There are a few things you need to understand before selecting which newsgroup provider is best for you. We'll go over each thing you should look for when selecting one.
One of the first things you'll see providers brag about is their retention. Retention is basically how long their servers keep posts. For example, if a newsgroup provider claims they offer 60 days retention on binary and 1000 days on text groups that would mean you can grab stuff from binary groups that was posted up to 60 days ago and read text groups dating back to 1000 days ago. Retention used to be really short but now a days providers have started competing to have the most. Currently, Giganews offers 240 days retention on binary groups! Unfortunately they are also the most expensive; running about $25/month for unlimited service. ($5 more if you want an encrypted connection)
Another term you'll hear a lot about when selecting a provider is completion rates. This is always a percentage and basically means how well, or complete, everything is. For example, if a newsgroup provider had a 99% completion rate that would mean 99% of stuff posted is complete. You'll want to find one with a good completion rate although many posts on newsgroups now a days offer you the option to repair incomplete posts using Par2 files. (Par2 files will be covered in a future article.)
It used to be that every provider had a cap placed which meant you couldn't download more than a certain amount per month. Thankfully as higher speed connections have become more prevalent this has changed. Most popular newsgroup providers now offer an unlimited service for a fairly reasonable price ranging from about $15-30 a month.
There are several premium newsgroup providers out there. It's important to choose the right one. Some will be insanely slow, offer bad retention rates, etc. We'll discuss the pros/cons of the four most popular ones right now. I've put them in the order of what I feel is best to worst.
Giganews is probably the best newsgroup provider out there. They currently offer 275 days of retention and that's increase daily to 365 days! No other provider offers as much retention as Giganews. As a matter of fact, Giganews is used by several ISP's. (Comcast even used them up until Oct 1st when they decided to stop offering newsgroup access.) Giganews also is rarely, if ever, down. You really can't go wrong with them. There is one down side to them however, they aren't cheap. You'll pay $25 for unlimited service a month and if you want an encrypted connection (SSL) it'll cost you $5 extra. Right now they are offering a deal for 50% off unlimited accounts. I've used Giganews for years and have only seen them go down a couple times and even then, they were back up in less than thirty minutes.
Newshosting is probably the best provider if you're wanting to save a little money. Their retention is currently at 257 days but thats climbing to 400 days daily. An unlimited plan will set you back $14.95 for standard service and $19.95 for encrypted service. I've used Newshosting in the past and never had any problems. They also have great customer service and rarely go down at all. If you're looking to save some money I would highly suggest Newshosting.
UsenetServer has been around for a long time. They've had some major problems at times and it varies on how reliable they are. I haven't used them in years but I've heard they have been pretty good lately. I would be a little cautious if you've got a very fast connection. (15Mbit+) I've heard they can be slow sometimes. They offer 105 days of retention for $15 a month and a "Hi-Speed" connection for $18 which just allows you 20 simultaneous connections rather than the standard 10. In theory this should mean you've got a better chance at maxing out your connection but I've found this sometimes isn't the case.
Astraweb has also been around for a very long time. Much like UsenetServer their reliability can be flaky at times. Sometimes they will get great reviews and other times you're lucky if you can connect at all. They offer 160+ days retention for only $15/month ($10 if you've got a really slow connection) which makes them the best bang for your buck out there. If anything, they might be worth a try to see if you like them.
If none of these fit what you're looking for head over to NewsgroupReviews for a list of nearly all available newsgroup providers and what they offer.
