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Which Usenet Provider Offers the Best Value?

February 2, 2012 By

We’re often asked our opinion on which Usenet providers offer the best value.  While it would be easy to point users to our Editors Choice list we always follow up first and ask for more information.  As our response would differ based on what the user is looking for in a Usenet service.  For pure Usenet we really like UNS and Astraweb.  Yet when it comes to the best Usenet value neither provider would be at the top of our list.

For us the question of who offers the best Usenet value goes beyond newsgroup access.  That wasn’t always the case but now some leading providers are offering bundled services (newsreaders, Usenet search, online storage, VPN, etc.) along with unlimited Usenet access for less than $10 a month.  While we highly recommend both UNS and Astraweb these other services offer more value-added features for the same low price.

Let’s take a look at some of the best Usenet values and the free add-on features offered by each provider.

Newshosting : Unlimited Usenet + Newsreader + Usenet Search

Newshosting is our pick for the best Usenet value.  Along with unlimited Usenet access they offer members a great newsreader (Windows, Mac, Linux) and Usenet search engine.  Not to mention high retention, free SSL and excellent performance.  All for just $9.99 a month or $99 a year.  Unlimited Usenet along with a newsreader and built-in search engine for $9.99 is quite a value!

NewsDemon : Unlimited Usenet + Newsreader + Online Storage

NewsDemon is another outstanding Usenet value.  Offering members unlimited Usenet access, a free copy of News Rover and 30 GB of online storage.  Along with high retention, free SSL and excellent performance.  All for just $9.99 a month.  Unlimited Usenet downloads along with News Rover newsreader and free online storage is an amazing value for just $9.99 a month!

Newshosting and NewsDemon top our list of the best Usenet values.  With each offering unlimited Usenet and excellent add-on features for less than $10 a month. Some other good Usenet values include Easynews (Usenet + web interface for $9.98 a month), ThunderNews (Usenet + newsreader for $10.49 a month), Ngroups (Usenet + storage + VPN for $9.99 a month) and NewsgroupDirect (Usenet + online storage for $16 a month).

Visit Newsgroup Reviews to learn more about Usenet.  Follow us @NewsgroupRevs for the latest promotions.

Filed Under: NewsDemon, Newshosting, Usenet Providers Tagged With: , ,

NewsDemon $7 Super Unlimited Special

January 31, 2012 By

NewsDemon is kicking off the new year with a special offer for those interested in unlimited Usenet access.  The new promotion is aptly titled the $7 Super Unlimited special.  It consists of unlimited Usenet downloads plus 30 GB of free online storage and a licensed copy of News Rover Usenet client.  The cost is $7 the first month and then $10 a month thereafter.  Saving new members 50% off the retail price of $19.95 a month.

Here’s a sample of what the NewsDemon Super Unliimited special offers:

  • Unlimited Usenet access
  • 1,260+ days of binary retention
  • Free newsreader (News Rover)
  • 30 GB of secure online storage
  • Up to 50 SSL connections
  • US and European servers
  • 24/7 technical support

We don’t normally recommend introductory offers but the NewsDemon promotion combines a really low intro price with 50% recurring savings.  This offer is similar to their Demon Deal except you get the first month for $7 rather than $9.99.  Giving a little extra incentive to sign up during their $7 Super Unlimited promotion.

Visit Newsgroup Reviews to learn more about Usenet.  Follow us @NewsgroupRevs for the latest news.

Filed Under: NewsDemon, Usenet Providers Tagged With: , ,

Best Usenet Providers : 2012 NGR Editors Choice Awards

January 20, 2012 By

It’s time to celebrate our 2012 Editor’s Choice Award winners.  Those who frequent Newsgroup Reviews and our blog know that we update the winners and rankings throughout the year based on changes in the industry.  For example, Newshosting moved up our list last year as they launched a $9.99 unlimited Usenet special followed by introducing a free Usenet client in the Fall.  This year we are once again extending the Editors Choice Awards to cover the ”Best Usenet Deals“, “Best Free Usenet Trials“and “Best Usenet Clients“.

You’ll notice that we celebrate the accomplishments of multiple newsgroup services with our Editors Choice Awards.  The reason is we enjoy a number of Usenet providers and feel each offers an advantage over the others.  With criteria to include extra features, high retention & completion, performance, reliability and value.

