In the universe of file sharing technologies, Usenet – in particular the binary newsgroups – has become one of the top methods for downloading files, having a combination of high speed, wide file variety, and near-absolute safety – since unlike traditional P2P networks such as Gnutella, eDonkey and BitTorrent, there is no sharing or uploading required of the user. The introduction of NZB files and Par files, and the development of specialized binary ‘grabbing’ software have greatly simplified downloading. The increased retention of most news providers, as well as the increase in the amount of content being posted each day, has further enriched this resource. Concurrent with these developments, internet service providers have been penalizing traditional P2P users by mandating increasingly asymmetric download:upload bandwidth ratios for residential cable and DSL customers. Therefore, P2P users will, on average, download only as fast as their much-smaller upload capacity will allow, leaving most of their download bandwidth capacity unutilized. Since the Binary newsgroup files are downloaded directly from the news provider’s high-speed server farm, users can usually download at their full line speed. P2P users served with takedown notices from anti-P2P organizations accusing them of sharing copyrighted files – and under threat of losing their internet service for any additional “violations” – might do well to take a break from P2P and switch to binary newsgroups as their primary source of downloads.
To many experienced users, binary newsgroup access is virtually a commodity service. Therefore, the main objective in selecting a news provider is to find a dependable service with the longest retention and best prices in the desired service plan. Beginning users who require a lot of hand-holding might put a high priority on finding a provider that offers good customer support, possibly even including instructions on getting started using binary newsgroups. Low-cost Usenet resellers may or may not offer the quality of user support that veteran primary news providers such as Giganews or Easynews have a reputation for providing. While first-time newsgroup users might prefer to stick to a provider who offers round-the-clock fast email response – or even free phone support – seasoned newsgroup users may prefer to save a few dollars by doing without such peripheral frills, and instead focus on getting the most out of what they are paying for. Block accounts serve as an important niche for those users wishing to get the most for their money.
Most premium news service providers offer monthly accounts, which generally have some sort of download cap. Block accounts differ from traditional subscription newsgroup accounts because they do not expire every 30 days, and therefore can be held and accessed indefinitely until the purchased allocation is completely utilized. This can represent a substantial cost savings over monthly subscriptions for users who are light or irregular downloaders.
Although subscription usenet might be viewed almost as a common resource, the prices that providers charge can vary considerably, especially at the low end. For instance industry leader Giganews charges $8/month for 2GB, while [url=http://usenet-news.net]Usenet-News.net charges $2 for a 2GB block that never expires. Since Giganews and Usenet-News (and its Highwinds feed) could be considered roughly comparable in qualities such as download speed, completion, cus
Related
- Verizon Quits Free Usenet Access Sep 30th
- Encrypted Usenet Access Announced by Giganews
- AT&T Quits Free Usenet Access July 15th
- RIAA Targets Usenet, Newsgroup Users Next to Feel its Wrath?
- Giganews Adds FREE VPN to Usenet Service
