon as they receive the notice? How do you know? The only way you could know was if you knew when they receive the notice to begin with. Astra started this tactic and their rep even posted they did this and seemingly had no intention; f changing it.

No, I didn't say that but I concede I quoted more of your post than I needed to.

You can get 12 - 36 hours grace on Astra, even for "high value targets" and that's good enough for most.

[Gribley]

I`ve found nothing blocked (dl within a few days) on Astraweb over the last several months. My block account remains on Tweaknews but never having to use it.

There was a time in past that I can recall that basically everything was almost instant taken down on Astraweb. I assume they`ve come up with something interesting "policy wise" to delay that as not having that issue anymore.... and getting nice 8MB download speeds for $96 :D

[nntpjunkie]

Please don't take offense @Chakara, but it is that kind of attitude that rained down unwanted attention and problems for the usenet as a filesharing medium. The Usenet is no longer respected and appreciated as it once was, it is the oldest part of the internet and will be here long after the torrent kiddies run away because many of them did not take the time to learn to properly use and understand the Usenet. If you can't find something you want on the Usenet, that very rarely means that it's not there - it just means you don't know where to look. Many of us who remember the early days of the evolution of the binaries as a means to share content are still to this day having no issues at all getting what we want, I think Beck and most of the rest who have been part of this community would agree with my observation. The Usenet is not necessarily exclusive, but it really was never meant to be for everyone in terms of the learning curve. It really is the nzb that has drawn the unwanted attention and fickle users. Many people think that the NZB is the only way to get content on the Usenet and nothing could be further from the truth.. It's the NZB that has let to the automation of DMCA's by the mafia...

[chakara]

I won't take offense because you're absolutely right.

I want to type "orange new black s02e01 720p", click and wait 10 minutes to have a .mkv on my hard drive. If I need to learn "where to look" then it's a pain in my neck and I don't want that.