Good for binaries?

I am struggling to make sense of the array of broadband choice (I need to
upgrade from a dialup account). One thing I would like is access to binary
newsgroups - it's something my dialup account includes, so I didn't want to
lose it. Any suggestions for a service which includes that?

"Ron" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:b1KIi.32426$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> I am struggling to make sense of the array of broadband choice (I need to
> upgrade from a dialup account). One thing I would like is access to
> binary newsgroups - it's something my dialup account includes, so I didn't
> want to lose it. Any suggestions for a service which includes that?
>

you don't have to have an ISP that offers a news service as there are heaps
of news providers that you can go with and some are very cheap. For example
I am with Sky BB and use eu.Usenet.news.net for newsgroups and binaries. The
cost of this service for me is less than £1 per year although I'm not a
heavy user, they offer several packages including buying non-expiring (on a
monthly basis) Gbs of downloads. Sky BB costs me £5 per month and is the
best ISP I've ever had.

Ron wrote:
> I am struggling to make sense of the array of broadband choice (I need to
> upgrade from a dialup account). One thing I would like is access to binary
> newsgroups - it's something my dialup account includes, so I didn't want to
> lose it. Any suggestions for a service which includes that?

Virgin Media offer a free binary usenet service, but retention is only a
couple of days. You would be better subscribing to a commercial usenet
provider such as Giganews or Newshosting.

Ron wrote thus:
> I am struggling to make sense of the array of broadband choice (I need to
> upgrade from a dialup account). One thing I would like is access to binary
> newsgroups - it's something my dialup account includes, so I didn't want to
> lose it. Any suggestions for a service which includes that?

BT now outsources its news to Giganews so you get the full works.

--
Steve

In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice; In
practice, there is.
- Chuck Reid

"Ron" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:b1KIi.32426$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> I am struggling to make sense of the array of broadband choice (I need
> to upgrade from a dialup account). One thing I would like is access
> to binary newsgroups - it's something my dialup account includes, so I
> didn't want to lose it. Any suggestions for a service which includes
> that?

Astra do Unlimited downloads for £7.50 a month.
Or you can buy a non expiring 90GB block for £12.50
http://www.news.astraweb.com/

"Steve" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Ron wrote thus:
>> I am struggling to make sense of the array of broadband choice (I
>> need to upgrade from a dialup account). One thing I would like is
>> access to binary newsgroups - it's something my dialup account
>> includes, so I didn't want to lose it. Any suggestions for a service
>> which includes that?
>
> BT now outsources its news to Giganews so you get the full works.

BT do usenet?
Is that now, or they always have done?
I know someone on BT and she doesn't have Usenet access.

"Gonz" <T o p @ S e c r e t . c o m> wrote in message
news:N5NIi.61$(E-Mail Removed)...
> BT do usenet?
> Is that now, or they always have done?
> I know someone on BT and she doesn't have Usenet access.

They always have done..
Try news.btinternet.com

Gonz wrote thus:
> "Steve" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Ron wrote thus:
>>> I am struggling to make sense of the array of broadband choice (I
>>> need to upgrade from a dialup account). One thing I would like is
>>> access to binary newsgroups - it's something my dialup account
>>> includes, so I didn't want to lose it. Any suggestions for a service
>>> which includes that?
>> BT now outsources its news to Giganews so you get the full works.

> BT do usenet?
> Is that now, or they always have done?
> I know someone on BT and she doesn't have Usenet access.

Yep:

news.btinternet.com

access with BT username and password

106K+ groups with very long retention

--
Steve

The creator of the universe works in mysterious ways. But he uses a base
ten counting system and likes round numbers.
- Scott Adams

"Steve" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Gonz wrote thus:
>> "Steve" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> Ron wrote thus:
>>>> I am struggling to make sense of the array of broadband choice (I
>>>> need to upgrade from a dialup account). One thing I would like is
>>>> access to binary newsgroups - it's something my dialup account
>>>> includes, so I didn't want to lose it. Any suggestions for a
>>>> service which includes that?
>>> BT now outsources its news to Giganews so you get the full works.
>
>> BT do usenet?
>> Is that now, or they always have done?
>> I know someone on BT and she doesn't have Usenet access.
>
> Yep:
>
> news.btinternet.com
>
> access with BT username and password
>
> 106K+ groups with very long retention

Thanks both, I'll have to look into that.
If she don't want it, I'll have to give her my body for it ;o)

Ron wrote:

> I am struggling to make sense of the array of broadband choice (I need to
> upgrade from a dialup account). One thing I would like is access to binary
> newsgroups - it's something my dialup account includes, so I didn't want to
> lose it. Any suggestions for a service which includes that?

Don't obsess over having newsgroups included as part of your subscription to an
ISP, it may resut in you making a poor choice of ISP itself. I use an excellent
ISP (Idnet) that doesn't provide a news server, so for $10 (i.e a fiver !) I got
a non-time limited account from astraweb that gives me 25GB of downloads (renew
when you hit your limit). I expect that will give me a couple of years worth of
use. If you use binary groups extensively, there are other plans that may suit
you better.
http://www.news.astraweb.com/

As for ISPs, my advice is to avoid the large and heavily advertised ones. They
all seem to be crap either in respect of technical performance, restrictions on
use (such as speed capping during busy periods) or customer service (or ALL of
these). And they're not usually any much cheaper than the really good ISPs (most
of whom you've very likely never heard of ).

In particular check out Idnet and Zen (Idnet's like Zen but better value). Also
check out the comparison guide here ....
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/isp/compare.html

Graham

p.s. if you fancy Idnet, email me on the addy in my headers and we can both get
a £10 credit when you sign up.