Congratulations to all of our 2012 NGR Editor’s Choice Award winners.  We would like to thank each provider for their ongoing efforts in supporting the continued growth of Usenet.  The list of award recipients starts with UseNetServer followed closely by Newshosting, NewsDemon, Astraweb, Easynews and ThunderNews.

Let’s take a closer look at our 2012 NGR Editor’s Choice winners for “Best Usenet Providers“:

UseNetServer – 2012 NGR Editors Choice Award

UseNetServer provides an excellent mix of quality and value.  Since releasing their $10 unlimited Usenet special in the Summer of 2009 the service has grown rapidly.  The service was always a staple in the industry but at $10 a month or $95.40 a year it’s really hard to pass up.  In addition to value, UseNetServer offers high retention and UNS Global Search.  Having a built-in Usenet search engine makes finding newsgroup content much easier.

UseNetServer offers 1,250+ days of binary retention along with two years of text posts.  Subscribers enjoy unlimited Usenet access, 256-bit SSL, 20 connections, uncapped speed and 24/7 live support.  Take advantage of the UNS $10/mo. and $95.40/yr. unlimited Usenet specials.

Newshosting – 2012 NGR Editors Choice Award

Expect the best performance and premium features for a value from Newshosting.  Including unlimited Usenet downloads with access to their recently released Newshosting Usenet client.  A very nice addition!  Along with uncapped speeds and free 256-bit SSL encryption.  Connect to their North American or European servers and enjoy unlimited Usenet.  All for just $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year via our Newshosting NGR special.

Newshosting offers 1,250+ days of binary retention along with 1,400 days of text posts.  Subscribers enjoy unlimited Usenet access, Newshosting Usenet client, 256-bit SSL, uncapped speed and 24/7 support.  Take advantage of the Newshosting $9.99/mo. and $99.99/yr. unlimited Usenet specials.

NewsDemon – 2012 NGR Editors Choice Award

NewsDemon is similar to Giganews in that they present customers with a package of features in addition to quality Usenet access.  All unlimited NewsDemon members receive a free registered copy of News Rover newsreader and 30 GB of free online storage provided by StorageNinja.  All for only $9.99 a month for those who sign up through NGR.  NewsDemon presents subscribers with a very good balance of features and value.

NewsDemon offers 1,250+ days of binary retention along with 1,400 days of text posts.  Members enjoy unlimited Usenet, 256-bit SSL, 50 connections, online storage, News Rover and 24/7 tech support.  Take advantage of our NewsDemon $9.99 deal to save over 50% off unlimited Usenet.

Easynews – 2012 NGR Editors Choice Award


Easynews has everything you could ask for in a Usenet service including web access.  A feature that sets them apart from our other award winners.  The Easynews web interface allows users to browse newsgroups and stream content without the need for a newsreader.  Simply open your favorite web browser.  With third party apps for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Android mobile devices.  Easynews offers 1,200 days of NNTP retention if you want to connect via newsreader.  Web retention is over 200 days.  Take the new web interface for a test drive.

Easynews offers web Usenet access in addition to iPhone and Android apps.  Especially useful to those new to Usenet and others who would rather avoid the need for additional software.  Take advantage of the Easynews 14 day free trial and $9.95 unlimited NNTP offers.

Astraweb – 2012 NGR Editors Choice Award

Anyone who has been around Usenet the last few years has undoubtedly heard of Astraweb.  A mix of high retention and value is the service’s claim to fame.  Astraweb was the first major Usenet provider to drop in price to $11 a month.  Since then several provider’s have lowered prices into the $10-$11 range.  Even so Astraweb remains a popular choice for Usenet.  With a very loyal following they continue to grow at a good pace.

Astraweb offers 1,250+ days of binary retention along with 1,095 days of text posts.  Members enjoy unlimited Usenet, 256-bit SSL, 20 connections, uncapped speeds and solid completion for $11 a month.  Take advantage of the Astraweb $11/mo. and $96/yr. unlimited Usenet specials.

