DOGnzb Father’s Day Special

The team at DOGnzb is celebrating Father’s Day with a special. If you renew or extend your DOGnzb account before June 21st you can enjoy up to a year of additional access added to your account. We’ll share the forum post in a moment but to summarize, you get 1 year free with 3-5 years extensions or 6 months free with one year renewals. The site has open registration for those who don’t already have an account. Remember to sign up or renew your VIP status by June 21st to take advantage of the promotion.

Here’s the scoop taken directly from the announcement on the DOGnzb forum:

Renew (or extend) your VIP membership before June 21st and you will receive up to 365 extra days. If you renew for one year, you will get 6 additional months added to your membership. If you renew for 3 or 5 years, you will get an additional year added to your membership.

Please note, that the additional time will NOT be mentioned anywhere, but rest assured it will be automatically added when your payment is automatically processed.

If paying with Bitcoins, make sure to pay the suggested transaction fee, if not your payment could take hours, days or weeks to confirm properly.

(this offer can only be applied once. if you already received a free year from us during 2017, you cannot use this promotion again).

You will still need both a Usenet provider and client software to download your favorite newsgroup content. Don’t forget to check out the latest Usenet deals and special offers on our main Newsgroup Reviews site.

NZB Sites with Open Registration

Feb. 13, 2017 update: Dognzb is currently open to new registrations.  I’m not sure how long it will last so if you want in I suggest you register right away.  You’ll have 30 days to try out the site.  During that time you will need to upgrade to VIP which now costs $15 a year (plus $10 service charge) if you want to continue using the NZB site.

Nov. 15, 2016 update: Registration is open at SimplyNZBs. New users can register for an account and immediately gain access to the site. Access over 1500 days of backfill across 192 newsgroups. As a free member you have limited API and site access. VIP members get up to 5000 API hits a day. You can register now at https://simplynzbs.com/

June 30, 2016 update: 6box is currently open for registration.  The admin accidentally deleted some active users while working to clear dead accounts.  Rather than send out invites he has opened the site for registration.  To register simply visit https://6box.me/register

July 25, 2014 update: NZBSooti is open to new members thru Sunday.  If you haven’t checked out their site yet I recommend it.  Just remember to sign up by Sunday.  To register visit https://www.nzbsooti.sx/.  In addition NMatrix is offering 50% off account upgrades this weekend.  The cost is $5 for life if you upgrade by Sunday.  To register and upgrade visit https://www.nmatrix.co.za/

June 10, 2014 update: Dognzb is currently open to new registrations.  I’m not sure how long it will last so if you want in I suggest you register right away.  You’ll have 30 days to try out the site.  During that time you will need to upgrade to VIP for a one time fee of $10 if you want to continue using the NZB site.

April 17, 2014 update: nMatrix is getting ready to go private.  If you’d like to become a member before they go private visit https://www.nmatrix.co.za/.  You will need to sign up and then upgrade to VIP status to keep access.

Mar. 7, 2014 update: NZBSooti is open to new members this weekend.  If you haven’t checked out their site yet I recommend it.  Just remember to sign up by Sunday.  To register visit https://www.nzbsooti.sx/register

Feb. 1, 2014 update: nMatrix is opening registration for one day.  Make sure to sign for a free account on February 1st.  The registration window will end at midnight EST.  To register visit https://www.nmatrix.co.za/register

Jan. 10, 2014 update: Dognzb opened registration to celebrate the New Years holiday.  New users have 30 days to try out the site for free.  To keep your account active they requite that you upgrade to VIP in the first 30 days.  The cost is $10 for VIP access.

I know a lot of Usenet fans have been looking around for new NZB sites and search engines since Newzbin2 and NZBMatrix closed down.  You’ll be happy to know there are several new options.  Obviously they aren’t as complete as the big dogs of the past but give them time.  Better yet each of the sites we’re about to list is open to new registrations so you won’t need an invite.  The sites are free to join and use.  Some of them offer premium accounts or VIP status based on donations.  Check them all out and see what you think.

