I’ve used Google Groups for some time to make an occasional USENET post but I recently decided that I might use it for binaries because P2P was too slow (I don’t condone piracy; only use USENET to download copyleft media/software.).
I looked online and there are literally dozens of providers who provide access to USENET binaries. The below factors are important to consider:
- Retention: binaries are often big; how long does your provider hold files?
- Completion: how complete are articles/files
- Price: well duh.
- Speed: if you’re in Europe, look for a European server. Make sure your binary provider are fast
- Trial: check it isn’t rubbish!
Based on the above, I chose to go with Giganews. Whilst they are more expensive than many (unlimited plans start at $25/month. 25GB plans at $13) and lack features Easynews boasts like a web interface to USENET and free SSL encryption (it costs $5 more for Giganews), I think the retention rate of 200 days for binaries (increases for text articles to about 1200!) makes up for this because there’s a bigger choice of files you can download. A 3-day trial is offered!
Giganews Support are great, replying to my query in less than 10 minutes! They also give you unlimited upload bandwidth and are very fast several gigabit having backbone connections to the Internet in Europe and North America!
Of course, you need a client to access USENET. You can use Thunderbird etc, but these aren’t designed for binaries! I use Unison for OS X (costing $25) or NewsBin for Windows (Giganews reduce the price of this to $25 for their customers). To search USENET, don’t pay to use Newzbin but use the free binsearch.info.
So, if you want to start with binaries I suggest Giganews. If you do plan to sign up use my links, so I get a commission!