ThunderNews – 2012 NGR Editors Choice Award

ThunderNews made our Editors Choice list in 2011 and continues to impress.  With a mix of high retention, performance, reliability and free Usenet client.  ThunderNews includes a free registered copy of News Rover newsreader.  Customers can download the latest version of News Rover from the ThuunderNews website.  NGR visitors can enjoy unlimited ThunderNews Usenet access for just $10.49 a month, a 50% savings.

ThunderNews offers 1,250+ days of binary retention and 1,265 days of text posts.  Subscribers enjoy unlimited Usenet access, 256-bit SSL, 50 connections, News Rover and 24/7 support.  Take advantage of our ThunderNews 50% discount and enjoy unlimited Usenet for $10.49.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our 2012 Editor’s Choice Awards for the best Usenet providers.  Please help us recognize and congratulate the winners through your patronage.  Also make sure to check out our Editor’s Choice Awards for ”Best Usenet Deals“, “Best Free Usenet Trials“and “Best Usenet Clients“.

Filed Under: Astraweb, Awards, NewsDemon, Newshosting, ThunderNews, Usenet Providers, UseNetServer Tagged With: , , ,

Usenet Providers Join the Fight Against Censorship

January 18, 2012 By

Today some very popular websites including Wikipedia, Reddit, Google and WordPress are taking action to educate users on the far reaching censorship implications of pending legislation.  Specifically the Protect IP Act (PIPA) which is set for a vote in the Senate on January 24th and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) that’s working it’s way through the House Judiciary Committee.  Usenet providers including Giganews and FastUsenet have joined the fight with ‘Stop Censorship’ messages linked to the EFF’s ‘Stop Internet Blacklist‘ page.

If you live in the U. S. please visit any of these sites to learn more and contact your representatives:

For those who would like to learn more about SOPA and PIPA we’ll repost information from the EFF ‘Stop The Internet Blacklist Legislation‘ page.  Please visit their site directly to send email to your representatives.

The Internet blacklist legislation—known as PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House—invites Internet security risks, threatens online speech, and hampers Internet innovation. Urge your members of Congress to reject this Internet blacklist campaign in both its forms!

To make the most impact right now, we’re asking YOU to do two things. Today, use our handy tool to send an email to your representatives, letting them know you oppose these bills and they should too. Then, on January 23, when the Senate is back in session (and scheduled to vote on PIPA on January 24), call your Senator and tell him or her that it’s time to stand with the Internet and against the Internet blacklists!

Big media and its allies in Congress are billing the Internet blacklist legislation as a new way to battle online infringement. But innovation and free speech advocates know that this initiative will do little to stop infringement online. What it will do is compromise Internet security, inhibit online expression, and slow growth in the technology sector.

As drafted, the legislation would grant the government and private parties unprecedented power to interfere with the Internet’s underlying infrastructure. The government would be able to force ISPs and search engines to block users’ attempts to reach certain websites’ URLs. In response, third parties will woo average users to alternative servers that offer access to the entire Internet (not just the newly censored U.S. version), which will create new computer security vulnerabilities as the Internet grows increasingly balkanized.

It gets worse: the blacklist bills’ provisions would give corporations and other private parties new powers to censor foreign websites with court orders that would cut off payment processors and advertisers. Broad immunity provisions (combined with a threat of litigation) would encourage service providers to overblock innocent users or even block websites voluntarily. This gives content companies every incentive to create unofficial blacklists of websites, which service providers would be under pressure to block without regard to the First Amendment.

Service providers would be forced to monitor and police their users’ activities as well, threatening the DMCA safe harbors that have been vital to online innovation over the last decade. SOPA gives the government new powers to go after sites that provide information about tools that might be used to bypass the blacklists – even though these are often the same tools used by democratic activists around the world to bypass Internet censorship mechanisms implemented by authoritarian governments like Iran and China.

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) have led the charge in explaining how the blacklist bills threaten the very infrastructure of the open Internet, joined by a growing, bipartisan, group of Congress members. The White House also recently stated it will not support a bill that threatens free speech, innovation, and Internet security. But every Senator and Representative should be opposing the PROTECT IP Act and SOPA and we need to hold the White House to its word. Contact your members of Congress today to speak out!