Nzb.su open registration

From what we’ve seen so far it seems like there are a few new NZB sites and Usenet search engines that have a shot of being the next NZBMatrix.  Their are several contenders and our favorite is nzbX.  Again though registration is open at all these sites as we’re writing so we recommend you sign up for each and try them all out.  Find the best fit for you.  Several of them are built off Newznab so you’ll notice similarities.

Here’s a list of NZB sites that are free to use or have open registration:

  1. DognzbDognzb.cr (lately they have been opening registration for short periods every few weeks)
  2. Nzb.suNzb.su (closed to new members other than by invitation)
  3. NzbplanetNzbplanet.net
  4. NZB FinderNzbfinder.ws
  5. Nznindex.inNzbindex.in
  6. NZBFriendsNzbfriends.com
  7. FindNZBFindnzb.net
  8. NZBidNzbid.org
  9. BiNZBBinzb.com
  10. FastNZBfastnzb.info

Remember to sign up for the new sites while they’re open for registration.  We’d like to wish each of the new NZB sites and search engines the best in building an active community of Usenet fans.

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

DOGnzb Lifetime Users Find Themselves Limited

September 2016 update – DOGnzb recently opened registration for new users.  All new members get 10 days of free access to test the site.  From there you are required to donate to keep your account active.  Otherwise the staff will delete the free account and you will need to wait until they offer another open registration period.  Up until last year, DOGnzb users were offered VIP lifetime memberships.  That’s no longer the case and in fact “lifetime” memberships were reduced to one year of VIP and then converted to Lite accounts which limit use.

Here’s a list of the current subscriptions DOGnzb is offering:

  • $15 donation for one year of VIP access
  • $35 donation for three years of VIP access
  • $50 donation for five years of VIP access
  • $10 free for credit card transactions, no added fee is using bitcoin.

Original post – November 2015

In late October DOGnzb decided to step back and close registrations for the year.  They are changing the way memberships are structured.  In years past you could sign up for lifetime access.  Long gone are the days of signing up for a $10 lifetime account.  In fact those who signed up for lifetime access will soon have ‘lite’ accounts which are only good for occasional use.  A DOGpass will give you full access to the site.  Current members will be able to purchase a DOGpass for $15 a year plus a $10 service fee which includes a t-shirt.  They also have longer term plans that cost $35 for 3 years or $50 for 5 years plus the same $10 service fee.

Here’s the message DOGnzb staff posted in their forum:

Ok, so I have some bad news. I’ll get right to the point. Lifetime access as you know it will be changing. This was a hard decision to make, it’s not easy going back on something previously offered, but the fact of the matter is the site is becoming hard to sustain with the current model, and just keeping registrations opened, and letting new users sign-up is not a good idea. The costs of operating, hosting, running and updating 6 servers are significant.

I know probably a large majority of the user base will be alienated right of the bat, but what is the alternative? To close up a site that is unable to sustain itself in 6-12 months.

So better to make the changes now, keep the current user base, and go back to keeping a low profile.

So starting today, registrations are closed. Invites will come back in some form next year. An annual membership needs to be paid to have full access to all our features, and DOGpass subscriptions will be eliminated (all former DOGpass functionality will now be available to every member).

In both cases, please check your profile pages for information on your updated expiration date. When the current subscription expires, any user that decides NOT TO renew their premium subscription will be moved to a LITE tier. Access to the website will still be possible, but daily download quota and API calls will be considerably limited, Watchlists and Custom Searches will be disabled, as well as IMDb and Trakt sync.

You will still have lifetime access to the site, accounts will NOT be purged, but it will be a ‘lite’ account (perfect for occasional use, or for people that use us primarily as a backup).

What does this mean for current users? It basically depends on when you originally registered.

For members that registered after December 1st 2014, your lifetime payment, will be converted to a 1 year subscription, starting on the date of your registration. If you were also a DOGpass member your expiration dates will be increased by an additional year.

