Newshosting Review
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Verdict: 4.9 out of 5
Founded in 1997, Newshosting is one of the oldest and most trusted Usenet providers known for providing the highest retention, most server locations, fastest speeds, and best service features. They currently provide access to 5291 days of retention across all binary and text newsgroups, which is massive compared to other independent providers that generally offer only a few months of retention.
From a user perspective, the difference between accessing around 11 years of retention versus only a few months of retention is enormous — a difference of literally billions of articles.
Newshosting Category Ratings
| Retention | 5/5 |
| Performance | 5/5 |
Privacy and Security
|
5/5 |
Pricing
|
4.9/5 |
| Getting Started | 5/5 |
Pros
- Only $8.33 per month
- 5972+ days retention
- Free zero-log VPN included
- Free newsreader included
Cons
- No crypto payments
Newshosting Features
- Retention Growth — Newshosting provides the best Usenet retention in the industry. On top of that, they are one of the only providers that invests in expanding their server network to support ongoing binary and text retention growth. This is a very expensive process considering the amount of storage space needed to store the huge amount of data uploaded to Usenet every day. But Newshosting is dedicated to providing the highest retention for the best customer experience. Files never expire to make room for newly uploaded files.
- Largest Network — Newshosting operates multiple server farms in both North America and Europe. Usenet providers often have servers located in either the US or Europe, but with Newshosting, you get both. There are also no server access limitations based on any Newshosting plans — users on any plan can connect to any server geographically for optimal connection speeds.
- Private Network — Newshosting owns and manages its own servers and infrastructure. This gives them the ability to control the quality of service being provided to their customers.
- Fastest Download Speeds — Newshosting started building its network over 20 years ago and has continued to grow and fine-tune it with better servers and more efficient routing to provide the fastest speeds for its customers. Even during peak ISP (Internet Service Provider) hours with millions of users on your network who are streaming, web browsing, and gaming, you will generally get great speeds from Newshosting given the size, speed, and efficiency of its network.
- Free Add-Ons — Newshosting customers receive great features at no added cost, including a free Newsreader with built-in Usenet search. Privacy conscious customers also receive free SSL connections to encrypt their Usenet access and, with certain plans, a free zero-log VPN (desktop software and mobile apps also included).
Rating
|
4.9 out of 5 |
| Retention | 5972 Days in all binary and text newsgroups |
|
Security
|
SSL and VPN |
| Discount | 58% savings |
|
Price
|
$8.33/mo |
Usenet Search?
|
Yes, Newsreader with Search included for free. |
To learn more about Newshosting and its service, check out our in-depth review below or click here to go to their website.
Retention
| Retention Start Date | August 15, 2008 |
| Retention Length | 5972+ Days |
Binary and Text Retention
|
Access to over 120,000 newsgroups. |
Retention is one of the most important factors in choosing a Usenet access provider. Retention is the amount of time (usually shown in days) that a Usenet provider stores files on its servers. Retention with various Usenet providers ranges from 100 days to over 10 years. What does that mean for Usenet customers? Retention determines the number of articles you can access, and for how long you can access them. It determines how much “Usenet” is in your Usenet.
Compared to most other Usenet providers, Newshosting offers the most retention by far. They currently provide over 11 years of retention across all binary and text groups. Newshosting doesn’t just have the best retention, but they also continue to grow their retention by one day every day, which is rare because it’s a very expensive process. Growing retention means the archive of files on Newshosting’s servers grows every day and customers have access to a growing database of Usenet articles.
Many providers who limit their retention don’t even actually give customers access to their advertised rates. Unfortunately, it’s common for providers to cache articles on their servers, which is when a file posted to Usenet is stored only temporarily based on number of accesses. If that article is not ‘pulled’ by enough users in a certain window of time, they delete the file to make room for other articles posted to Usenet. For example, let’s say you want to download something that you know was posted to Usenet last month. If your Usenet provider determined that not enough people accessed that file before you access it yourself, it gets deleted and you’re out of luck. With Newshosting, you never have to worry about that. With the highest retention in the industry, Newshosting customers find what they’re looking for more often.