We would like to personally thank Giganews and FastUsenet along with the EFF, Reddit, Wikipedia, Google, WordPress and everyone else working to fight against censorship.  Their efforts deserve action so contact your representatives today!  Let them know your views on the pending SOPA and PIPA legislation.

Here are some screenshots of the messages on some very popular websites today.

Google

Wikipedia

WordPress

As we write this post the Reddit site isn’t down yet but they will be in a few hours.  Their community has made a big impact on the effort to fight the SOPA and PIPA legislation.  As Reddit says in their post ‘There are powerful forces trying to censor the Internet‘.  We agree and encourage everyone to join in the fight against censorship.

Update: now that Reddit is down for the SOPA / PIPA protest we wanted to also share a screenshot of the site:

Reddit

Here are some more sites involved in today’s censorship protest:

Mozilla

Wired

Boing Boing

MoveOn.org

Craigslist

Follow us on Twitter @NewsgroupRevs for the latest Usenet news.

Filed Under: Usenet Providers, Xtra Tagged With: , ,

Newshosting Client – Pausing Individual Downloads

January 13, 2012 By

Today we’d like to talk about a new feature in version 1.2.1 of Newshosting’s Usenet client.  Namely the ability to pause individual downloads.  As we’ve recently covered other enhancements like download scheduler and NZB auto-import.  Pausing individual downloads gives you more control over you’re queue.  As you can pause a download to allow others to finish.  Especially useful if you’re waiting for a particular download to complete.

The Newshosting newsreader is free to all members.  Download the latest version for Windows, Mac or Linux.  If you aren’t already using Newshosting we highly recommend their service.  New members can enjoy unlimited Usenet access with the client and Usenet search for only $9.99 a month or $99 a year.

Newshosting Client : Pausing Individual Downloads

To pause individual downloads inside the Newshosting client you’ll want to take a look at your queue.  To do so simply click on the Transfers icon at the top of the screen.  From there you can pause and resume individual downloads.  Giving you more flexibility in managing your downloads in the queue.

To pause a download right click on the description and click on Pause.

To resume a download right click on the description and click on Resume.

That’s all there is to it.  Now you can easily pause and resume individual downloads.  Enjoy downloading!

Visit Newsgroup Reviews to compare newsreaders and follow us @NewsgroupRevs for the latest offers.

Filed Under: Newshosting, Newshosting Client, Newsreaders, Usenet Providers Tagged With: ,

NewsgroupDirect January Terabyte Tuesday

January 10, 2012 By

What better way to celebrate the beginning of 2012 with our friends at NewsgroupDirect than another edition of their popular Terabyte Tuesday promotion.  If you’re not familiar with the Terabyte Tuesday deal then here’s the scoop.  Today you can save 50% off 1 TB block accounts from NGD.  Making the price $50 rather than $100. Make sure to sign up before 12 AM EST on January 11th to take advantage of the Terabyte Tuesday special.

NewsgroupDirect block accounts are an excellent option for infrequent Usenet use and as a backup or fill account.  We especially like NGD since they offer non-expiring block accounts.  As do some other leading Usenet providers, but not for $50 a TB.  That’s an excellent price considering it works our to just $0.20 a GB.  NGD block members enjoy 1,242+ days of binary retention along with 50 connections and free SSL encryption.

Remember to sign up before 12 AM EST on January 11th to take advantage of the Terabyte Tuesday special.

Visit Newsgroup Reviews to learn more about Usenet.  Follow us @NewsgroupRevs for the latest deals.

Filed Under: NewsgroupDirect, Usenet Providers Tagged With:

Newshosting Client : NZB Auto-Import

January 9, 2012 By

NZB auto-import is one of the new features in the latest version of Newshosting’s popular Usenet client.  Version 1.2.1 brought the newsreader out of beta and included NZB auto-import along with a new download scheduler and the ability to pause individual downloads.  Last Friday we talked about setting up the download scheduler.  Today we’d like to follow that up with a quick guide for configuring the NZB auto-import feature.

The Newshosting Usenet client is free to all subscribers.  You can download the latest version from their site.  If you aren’t already a Newshosting member we highly recommend you check out their special offer.  Enjoy unlimited newsgroup access with the newsreader and Usenet search for only $9.99 a month or $99 a year.

