Astraweb Down 'Across the Board'

[Hypatia]

delete

[Hypatia]

The testing process(both STAT and HEADER) is really slow on most of the files from within this range

Sometimes its is SO slow that connections start dying and then you get connection limit error

PS i suspect the actual download process to be as slow as testing too

PS it seems they have managed to fix many releases.. last week i had shitload of incompletes

But still.. too many uploads are unrepairable

[nntpjunkie]

I am not as forgiving as you fellows, no way I would ever have Astraweb as a primary provider - they just don't care enough and something is always broken. I do think as a backup they are ok so I do use them as a fill server. The real kick to the teeth is that they don't even tell you what is going on... Customer Service = FAIL.

[Hypatia]

the money you get for promoting highwinds bastards with all their 100% console games + HBO tv series(1-5 block per each file) takedowns on ALL retention range makes you not forgiving ;D

[nntpjunkie]

the money you get for promoting highwinds bastards with all their 100% console games + HBO tv series(1-5 block per each file) takedowns on ALL retention range makes you not forgiving ;D

I did say Astraweb was good as a filler account mostly because well they don't comply with DMCA which is technically breaking the law so we all are very lucky they are still around

[Hypatia]

Ok. Say you are a console games fan. Nowadays games are usually 6-12Gb in size.
Taking into account 100% takedown you would have to get the whole game from your fill server.In other words even 100gb block plan will be wasted pretty soon

[zot]

I am not as forgiving as you fellows

That's only true when it comes to non-Highwinds providers, no matter how bad the service becomes.

You are much more forgiving to Highwinds when that service is crappy - in fact, you serve as an outright apologist and defender of Highwinds.

no way I would ever have Astraweb as a primary provider

Of course not. Astraweb is not paying you -- Highwinds is. To Promote Astraweb over Highwinds, you'd be taking money out of your own pocket.

they just don't care enough and something is always broken.

Unlike your beloved Highwinds, at least Astraweb works to fix its problems. Highwinds has had a chronic incomplete problem for over a year that are still unfixed - virtually every old file is incomplete and needs to be fixed with pars. Why can't Highwinds at least backfill missing articles like Astraweb does?

I do think as a backup they are ok so I do use them as a fill server.

A lot of Highwinds users like yourself would be lost without having Astraweb or other a backup server to fill in what Highwinds lacks.

The real kick to the teeth is that they don't even tell you what is going on... Customer Service = FAIL.

You complain about Astraweb, yet you close your eyes to the fact that Highwinds has been the absolute worst when it comes to hiding problems from its customers.

Case in point: Easynews, a company which went from having the very best customer relations ... to the very worst. This is well documented. What changed? Easynews was bought by Highwinds, and after month after month of terrible service, broken promises, and outright lies, Easynews's frustrated customers started leaving in droves.

Another example is Newshosting, which used to post every problem on its server log. After being bought by Highwinds, Newshosting acts like its many problems don't even exist.


I apologize to everyone for my long rant. It's just that I hate hypocrites, and I hate shills, and I especially hate people who are both.

[mjmacky]

I apologize to everyone for my long rant. It's just that I hate hypocrites, and I hate shills, and I especially hate people who are both.

nntpjunkie's blind paid promotion of Highwinds is common knowledge for a core group of users here; however, it's not known to the casual forum browser so it's helpful to remind everyone that he does promote Highwinds and WHY everything he spouts is absolute bunk.

[nntpjunkie]

I apologize to everyone for my long rant. It's just that I hate hypocrites, and I hate shills, and I especially hate people who are both.

I am quite disappointed @zot as I mistakenly thought that you had more self control than to resort to child like accusations and name calling. You in fact are usually one of the most positive contributors to the board - this time you just flamed me. I would expect more from a long time contributor like yourself. That said, this is an open accepting community of which I have been a long time member and I am entitled to my own opinion, I know some folk don't agree with me and that is fine that is the nature of how things go. I am not at war with Astraweb, I use them as a backup - I would however not recommend them as a primary provider for the reasons already stated, this should not give anyone here any reason to personally attack me. Yes I run a blog and yes it is in my sig, for those who know me you know that I support Newshosting and I do have ads on my site, I like Newshosting and always have so I support them - If Astraweb had half quality and infrastructure and reliability of Newshosting I would support them also (I still do support them as a fill server) Just wanted to clear the air here so that maybe folks will start acting like grown ups again.

We all give our opinions and we should be allowed to do so without being personally attacked or flamed and by the way - if someone decides to try Newshosting or Astraweb
based on opinions here and they don't like it guess what they don't stay with that provider not rocket science - people will stay if they are happy where they are.

Last point, no one has to go try Newshosting or Astraweb for that matter and I certainly not saying they are the greatest thing since sliced bread, but just do a search anywhere between Astraweb and Newshosting and see how many problem threads you find on Astraweb in the last 6 months. Some people are just jerks....

[Beck38]

I still have a block account at Highlands, and without a doubt they are the worst around.

Astra is not 'broke' all the time, in fact, they are rarely so. And I say this although I had planned on doing some 'research' as to any gaps in the 100-300 day range today, but the abysmal slow-ass speed throughput on Astra/US today got me off that idea real quick.

I don't think they 'ignore' DMCA whatsoever, doing so would lead them very quickly down the rabbit hole of what passes for the 'justice' system in the US these days. I'm sure, though, that those issuing those takedowns see Astra, compared to Giga, as 'second-ran' and therefore aren't on their top 'hit list'.

I sent my money to Giganews for years and years....with Astra as a backup with a block account. Then, when the prices headed north of $30/month I had a 'meeting of minds' and with the <$10/month high-speed deal from Astra, jumped some 3-4 years ago. So I've saved about $1K since, and that's a LOT of potential 'aggravation' avoidance fees in the bank, so to speak.

Again, slow-downs do occur, for no reason whatsoever, like today, where the throughput is averaging around 100Kb/s on a 20Mb/s+ link (and this going on for around 2-3 hours now). Downright pathetic.