Performance
In addition to retention, speed is fundamental to the quality of a Usenet service. You pay a lot of money for your Internet service, and you should expect to utilize all the bandwidth you are paying for when accessing Usenet . Here at Top10Usenet, we have access to some of the fastest Internet in the world with Google Fiber, and we put our Internet speeds to serious work with our testing. Given the speed of our ISP connection, we can confidently say that any Usenet speed issues or failures in our testing would be no fault of our own.
For our test, we purchased a Newshosting plan that provided 60 SSL-encrypted connections. Over a 5-day test period, we pulled articles posted both recently and many years ago during various times throughout the day and night. Our downloads clocked in consistently at very high speeds. We never experienced a dip in performance or any outages. Newshosting is at the top of the list in terms of download speed.
Included Newsreader Software
A key component in accessing Usenet is the newsreader software, which is the portal to Usenet newsgroups. In some cases, these newsreaders are an added expense on top of the cost of Usenet access. With Newshosting, all plans come with Newshosting’s free newsreader app, one of the best newsreaders available.
Newshosting Newsreader Features:
Pre-configured with every Newshosting account for easy set-up
Built-in Usenet search engine
Preview in search results to validate a post before downloading
Connection speed chart
Newsgroup bookmarking for fast future viewing
NZB import support
Privacy and Security
Privacy statements are typically dense, lengthy, and nearly impossible to decipher, so the clear and concise privacy policy Newshosting lists on their website was a breath of fresh air. Newshosting is a “no-log” service provider in terms of article pulls or article posting. This term can mean different things to different providers, but in the case of Newshosting, it should give you confidence. From the privacy statement on their site:
“Newshosting monitors our servers to the extent necessary to ensure that high standards of maintenance are met. Newshosting does not monitor or record your activities online. We do not monitor which newsgroups you post to or download from or what you put in news articles that you post.”
This is about as transparent as you can get with a privacy statement. Newshosting also provides 256-bit SSL secured downloading, which is the industry standard for encryption and common among Usenet providers.
Where Newshosting really stands out, though, is providing a free Zero-Log VPN service for additional privacy. PrivadoVPN, Newshosting’s Zero-Log VPN partner, secures all web traffic like Usenet, email, and online streaming by assigning you an anonymous IP address from a different geographical location, as well as running all your traffic through an encrypted VPN server. It also blocks ads, defends you against malware, and keeps you from accessing sites that are potential threats to your cybersecurity.
If you decide to sign up for Newshosting, make sure you lock in our exclusive discount deal only available through Top10Usenet. With this unlimited plan, you’ll get the zero-log VPN included for free (regularly $4.99 a month).
Pricing
Newshosting is competitively priced for the premium features you get. Plans start at $10 a month for 50GB of downloads, and increase to $19.95 per month for the unlimited XL Powerpack plan, which includes a free zero-log VPN. You can get our exclusive discount to the XL Powerpack plan and save 58% on your subscription. That’s only $8.33/mo for an unlimited yearly plan, which includes all of the following features:
- Unlimited downloads
- No speed limitations
- 100 connections
- 256-bit SSL encryption
- Access to all retention – currently 5972 days
- Access to all US and EU servers
- Free newsreader with search
- Free zero-log VPN
Reminder, if you sign up for an account, be sure to get the discount here.
Editor’s Choice
Bottom Line
After thorough examination, Newshosting more than lives up to its reputation as the top Usenet provider. It delivers a premium experience at a competitive price and sets the standard for the industry. Newshosting’s download speed and performance are exceptional, their dedication to privacy and security is admirable, and their retention is the best on the market.
If you’re new to Usenet, Newshosting is great place to start. If you’re a Usenet expert looking to make a switch, Newshosting offers everything you need as an unlimited Usenet provider. Newshosting delivers across the board and comes highly recommended for good reason.