Newshosting Client : Configuring NZB Auto-Import

Setting up NZB auto-import in Newshosting’s client is a simple process.  Start by opening the client and focus on the menu options at the top of the screen.  Click on Options – Settings or press CTRL+, (ctrl comma).  After the settings box opens go down to the Inport icon on the left.  You’ll then see the following screen:

As you can see we’ve already configured the auto import folder in our screenshot above.  You’ll want to do the same.  First clicking on the Auto Import Folder checkbox.  Then choose the Folder to watch.  This is the folder the Newshosting client will ping for NZB files.  Anytime it finds an NZB file in the target folder it will automatically import it into the client.  Now you have two options.  You can let Newshosting delete the NZB file after import or move the NZB files to another folder after import.  Our preference was to move them to another folder.

That’s all there is to setting up Newshosting’s new NZB auto-import feature.  Enjoy downloading!

Visit Newsgroup Reviews to compare newsreaders and follow us @NewsgroupRevs for the latest offers.

Filed Under: Newshosting, Newshosting Client, Newsreaders, Usenet Providers Tagged With: ,

Newshosting Client : Download Scheduler

January 6, 2012 By

Newshosting released version 1.2.1 of their popular Usenet client a couple weeks ago.  Marking the first public ‘non-beta’ version of the newsreader.  They didn’t just remove the ‘beta’ tag though as version 1.2.1 included some nice new features including a download scheduler, nzb auto-import and the ability to pause individual downloads.  Today we’d like to walk you through setting up the new download scheduler.

Not a Newshosting member?  Enjoy unlimited Usenet with the free client for just $9.99 a month or $99 a year.

Newshosting Client : Configuring the Download Scheduler

Setting up the new download schedule in Newshosting’s client is a breeze.  Simply open the client and look to the menu options at the top of the screen.  Click on Options – Settings or press CTRL+, (ctrl comma).  After the settings box opens go down to the Scheduler icon on the left.  You’ll then see the following screen:

The first thing you want to do is enable the scheduler.  To do that simply click the Use Download Scheduler checkbox.  Then you can go through and select which hours you want the newsreader to download.  When your done making selections click Apply and then OK.  That’s all there is to setting up the download scheduler.  Stay tunes as next week we’ll take a look at the nzb auto-import feature and pausing individual downloads.

Visit Newsgroup Reviews to compare Usenet clients and follow us @NewsgroupRevs for the latest deals.

Filed Under: Newshosting, Newshosting Client, Newsreaders, Usenet Providers Tagged With: ,

Giganews Dump Truck Online Storage Review

January 4, 2012 By

We’ve been waiting for WebDAV support to test Giganews new online storage service – Dump Truck.  Giganews partnered with Golden Frog to offer members Dump Truck online storage.  Golden Frog also developed their Mimo Usenet client and VyprVPN service.  They had a strong end of the year releasing a VPN client for VyprVPN along with Dump Truck access for all Giganews members and most recently adding WebDAV support.

Before jumping into our hands-on review of Dump Truck we’d like to first share some of the features we observed along with future updates and the base storage offered with each Giganews account type.

Dump Truck Features

Here are some of the features we noticed while testing the Dump Truck service:

  • Simple web user interface
  • Easy to create folders and navigate
  • Drag and drop files (under 200 MB)
  • HTML uploader for files over 200 MB
  • SSL file transfer plus AES encryption
  • We tested Dump Truck with Air Sharing WebDAV app via iPad
  • For a full list of features visit the Giganews Dump Truck page

Giganews also mentions the following features to come:

  • iOS and Android Apps (WebDAV apps already available)
  • Windows and Mac clients
  • Public and private sharing
  • Personal encryption keys

The sharing features along with personal encryption key will add a new dimension to the service.

Dump Truck Storage Pricing

Here is a list of Giganews base storage and add-on storage prices:

  • Diamond members – 30 GB free
  • All other members – 5 GB free
  • 50 GB extra – $9.99 a month
  • 100 GB extra – $19.99 a month
  • 500 GB extra – $69.99 a month
  • 1 TB extra – $99.99 a month

Hands-On Dump Truck Review

We started by testing the Giganews Dump Truck online storage service via Firefox on a Windows 7 system.  First uploading an Umphrey’s McGee concert (nugs.net purchase) which amounted to 282 MB.  The upload took about 14 minutes to complete.  Here’s a screenshot of the music being uploaded to Dump Truck.

