How to Choose a Usenet Provider

Your Usenet provider is the company whose servers you download from. It makes a bigger difference than anything else to your speed and how many downloads finish complete. Here is what to look for.

What matters

Retention

Retention is how long a provider keeps posts. The longer it is, the more older posts you can still download. Top providers keep posts for many years.

Completion

Completion is the share of posted articles the provider still has. High completion means fewer missing pieces and fewer repairs. It matters more than any headline retention figure.

Speed and connections

Providers let you open several connections at once. More connections usually means faster downloads, up to the limit of your internet speed. 20 to 50 connections is plenty for most home broadband. See connections explained.

SSL encryption

Always pick a provider with SSL. It encrypts the connection between you and the server, so your internet provider can’t see what you download. NZB Grab uses SSL whenever your provider supports it.

Unlimited data

Most good providers now offer unlimited plans. Block (pay-per-gigabyte) accounts are useful as a backup, to fill in missing articles.

Price and trial

Monthly plans are easy to cancel, and yearly plans are usually cheaper. A free trial lets you test speed and completion before you pay.

The provider we recommend

We test NZB Grab with Newshosting, and it’s the provider we recommend. It has long retention, unlimited speed, up to 100 connections, SSL as standard, and servers in the US and Europe. You can try Newshosting free before you commit.

Setting up your provider in NZB Grab

1. Sign up and note your server address, username and password.
2. In NZB Grab, open Settings, then Server. On first run, use Add my provider instead.
3. Enter them, use port 563 with SSL on, and set connections to the number your plan allows, or a little lower.
4. Click Save server. The status pill at the top right shows when you are connected.