AfterDawn: News

Giganews has competition

According to Slyck, the newsgroup server Astraweb has increased its retention to 270 days, hopping over Giganews on its way to being the newsgroup provider with the longest retention.

"Astraweb is pleased to announce that we have just completed an infrastructure upgrade to increase our retention and improve our network. Our retention is currently growing towards 270 days from 160 days."

When the provider will actually hit 270 is still in question though, and whether Giganews will respond is kind is a more important question. On Christmas, Giganews confided they were in the midst of a massive upgrade themselves and that new retention times would be "well beyond 240 days."



Giganews currently costs $30 USD a month while Astraweb only cost $15.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 4 Jan 2009 1:47

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• 18 comments

• hikaricor

  Hell if they can guarantee 270 days for half of what I'm paying now for 240 I'd happily try them out for a few months. Giganews has been fantastic this past half year since my ISP dropped their newsgroup access.

  4.1.2009 03:17 #1

• hape

  I've been with Astraweb for few months now, and I'm perfectly happy with it. 120gb for 25$ without timelimit is very cheap, and is perfect for me.
  
  I changed to Astraweb from Giganews, and now I save somewhat 10$ every month. :)

  4.1.2009 05:03 #2

• hikaricor

  Hrrmm well then this article is misleading.
  
  I pay 29.99 per month for unlimited bandwidth, ssl, and 20 simultaneous connections.
  Are you really paying 25$ per month?

  4.1.2009 05:41 #3

• domie

  there are some bizarre payment plans on astraweb but basically you can get unlimited downloads with 20 connections for $ 15 a month
  - other options include the same package but with a 1mbps speed limit for $ 10 a month
  then there are crazy "one off" deals that let you download 120 gb a month with 50 connections for $ 25 although why on earth anybody would consider that a good deal is beyond me.
  full details here : -
  http://www.news.astraweb.com/plans.html

  4.1.2009 07:16 #4

• hape

  Originally posted by hikaricor: Hrrmm well then this article is misleading.
  
  I pay 29.99 per month for unlimited bandwidth, ssl, and 20 simultaneous connections.
  Are you really paying 25$ per month?As I said, without time limit. I've paid that 25$ once on October and still have 40 gigs left to leech. That is not a monthly payment.
  
  Astraweb also offers SSL free for every account. :)

  4.1.2009 07:48 #5

• riprat

  Originally posted by domie:
  then there are crazy "one off" deals that let you download 120 gb a month with 50 connections for $ 25 although why on earth anybody would consider that a good deal is beyond me.This is a good deal to the casual user since the 120 gb doesn't expire. You can take 3 months to use up the 120 gb meaning its only gonna cost you $8.33 a month. And with unlimited speeds and up to 50 connections this is actually a great deal.

  4.1.2009 10:59 #6

• windsong

  I thought about dropping Newshosting and going with Giga since Newshosting is now censoring some groups but Giga was too expensive. I will definitely look into Astra and see if they provide uncensored newsgroup access.

  4.1.2009 14:17 #7

• hape

  Actually they seem to have special promotion. Unlimited account just 11$ per month. They won't never raise the price above that 11$ if you now join (or at least they say so :D ) Offer is only through that link.
  
  http://www.news.astraweb.com/specials/kleverig-11.html

  4.1.2009 14:26 #8

• windsong

  Btw, someone should email EasyNews and tell them their payment plan is a blatant rip off and that they will soon (within the next year) be out of business!

  4.1.2009 14:29 #9

• djeazyg

  Originally posted by hape: Actually they seem to have special promotion. Unlimited account just 11$ per month. They won't never raise the price above that 11$ if you now join (or at least they say so :D ) Offer is only through that link.
  
  " target="_blank">http://www.news.astraweb.com/specials/kleverig-11.html
  
  Thanks for the link. I just signed up. I've used Giganews for almost 5 years now and never had any kind of issue with them at all. Everything worked flawlessly the entire time. But price means a lot and if I can get the same service for half or less than half the price I'm gonna give it a go. Lets see if I have any problems.

  5.1.2009 00:18 #10

• TBandit

  hmmm always wanted to try out newgroups but couldn't figure it out even with tutorials with a client and all the definitions seems like a good time to join though

  5.1.2009 02:06 #11

• SProdigy

  Holy crap! Let me know how that goes. I've been with UNS for about 2 years now, and I am paying $40 every 3 months for 125 days retention and 10 connections. Only problem I've ever had with UNS is that the 125 days retention seems a bit of a stretch outside of 90 days or so.

  5.1.2009 09:39 #12

• OFI

  Originally posted by hape: Actually they seem to have special promotion. Unlimited account just 11$ per month. They won't never raise the price above that 11$ if you now join (or at least they say so :D ) Offer is only through that link.
  
  " target="_blank">http://www.news.astraweb.com/specials/kleverig-11.html
  
  Signed up to that deal couple of months back. Giganews was fine but for almost a 1/3rd of the price for the same deal (other than previous retention differences) it was no contest!

  5.1.2009 17:02 #13

• djeazyg

  I'm a power user with a Comcast Business Internet account so my PC is almost always in a state of download and all is going well so far. Exactly the same service as Giganews but for less than half the price. Same speed, same completion. I wonder if Giganews is watching there numbers drop off. I'm very happy so far.

  6.1.2009 03:35 #14

• Mike_Dean

  It pays to subscribe to news letters..! If I had not gotten one from here I would not have known about this great offer..

  7.1.2009 17:16 #15

• ivymike

  I subscribe to Newshosting's unlimited package for only $14.95 a month.
  
  Recently, I got an email from them saying that they're increasing their retention times to over 240 days and they're also increasing the number of simultaeous connections to 12 without raising the price.

  8.1.2009 04:28 #16

• SProdigy

  Seems like everyone is following suit or upgrading:
  
  Quote:PRESS RELEASE
  UseNetServer Expands Usenet Newsgroup Retention
  
  
  January 6, 2009 -- UseNetServer has expanded Usenet newsgroup retention for its customers from 101 days to 125 days, the company announced today. Customers in all service plans can now access this increased retention without any configuration changes and without any additional cost.
  
  UseNetServer High Speed Plus customers can use up to 20 connections to download at maximum speed. All UseNetServer customers can connect securely with SSL and all customers can use UsenetServer.s unique GlobalSearch feature to search within each newsgroup.
  
  UseNetServer plans start as low as $3/3 days for short term accounts or $13.32/month for the 3 month pre-pay plans.
  
  About UseNetServer
  
  UseNetServer is a long-time leader in premium Usenet newsgroup access. Benefiting from over 50 years of combined Usenet experience in their operations team, the company continues to grow and offer new features to its customers.
  
  More information about UseNetServer and the services offered is available at http://www.usenetserver.com/
  
  ###
  
  Thank You
  UNS Staff
  

  9.1.2009 08:36 #17

• smokyrain

  I have been with Astraweb for over a couple years now. Glad I stayed with them. I only pay $10 a month for unlimited.
  
  Had tried Giganews back then but I hated their price.

  9.1.2009 18:48 #18