As you can see there is a progress bar at the bottom that shows how far along you are in the current upload.  Along with a usage bar to the left showing how much storage you have used along with how much free storage is still available.  You might also notice up top that we created an Umphreys folder for the songs.

The first test went well.  It took some time to upload but everything worked just fine.  Next we tried to upload a Ubuntu distro of 712 MB.  We tried via drag and drop but received a message that files larger than 200 MB needed to be uploaded through their HTML uploader.  Here’s the HTML upload screen:

After browsing out to the Ubuntu file we set it to upload.  The status showed uploading with the file name at the bottom of the screen but the progress bar never budged.  We gave up after two and a half hours and cancelled the Ubuntu upload.  The files up to 30 MB in size uploaded well but the 712 MB file appeared to hang.

Dump Truck WebDAV Testing

We were especially interested in testing the new WebDAV support for iPhone and iPad.  Since the Air Sharing iOS apps are sold separately (iPhone vs iPad) we decided to test on the iPad for the larger screen.  The Air Sharing app was easy to download ($3.99) and setup was a breeze using Giganews Air Sharing guide.

After downloading the app and adding the Dump Truck storage as a new server we were able to access our Umphrey’s tunes on the iPad.  We tested playing a song which quickly downloaded and started playing on the iPad.  The process of setting up and using the iPad for Dump Truck to play our music was seamless.

Dump Truck Review – Conclusion

We enjoyed testing the Dump Truck service and look forward to the future updates.  Especially the Windows / Mac apps and file sharing options.  The only issue we had was trying to upload the 712 MB Ubuntu file.  Something we’ll test again once the Windows client is released.  All in all though we were impressed by the service.  It’s simply a place to store files for now along with the WebDAV support.  Soon though the service will take on a new life with the public / private file sharing features.  Stay tuned for more Dump Truck coverage.

Visit Newsgroup Reviews to learn more about Usenet.  Follow us @NewsgroupRevs for the latest news.

Filed Under: Dump Truck, Giganews, Usenet Providers, Xtra Tagged With: ,

Newshosting Usenet Client Version 1.2.1

December 20, 2011 By

The Newshosting client v 1.2.1 comes with several enhancements.  We’ve enjoyed the newsreader since the first beta was released in August and are excited to share that it’s now out of beta.  You can read our Newshosting client review to learn more about the Usenet browser.  Better yet download it for yourself.  The new version 1.2.1 is freely available for new and existing members.  Those new to the service can enjoy unlimited Usenet access with the free client and search functionality for just $9.99 a month or $99 a year.

Here’s a full list of new features and enhancements in the Newshosting client v1.2.1

New Features

• Downloads can be paused individually

• NZB Auto Import. Monitors a folder for NZB files, imports and deletes or moves them afterwards.

• Download Scheduler. The download scheduler can be enabled in the settings dialog. It’s configurable based on time-of-day for different types of downloads, normal downloads, previews and images. This will help you take advantage of your bandwidth when you’re not using it for other purposes.

 

Enhancements

• Download scheduler can now be disabled on a per-download basis.

• Additional default window sizes.

• If a download is paused due to the download scheduler it now shows when the download will resume.

• New RAR version.

• Drop support for NZB files. Dropping an NZB over the main application window imports the NZB.

• An alert message is displayed if a user tries to close the settings dialog without having saved the changes made.

• Reorganized the settings dialog because of the new features included.

Bug Fixes

• Previously used window size and position wasn’t restored on Mac OS X.

• In some situations the download scheduler prevented some downloads to start although they should have started.

• Windows XP now remembers the the path that was used in the open file dialog.

• In some situations the previous window size wasn’t restored properly in Windows.

Cheers to the Newshosting client developers for their latest innovations to the popular newsreader.  We look forward to their continued efforts in the year ahead.

Visit Newsgroup Reviews to compare newsreaders and follow us @NewsgroupRevs for the latest offers.

Filed Under: Newshosting, Newshosting Client, Newsreaders, Usenet Providers Tagged With: ,
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