Newshosting
Summary
For years, Newshosting has been one of the best Usenet providers. They operate their own independent server clusters, maintain their own newsfeeds, have multiple server locations, and deliver lightning-fast download speeds with great download completion and the best retention rates you can find anywhere.
They also include a free newsreader with integrated search and a free zero-log VPN account, making News hosting hands down the best overall value for your money.
Newshosting is an independent, tier-1 Usenet provider that has provided some of the best Usenet access for over 2 decades. It has also been our favorite since we started using the service in 2012. The combination of fast speeds, stable connections, and best retention, in addition to the free newsreader, is what makes it our Editor’s top choice.
Price / Packages
Newshosting offers 3 Usenet access plans – 2 unlimited plans and 1 plan that includes 50GB of Usenet access each month. Each of these packages is outlined in detail below. If you can’t decide which plan to choose, you can fill in a couple of short questions on their Usenet Plan Customizer page, and Newshosting will recommend which plan fits best to your needs.
Looking for special deals? Newshosting has put together a special deal for ShareConnector readers to get a 58% lifetime discount off the best Usenet package. This deal is for the Unlimited plan, including unlimited downloads, a free Usenet newsreader with integrated search, a free zero-log VPN account, 60 SSL-secured connections, max retention, and unlimited access to all of their Usenet servers.
This is by far the best value plan on the market, and you can only get it through the discount link at the bottom of this article.
Eweka is a solid Dutch Usenet provider and a great secondary server option in case you are from the Netherlands. They are based in the Netherlands, operate a completely different newsfeed, and are very popular among Dutch, German, and French users.
A 14-day free trial is available with all 3 Newshosting plans. This free trial will give you 30GB of access with unlimited speed, SSL encryption, max retention, and access to all of their servers, which should be more than enough to test this kick-ass Usenet service. The free trial also includes a newsreader with integrated search and a free zero-log VPN (if you select a plan that includes the VPN).
A credit card or PayPal account is required to sign up for the free trial. However, there is no charge if you cancel before the 14 days or before you download more than 30GB of data.
The Newshosting account control panel is easy to navigate, as shown in the screenshot below. If you decide to cancel, log in and hit the cancellation button. No questions asked and no hassles when you cancel.
Besides that, more Usenet free trials are available for comparison.
Payment options
The number of payment options is rather limited. They only accept credit cards and PayPal.
Connectivity and Configuration
There is no configuration needed when installing the Newshosting newsreader – it is plug-and-play. After you sign up for any Newshosting plan, it will take you to your account control panel, where you can immediately download the application. Once it’s downloaded, fill out the username/password you created during signup, and then you’ll be up and running with Usenet.
If you prefer to use your own newsreader, we have listed the configuration settings for you below. The service also works well with some of the most popular newsreaders like SABnzbd.
- Address: news.newshosting.com
- Connections: 60
- Ports: 119, 23, 25, 80, 3128
- SSL ports: 443, 563
Depending on your location or preferences, for example, IPv6 or not, you can choose alternative servers:
- IPv6 server: news6.newshosting.com
- US IPv4 server: news-us.newshosting.com
- US IPv6 server: news-us.newshosting.com
- Europe IPv4 server: news-eu.newshosting.com
- Europe IPv6 server: news-eu6.newshosting.com
Speed
From our experience, just 10 connections were enough to max out the 500 Mbit/s cable connection constantly. We had no problems with incomplete data, so in terms of completion rate Newshosting is reliable as well. This is much faster than we measured with our Tweaknews review.
But, if you don’t like DMCA takedowns, why don’t you check out our Eweka review? European Usenet providers are not bothered by this law, so you can also read our UseNeXT review, if this is important to you.
The beauty is that you can test this yourself without spending a penny by grabbing a free trial, which comes with a free newsreader included. Make sure you compare Usenet reviews to meet your needs.
Retention
Newshosting is the best service with regards to retention. They offer over 4,618+ days of both text and binary retention across all of their multi-continent server clusters. In comparison, other independently operated Usenet services offer as few as 75 days of retention, meaning you will get access to 98% fewer articles due to their limited server space.
