My server no longer does newsgroups

tazfan06 · Post by **tazfan06** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 6:33 am

I am going crazy.Can I still get newsgroups eventhough my internet server does not carry them anymore.Please Help

alex · Post by **alex** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 7:36 am

maybe to subscribe to ngroups, it is $30 per quarter while they have sale most likely until the end of the year.

i'll email you test account so you can check them out (i don't have any commercial interest here, no affiliate comissions etc.).

i think it is the best offer you can find very far from giganews' $30 per month

sapjes · Post by **sapjes** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:14 pm

Could you send me that cheap one too ? I'm curious

alex · Post by **alex** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm

ok sent

i don't have time to check them carefully, so compare with what you have.

they resell the same company which runs UNS, newshosting and easynews (maybe different server farms though)

zot · Post by **zot** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 10:35 pm

I've used them, and it's been a decent company for me (except for the frequent SSL problems I had on their "beta" SSL server, detailed in my previous post). Excellent tech support, in my experience with them. Emails to ngroups/usenet-news are usually answered within a few minutes, 24/7.

I'm not sad that Highwinds closed the Atlanta (UNS) server, and hopefully this new Ashburn, Virginia location will spoolup to match or beat Giganews' retention - and have fewer problems than UNS.

alex · Post by **alex** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:19 am

i think the best for users is to be in position to compare actual performance of different usenet providers through test accounts without even displaying your credit card, to shake off effects of advertising and the effect of being lazy or just forgetting to cancel trial subcription which turns into real one automatically, a subscription which may not deliver enough value.

zot · Post by **zot** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 2:23 am

The only account I know of that permanently offers a free trial without a credit card is XenNews, which is the new service that HitNews has been transferring its non-Dutch customers to.

http://www.xennews.com

With (claimed) 200 day retention, a Xennews trial account makes a great fill-server. I used them once when their advertised retention was 120 days, and I got files from 140 days.

I wonder how long Xennews will keep this trial open. I know a few people who were abusing it and signing up for dozens of trials, and I'm sure they are not the only ones.

I would assume (or at least hope) that newsreader developers get free testing accounts from all the major NSPs upon request.