If you registered before December 1st 2014, your subscriptions will expire on the same month/day of your registration, so expirations will be staggered during the next 12 months. If you’re were also a DOGpass member, you will retain your current expiration date.

Pricing is the same as DOGpass was: $15 for 1 year, $35 for 3 years, and $50 for 5 years. For now, payment still involves a third party website that manages the transactions for an extra $10 service charge (included with the cost of the T-Shirt). Unfortunately, I’ve been vocal here in the past about the problems we’ve had with PayPal, Coinbase etc. So it’s better to just do a 3 or 5 year extension if you can.

Bitcoin payments are also possible at this moment. We are looking into other payment alternatives.

For users that registered recently (last 60 days), your expiration date has been bumped up manually. Also users that have separately donated in the past, you can contact any staff member for instructions on how to get bumped up also.

These features, previously available only for DOGpass users, are now available for everyone:

  • Exclusive regex rules and deobfuscation algorithms result in additional NZBs available
  • Fine tune your Watchlist delay setting and retention limits.
  • Sync from IMDb and Trakt watchlists every 60 minutes
  • Trigger metadata refresh of any TV show or Movie
  • Push notifications alerts to your mobile phone.
  • iCal feeds of your TV Show Watchlist.
  • Custom Searches and RSS feeds updated hourly.
  • Passthrough and Emulation APIs for mobile phones.
  • Primary and Secondary Push Queues.
  • View NZB contents and perform partial downloads.
  • Mobile Website Interface

I understand this will not be a popular decision, and I expect a lot of complaints. But please try to understand, we are trying to make things work in the long run.

It will be interesting to see if members who were downgraded from lifetime to lite plans decide to pay more for a DOGpass or search for alternatives.  Things are further complicated by the restrictions placed on payments.  DOGnzb requires a third party payment processor which adds $10 to any payment.  While they include a t-shirt for the $10, most people aren’t interested in the site for a shirt.  After being downgraded some users are also likely to be skeptical about signing up for a long term account.

DOGnzb is a quality site.  I disagree with their decision to limit lifetime accounts.  They made a commitment to users who gladly donated for the memberships in the past.  Those users are likely to look elsewhere.  Those who have been waiting for an invite will likely get an opportunity to join the site in the months to come.  You just need to consider the fees involved.  Some will find the site a good value while others will rely on alternatives.

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

DOGnzb API Server and URL Update

Are you having issues with DOGnzb giving an error that looks something like this one “No data returned from http://dognzb.cr/api?apikey” lately?  If so we have good news.  DOGnzb isn’t broken and the fix is simple.  You just need to update the API URL.  DOGnzb rolled out a new API server along with a new URL.  You’ll want to use either https://api.dognzb.cr or http://api.dognzb.cr depending on your profile configuration.

DOGnzb API update

Here’s the URL structure for the old API server:

  • http://dognzb.cr/api

If you are still using that in SABnzbd then you’re getting errors as DOGnzb is moving everything over to the new server.  To fix the issue simply change your API URL to one of the following:

  • https://api.dognzb.cr
  • http://api.dognzb.cr

Whether or not you use https is up to you but a little extra privacy never hurts.  While we’re on the topic of privacy I wanted to pass along that DOGnzb was not affected by the heartbleed bug.  The bug impacted those running OpenSSL v1.0.1.  Since DOGnzb is still running OpenSSL 0.9.8 they were not affected.  With that said if you use the same password across multiple sites it’s time to change that strategy.  Better safe than sorry.

Anytime we mention DOGnzb there are requests for invitations.  My suggestion is that you keep an eye on our NZB sites post along with r/usenet for the latest open registrations.  The DOGnzb team has been kind in opening the site to new users a few times already this year.  If you get a chance in the weeks or months to come I definitely recommend you sign up.  When you do the site is free to use for 30 days.  From there you can get a VIP membership for a $10 one-time fee.  I personally think the project is well worth supporting with a donation.

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