Beginners Guide to Usenet [Part 2 - Signing up for a Usenet Subscription]

Back to [Part 1 - Introduction]

Lets walk through the steps involved in signing up for a Usenet subscription
This is the easiest part of getting started with Usenet!

First you need to choose a Usenet subscription service that suites you.



For most of the people who have come this far an unlimited account is probably what you want.
Anyone who downloads only occasionally is probably happy to sort through torrents and maintain an entirely free existence. There exist plenty of tiered plans, but this guide is aimed at the type of people who download more more than a few movies a month.

First you have to choose what server you want to go with...

This part is just like any other type of shopping.

You have to look around and check which servers offer the type of features you want. Then weigh the costs against the benefits and decide who you want to give your money to.

I am going to make this easy for you...

I'll give you three to choose from that all have similar features and cheap unlimited plans. Then I'll tell you which one I happily use. Then I will show you how to use your server after you give them ~$10.

1. Usenetserver - All plans are unlimited download capacity.
• 10 connection ($13.32) vs. 20 connection ($15.98)
• The more connections you pay for, the faster you will be able to download.
• free SSL
• retention = 1642
2. Newshosting - Currently offering a discounted unlimited plan at ($9.99)
• 30 connections
• free SSL
• retention = 1642 days
3. Easynews - No unlimited plans!!!
• Current prices are a bit higher for this server, but they still offer good service.
• Their classic plan is only $9.95 and includes 20GB of download capacity per month. Unused bandwith rolls over to the next month and caps at 500GB.

So what do I use?

I am a subscriber to Usenetserver. 

Their service has been flawless since I signed up last year. I can ALWAYS download at the maximum speed available on my DSL. Their retention of files has been nearly perfect, with very few missing files due to DMCA takedown.

Since I subscribed to Usenetserver, they have changed their pricing schemes and plans, but they continue to charge me on a month to month basis at the original lower rate, and still allow me the higher connection count (20). This is a very nice bit of customer service, and it goes a long way with me. They could easily have pushed me down to the new slower cheaper plan, but they didn't. Very nice!

If Usenetserver were to suddenly cease to exist, I would certainly migrate to Newshosting, but I am currently happy where I am.

If you have an internet connection greater than 30mbps I would consider recommending Newshosting since they are offering 30 connections right now. However, I have a 30mbps line and it is easily saturated by 20 connections even with SSL slowing them down.

Sign up for an account!

Time to sign up for an account!

• First, click on any of the links above to be directed to the corresponding page.
• Next, sign up for an account with the company of your choice.
• Pay using the month to month option
• I prefer to pay with paypal, but they all accept various forms of payment.
• I also prefer montly payments because you never know if the Government is going to step in next week and shut the entire site down. If that happens on a monthly plan, you lose $10. If it happens on a yearly plan, you lose $100. Your choice...
• When you are creating an account, you have the option to refer this site!
• If you feel like being nice, put "hobogeek" in the referral box. Doing so will help me to keep the lights on, and writing helpful posts for people like you! This costs you nothing, and will earn you my everlasting gratitude!
• When your account is created and your payment has been processed, you will receive an email containing your server address and port #

You are now ready to set uo your download client sabNZBD+

[Part 3 - Install & Configure sabNZBD+]