Usenet - Question - ...

[kerrywins]

Does your internet provider have to have a news server for you to use usenet?

I'm currently using ygnition for my internet provider and they said they don't have one.

[benburch]

1. Speakeasy!

http://www.speakeasy.net/refer/27339

I totally recommend Speakeasy, and it has a really good usenet server.

[kerrywins]

2. so...your internet provider...has to have a news server?

??

[Twillig]

6. No, your internet provider does not have to have a news server.

you can access the posts via google groups-->Text only.

Or you can search for free or pay usenet servers.

Some of the pay servers offer trial times.

[benburch]

8. No, they don't have to.

And increasingly, they do not.

AOL just dropped theirs, for example. (And lost a lot of subscribers!)

[Sporadicus]

3. You Can Go through Google

'Google Groups' is their gateway to usenet.

[kerrywins]

5. i tried...

google doesn't have alt.binaries

[Guy Fawkes]

12. try this:

www.google.co.uk some of the groups change depending on what gateway to google you use.

[kerrywins]

17. great idea!

they did have alt.binaries...just not the one I needed....but thats cool....i didn;t even know google had a uk site....
that is really cool.....i think I'm gonna spend some time with this...

[Hokie]

4. Most do have one

I have been with at least 6 ISP's over the years and they all provided news servers. Several years ago the ISP I was with quit providing the news server so I dropped them. I called to ask why they did it and they said that the news groups were mostly for porn. What an idiot.

I read that AOL is planning to drop Usenet support. You can also access Usenet through Google Groups just using your browser.

[kerrywins]

7. unfrotunatley

my crappy provider....http://www.ygnition.com/
doesn't have one.
and my apartments have a contract with them...so I can't change providers....
only dsl...but they make you do a 1 year contract...

[benburch]

9. Another alternative is to subscribe to a usenet-only provider.

There are a number of providers out there who sell usenet services to people who already have internet access. Google "Usenet Service Provider".

However, you may wind up paying so much that DSL would look attractive.

Do plug your information into that referral link I posted above, and see what Speakeasy will cost where you are so you have a basis for comparison.

[Twillig]

10. OK-- lot of confusing and bad info so far.

To access newsgroups, particulary the binaries, you do not need the cooperation of your isp.

Sign up to use a pay server perhaps. They will give you all the newsgroups you can handle. I myself use Easynews.

There are others out there. somebody made a list and here's a link:

http://www.geeks.org/~ed/Usenet_Servers.html

[kerrywins]

11. so you have to pay?

thanks for the fast and easy info.....

[benburch]

13. Generally, yes.

There are very few free usenet servers on the net, and those few are horribly overloaded and/or do not provide binaries.

You gotta pay somehow. Either implicitly through your ISP, or explicitly through an external Usenet Service Provider.

[MrModerate]

14. Generally, yes.

ISPs sometimes provide USENET service, but it's falling out of favor with them because 1) It does carry a looooooot of porn and pirated software and 2) It requires a bit more knowledge/skill on the part of the user to access and make use of the available content.

Many people who've come to computing recently (last 5 years or so) have never heard of it.

The commonly available tools (Outlook Express, for example) are not very good at handling USENET. You probably need a dedicated newsreader program to enjoy the experience. News server services aren't so awfully expensive though -- 10 bucks a month should get you about 10 GB of download rights.

[EstimatedProphet]

15. I always used Agent

http://www.forteinc.com/agent/index.php

They have a free version that's pretty good.

[MrModerate]

16. Yes, but beware FreeAgent . . .

It doesn't handle yEnc coding gracefully, which is now a defacto standard on USENET.