Usenet - Can I just buy a block of bandwidth?

ferret face · 7 Nov 2006 at 12:19

Hi,
I am new to Usenet and have had a scan around but they all seem to be offering monthly contracts.

Is it possible to just buy 1 block of say 30GB and they retain it until you have used it all up and then you can buy another block?

Cheers
Ferret

z0mbi3 · 7 Nov 2006 at 12:23

I thought it was cheaper just to go uncapped for a month.

Mine costs ~£8

Phemo · 7 Nov 2006 at 12:26

Depends on your usenet provider. But yes, surely it's cheaper to just go with an unlimited provider? Newshosting works out to around £8 a month and Giganews works out to around £13 a month.

ferret face · 7 Nov 2006 at 13:07

Yes but I don't want to be tied to a monthly account as I may not download much in 1 month.

Topgun · 7 Nov 2006 at 13:45

usenet-news.net sell non expiring blocks and they are quite cheap too. Although their website is pretty naff they are Highwinds-media resellers so the service is pretty decent.

Scope · 7 Nov 2006 at 14:21

Im using astraweb and pay $25 for 90gb. It does not expire and is cheap than the subscribing by the month if you dont download that much.

Keep an eye on the retention rate (how long they keep stuff on their servers).. Astraweb is currently 25 days, about to increase to 35 days (is the rumour, anyway).

hood1971 · 7 Nov 2006 at 14:25

I know easynews has a rollover with a cost of $9.98 for 20 Gigabytes - www.easynews.com

Whilst giganews doesn't offer rollover they are by far the best provider I've used. Over 80 day retention with 99% completion

ferret face · 7 Nov 2006 at 15:31

ok thanks guys,
one more question could i just sign up to Giganews for one month then cancel my account and then at a later date open my account up again?

ferret

hood1971 · 7 Nov 2006 at 15:38

I've used giganews a few times off and on - so cant see a problem with that

ferret face · 7 Nov 2006 at 15:42

ok cheers I'll give em a go

ferret

z0mbi3 · 7 Nov 2006 at 16:17

Gotta say newshosting is a better deal than gigapoo

no_1_dave · 7 Nov 2006 at 20:39

Newshosting is constantly messing up & screwing up binaries. Giganews is far more reliable

ferret face · 8 Nov 2006 at 00:00

now I'm confused....
do I go with Gigapoo or Newshosting???

anyone

wesley · 8 Nov 2006 at 00:13

i'm with newshosting, £8 a month for unlimited, monthly contract

you can cancel/stop payment anytime you wish via control panel at newshosting website

very good

Phemo · 8 Nov 2006 at 01:15

Depends how fast your connection is really. I had both Giganews and Newshosting accounts at one point and Giganews was the only one to give me 1200KB/sec all the time, regardless of what time of day.

On the other hand, Newshosting is nice and cheap, but for me the extra £5 is well worth it for an extra 500KB/sec or so.

z0mbi3 · 8 Nov 2006 at 08:27

I always get good speeds and rarely any troubles with newshosting.

It is better value than gigapoo.

hood1971 · 8 Nov 2006 at 09:39

Both newshosting and giganews get good comments about speed, but most people rate giganews as better with completion. Also giganews' retention if far superior.

Completion is not a major worry as most people will post pars, but it can be annoying waiting for the repair.

It basically comes down to retention and price. Giganews is cheaper for the limited bandwidth deal $13 for 26GB - newshosting $10 for 10GB

The unlimited offer NH is cheaper by a long way but you only get half the retention - 45 days instead of 90 days with GN.

I've used both and moved from NH as at one stage their completion sucked, but based on posts it seems they have sorted that out. For me personally the limited 26GB deal from GN is perfect, but if you want the unlimited deals you could try the GN free trail for 3 days (1GB cap), cancel then sign up for a month at NH and see for yourself.