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Basic guide to downloading with Usenet/Newsgroups


Steve

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Usenet/Newsgroups are one of the best ways to download all kinds of files. The main disadvantage of Usenet is that you need to pay to have access, but if you're a heavy downloader it's more than worth it IMO.

 

Some advantages of Usenet over torrents and other forms of downloading: -

 

1. You will usually always be able to max out your connection straight away, achieving the fastest speeds.

2. There's no share ratio to maintain, in fact you're not uploading anything at all which makes it more secure.

3. Once files are on a server, they will stay there for at least 200 days (depending on your level of service).

4. You can use SSL encryption (usually at an extra cost) if privacy is a concern.

 

So what do you need to get started? 2 things - A Usenet client and a Usenet account. Personally, I use Grabit for my client because it's free, easy to use and it has all of the basic features you're going to need. For Usenet access I use Giganews as they're extremely reliable, offer the best retention (how long files stay on the server), and they have plans starting at 3 dollars a month along with free trials so you can see if Usenet is for you.

 

How to download. The easiest way is with NZB files. If you've used BitTorrent, then it's a similar thing to .torrent files. You download the NZB file, double click it, and that launches your Usenet client and the files will start to download.

 

Where to find NZB files. There are a few good free Usenet search engines, Binsearch and Newzleech being two examples. I use Newzbin which is not free (prices run up to 30p a week depending on how many weeks you pay for, and it gets cheaper the more weeks you buy), but it offers several features that the free sites don't offer, such as being fully indexed making it very easy to find what you want. Newzbin is an invite only site, so if you need an invite just let me know in PM.

 

It takes a few days to get used to using Usenet to download files, but once you do, IMO there's no better way to download. If you try it and you need some help getting it set up, or searching for files, just post in this thread and I'll help you out.

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  • 3 years later...

I would definitely recommend trying a free trial at least. It's something I never looked into for years as I didn't really understand it and I didn't know what was available, but once I used it, it became my favourite way of downloading stuff.

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I tried it once but it was pretty overwhelming. Might give it a go again. How do you manage so much media? Do you actually save everything or delete most stuff once you watch it?

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