Newshosting is one of the most popular Usenet service providers in the world and it has built a solid reputation solely on the basis of performance among many trainee Usenet users.
The reasons why Newshosting has become the go-to Usenet service provider for Usenet neophytes are many.
First, Newshosting provides an excellent free trial for new users and second, Newshosting is probably the one big name Usenet service provider that offers a dedicated newsreader along with a Usenet indexer as a part of a complete Usenet service package.
Newshosting also makes it easy for beginners to get started with Usenet because the whole package comes in the form of a single application.
There are hardly any other Usenet service providers out there who provide as simple and complete Usenet package as Newshosting.
If that wasn’t enough already then you’ll be glad to know that Newshosting also offers some of the cheapest and economical Usenet service plans on the market. Newshosting provides strong security and enormous retention periods.
In fact, Newshosting has one of the longest data retention periods of all the big players in Usenet service provider industry.
Newshosting’s simplicity doesn’t mean it is only aimed at beginners. Newshosting is suitable for both novice users and expert ones.
This review will guide you through all the features of Newshosting like pricing, features,security, support,data retention period and its straightforward user interface.
And because Newshosting offers such a versatile Usenet service package, we’ll also shed some light on Newshosting VPN service.
Let’s go then.
Note: According to our tests, this VPN provider is not at the same standard as the industry leader IPVanish.
Table of Contents
Newshosting Pricing and Usenet Service Plans
New users can choose between Lite, Unlimited and XL Powerpack (NHXL) Usenet service packages.
Newshosting Lite package costs about $10 per month (which converts to about GBP 7.40) and it comes with a 50GB data download limit.
The great thing about Newshosting Lite package is if you don’t use your 30GB data limit per month, the data automatically adds to the next month’s download quota. But keep in mind that to avail this offer you can’t use any of your data for the month.
Newshosting Lite Usenet package also offers up to 30 simultaneous connections. That might be beneficial for you depending on your internet speed.
Most of us won’t have any use for 30 simultaneous connections because of low, relatively speaking, internet speeds. If you want to sign up for Newshosting Lite package then keep in mind that there is very little change if you will ever use more than 14 simultaneous connections. There are also two other plans but we’ll come to those in a bit.
The Unlimited Newshosting plan basically gives users an unlimited amount of data for downloading purposes and charges them an extra $2 per month. The Unlimited package from Newshosting requires payments on an annual basis though.
The number of simultaneous connections available is the same as Lite’s, i.e 30.
The XL Powerpack plan from Newshosting is the most expensive Usenet package available at Newshosting.
The XL Powerpack costs around $15.83 per month which translates to GBP 11.72 for our British friends.
As with the Unlimited Newshosting package, new users will have to pay annually for the XL Powerpack.
The main difference between the Unlimited package and the XL Powerpack package is that the XL Powerpack package offers 60 simultaneous connections and also provides users a free VPN service.
However, the VPN service is also offered to users who sign up for the two lower tier packages with additional charges.
Newshosting also tops up the XL Powerpack with a 10GB download limit per month at EasyNews for free. EasyNews is another Usenet service provider and to have a free block account with them as your backup account is a pretty sweet deal.
At the moment, if you want to subscribe to the two-week free Newshosting trial then Newshosting will allow you to experience the XL Powerpack package but with a 30GB download limit.
Do keep in mind though that the trial version (which comes for free) does need your credit card information or PayPal if you want to subscribe to it.
Why should you keep that in mind?
Because if you forget to cancel the free trial or even sign up for the cheaper two plans, then you will get charged the premium cost of Newshosting Xl Powerpack plan.
If you don’t want that to happen then don’t forget to cancel your trial (if you’re not satisfied with Newshosting that is) after the free two weeks are over.
Newshosting puts a little bit extra effort in ensuring that new users sign up for a package that suits their need. If you go to their website, you can take a quiz which allows Newshosting to recommend the most suitable Newshosting package for you and your needs. Newshosting also offers slightly customized packages after it determines your needs from your quiz.
With that said, Newshosting does not offer block account if that’s what you’re wondering.
What’s a block account?
A block account is an Usenet service account that allows users to purchase a limited amount of data before they actually use it. For example, a user may buy 1TB of data and the block account will enable that user to use that much data at his/her convenience.
In other words, a user is not required to use up his/her data limit within some prescribed time limit like a month or a year.
Newshosting Data Retention Period And Security
Newshosting is probably one of the few Usenet service providers that can brag about having over 100,000 discussion groups. Along with that Newshosting has an excellent 2846 day data retention period. If you convert that to years, then that time limit comes to about eight years.
The company has servers located all over the globe including the United States of America and Europe.
To put it another way, you will get decent download speeds even if you access servers that are far away from your current location.
With that said, it is true that Newshosting is a United States based Usenet service provider and is ranked among the very top Usenet service providers.
You might ask, what’s the point of knowing that?
Well, because Newshosting is a US based company, it is subject to US laws and that means the company is liable to DMCA content shut down demands.
DMCA requests generally mean the company must remove the specified content from its servers.
Normally, you don’t have to worry about Newshosting getting served up DMCA notices on a weekly or even monthly basis.
But it can certainly happen to anyone. So it’s a reasonable idea to sign up for the NHXL package so that if Newshosting does get a DMCA take down request, you can shift to your EasyNews backup account.