The best Usenet providers, like Newshosting, continue to grow their retention, so the amount of articles that you have access to on their servers continues to grow over time.
Download Completion
Newshostings completion ratio approaches 100%. We were able to download high retention files above 2900 days. When you use SABnzbd or NZBGet, you can improve download completion. These are download automation tools that grab binary article sets when they are posted to a newsgroup.
Software
Newshosting Usenet browser
Newshosting’s newsreader interface and performance is arguably the most valuable add-on feature they offer. Even your grandmother can use this state-of-the-art Newshosting client to find and access articles on Usenet. It is intuitive and easy to use, like the Easynews indexer, by the way.
This beautiful app runs on Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux operating systems, and it comes free with every plan, including the free trial. It has a built-in Google-like search function, and you can even see video previews and thumbnail images.
There is also an automated search function that you can use to build a list of requested articles. Then the Usenet search engine will search all newsgroups across all Usenet servers according to the search/download times you set.
A few other notable features about the newsreader:
- Supports NZB imports
- It shows you how much data you have used in the current day and the current month.
- Connection graph that shows you your download speeds
- Allows you to also search specific newsgroups
- Built-in function to bookmark your favorite newsgroups
Overall, the all-in-one newsreader makes it easy for Usenet newbies to get started with Usenet. It also offers a lot of flexibility and advanced settings for advanced users. Check it out yourself and look at the browser demo video below:
To find content easier, choose one of the NZB search engines available on the market.
VPN Service
Newshosting uses PrivadoVPN as its add-on VPN feature. Shareconnector has done an in-depth review of this growing VPN provider. If you are not familiar with VPN and want to know what VPN exactly is, we recommend checking out the article in the link.
You can also compare Newshosting’s VPN service with the best VPN services on the market. In our UsenetServer VPN review, you’ll see they also use PrivadoVPN.
Operating Systems
The discounted Unlimited plan comes with a free zero-log service with a VPN setup for Windows and Mac OSX operating systems. If you use a mobile device, you will need to set up your VPN connection manually.
Servers
Newshosting’s VPN lets you choose between 70 servers in 17 countries but server information is updated regularly as they are expanding. It uses the ultra-fast and popular OpenVPN protocol, with L2TP and PPTP manual connections also available. In general, we recommend the OpenVPN protocol, which is usually also the fastest and the safest.
Connections
You can connect up to 2 devices to Newshosting’s VPN service, which is not much compared to the standard 5 or 6 with other VPN services. But you get unlimited server switching, data transfers, and bandwidth.
All in all, it is a very decent VPN service that will greatly enhance your online security. Also of note, the VPN service, software included, is free.
Support
24/7 email support is available in English. They usually reply within a couple of hours.
FAQ
Do I need VPN with Usenet?
It is safer to use VPN with Usenet. VPN provides an extra safety layer, protecting you on Usenet.
What VPN does Newshosting use?
Newshosting uses PrivadoVPN. You’ll get this privacy focussed VPN for free in the ShareConnector special deal.
What is an alternative to Newshosting?
A good alternative to Newshosting is EasyNews. With EasyNews you can access files directly from your web browser.
Pros
- Free newsreader with search (excellent interface)
- Best retention time (and continues to grow)
- Independent server clusters
- Servers in multiple locations
- Very high completion rate
- Fast speeds
- Free SSL encryption
- Free zero-log VPN connection
- Servers in multiple locations
- Lifetime discount for ShareConnector readers
Cons
- Limited payment methods
- No real time customer support
NEWSHOSTING
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From most places I’ve read Newshosting is one of the top places to get but your recommendation for Astraweb is a big turn off on the credibility of the article and site. I have astraweb now and while they use to be the best and the one every one went too, I’m more often then not failing to download things A LOT.
They’ve gone way down hill; anyone will tell you and they should be far from recommended ever.
Thanks for the info, I haven’t used Astraweb for a while so I didn’t know they became that bad.