I have tried several including the following:
- Astraweb
- NewsgroupDirect
- NewsDemon
- Altbinaries
- Teranews
- Easynews
Here is my take on each:
I currently subscribe monthly to
Easynews. Have been with them for about 2+yrs now and like their web interface (although, recently it has had major problems), but I am probably going to cancel with them soon cause better deals can be had elsewhere. The thing I have always liked about Easynews was their rollover option. Unused bandwidth rolls over to the next month & accumulates. I'm sure there are some others that have this option too.
I also currently have block accounts with
NewsgroupDirect and
Astraweb. Both have been great too & I have been happy with them. While most here probably use the $11/month unlimited plan with Astraweb, I also like how they have block account options. I don't really download a lot each month so a block account option fits my needs & budget better. And with their recent announcement of increasing retention to 365 days, it can't be beat. NewsgroupDirect is at 200 days too so not to shabby either.
I had a trial account with
Newsdemon and have been taking note of their service as well. They were pretty good while I had them and would definitely consider them on a permanent basis. Especially since they have announced their retention levels being upgraded to 400 days. This is the largest I have seen in the usenet industry (except Newshosting=400 days too). I suspect others will probably follow suit though. Also, Newsdemon has a good cheap $2.99/month basic account too that would fit my needs. Its only about 7.5GB of bandwidth, but if you're a light user, that would be ideal. This light account level doesn't include SSL though.
Altbinaries has been good too. Their retention might not be as high as others (around 200 days), but the one unique thing that attracted me to them was that you can customize your own monthly package with them (2-150gb/month) and can be changed as needed. Free SSL too. I just signed up with them & am checking them out with 3gb/month for about $1.44/month. I think they have the rollover option as well, but not 100% sure yet. They also now have an option of having a one time charge for a specified amount of bandwidth over a designated period of time. This seems like a unique feature too and I consider it sort of a hybrid type account. Cross between a block account and monthly account. So far, their service has been good too.
Finally, I have been with
Teranews for about 4 yrs now & probably the longest for me. I have been under their free account option & its only about 62mb/day for a free account. I know, not a lot, but I have no monthly fees so its something. Their service has been good for the most parts in terms of completion. They recently added SSL too. Their retention levels aren't great compared to the others & nowhere near the big boys, but like I said, its free & I have no monthly fees with them so I can't really complain. I think rentetion for them is around 110 days.
Altbinaries, NewsgroupDirect & Newsdemon all offer a free registered copy of NewRover too so that is some pluses to consider. Although, I use Newsleecher with all and am happy with this as well so I'll probably just stick with this instead.
If I had to pick just one to stay with today, I would probably say ASTRAWEB. It's the best bang for the buck & probably the best deal out there going now. Monthly and block account options to choose from, great speeds, free SSL, good completion levels and extremely high retention. Although, Newsdemon is one I am keeping an eye on & close watch with too.
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