If you have a decent internet connection, by that we mean at least 8MB broadband connection, then you are likely to experience maximum download speeds. Though some users have complained about interrupted downloads, but those issues have been few and far between.
In other words, the chances of you experiencing a broken download are minimal.
We mentioned earlier in the article that the company also offered a free VPN service with its XL Powerpack plan.
That is still true but you should know that you are not bound to use Newshosting VPN service and can easily opt for the company’s other offer which is to use a 256-bit SSL connection (offered to all users regardless of the package).
But before you get all excited to try out yet another free feature, know that even with the SSl connection you should probably get a VPN service just to make sure that no one is spying on your data transfers and your internet service provider isn’t limiting your bandwidth.
As far as privacy is concerned, the company has a clear policy that it does not keep log files on its customers and the only way to get any information from them is through a court order.
What About That Free Newshosting Usenet Browser.
Perhaps the biggest reason why so many people are drawn towards Newshosting is the fact that the company also has a Usenet browser.
This Usenet browser is available as an application for various platforms including Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. And don’t worry about the cost because it comes free with every package.
The browser’s main features include an integrated search bar and video previews.
In fact, if you access Usenet services through the company’s browser then you can search and download files with an automatic schedule.
In other words, you don’t have to wait and then manually download each released episode of your favorite TV program.
Maybe the fact that you won’t have to sign up for and install a third-party newsreader application, register for a Usenet indexer or search engine and install indexer application should make you appreciate Newshosting’s Usenet browser.
The Usenet browser from the company has been reported by some users to be user-friendly and hard to get away from once one forms the habit of lazily downloading files from Usenet servers.
The Usenet browser also allows users to monitor their downloads and observe how much data has been eaten up by each download. It also allows users to subscribe to different newsgroups and can set a specific schedule for downloading files.
Just for clarity’s sake, you can do all that within the same application. That application is Newshosting’s Usenet browser.
Moreover, if you close the main window of Newshosting’s Usenet browser, it doesn’t just shut down without any prompt. Instead, it simply disappears from the screen and goes into your system tray.
However, based on our experience, we know that some people just don’t like to have everything in one place and if that’s you then it’s perfectly okay if you want to sign up for another Usenet indexer and Usenet newsreader application.
The good news is that Newshosting’s Usenet browser is compatible with other applications like SABnzbd and NZB.is.
Is The Newshosting VPN Any Good?
As mentioned before, you can get a free VPN service if you sign up for the XL Powerpack plan. The VPN service is also available for other lower tier packages for an extra $4.99 per month.
The VPN client is compatible with various operating systems including Windows and Mac OS X.
In fact, users on Mac OS X can activate the VPN service straight from Newshosting’s Usenet browser without any supporting application.
However, if you’re using the VPN service on a mobile or Linux platform then you’ll have to configure the VPN service by yourself.
Newshosting’s VPN service operates more than 70 servers in more than 17 countries and uses the ubiquitous OpenVPN protocol.
But you can also opt for L2TP and PPTP manual connections if you prefer those.
Of course, we’re going to recommend that you keep using OpenVPN protocol while using the company’s VPN service.
If you must then at least stick with L2TP because the PPTP protocol isn’t as safe.
Newshosting’s VPN service offers two simultaneous devices and users are allowed to switch servers whenever they want. The VPN service also offers unlimited bandwidth and data transfers.
We recommend using or StrongDNS but you can make up your mind by reading this VPN guide.
You can get and
Show Me Newshosting Settings
- Server: news.newshosting.com
- SSL ports: 443, 563
- Non-SSL ports: 23, 25, 80, 119, 3128
There are other servers available based on your location and IPv6 over IPv4 preference.
IPv6 server: news6.newshosting.com
- United States IPv4 server: news-us.newshosting.com
- United States IPv6 server: news-us.newshosting.com
- Europe IPv4 server: news-eu.newshosting.com
- Europe IPv6 server: news-eu6.newshosting.com
How Good is The Customer Support?
Official sources say the company has a support team available for 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
But, of course, what the company really means is that they have a ticket submission system that is online throughout the year.
You won’t have access to features such as live chat or a phone number but expect to hear back from team rather quickly (if user reviews are anything to go by) when called upon for help.
The official website has an acceptable knowledge base section and the FAQ section is reasonably comprehensive. For those who are loath to reading a lot, the entire section is searchable.
Should You Buy Newshosting Usenet Services?
There is not a Usenet service provider out there that can match Newshosting in terms of features, extra features, and affordable packages.
It is very simple to set it up and the Usenet browser application puts the icing on the cake since you won’t have to make much effort in finding and then downloading your desired files.
You are also highly unlikely to face issues such as broken downloads.
In addition to competitive pricing for each package, the company also offers a free VPN service for its premium NHXL package and the backup block account basically makes purchasing the NHXL package the easiest decisions of your life.
As far as downloading speeds are concerned, you can rest assured that you’ll experience fast speeds even with SSL connections, Newshosting Usenet browser and/or any other newsreader application.
If you want to sign up for Newshosting free trial then
Securitygladiators is not responsible for any copyright violations as a result of using any Usenet services. Please respect the law and assess the ramifications of your actions when downloading copyrighted content without prior permission from its owners.