Frequently Asked Questions about Usenet and Newsgroups

GENERAL NON-MEMBER QUESTIONS

What kind of services do you provide? Usenet.com is a top North American Usenet service provider, which offers high quality Usenet access at discount prices to customers from all over the world. You do not need to reside in North America to become a member of Usenet.com. To use our service, you need to have Internet access from an Internet Service Provider (ISP) of your choice. Whether you have Dial-up, Cable, DSL, MSN TV, or AOL, you can browse all the newsgroups you want with us. We do not provide actual Internet access to customers, however. What we do provide is access to more than 120,000 Usenet newsgroups to individual customers.

What kind of plans and sign up options do you have? We recently updated our plan and pricing structure to reflect the changing demands of our customers. We have a variety of monthly plans that can fit anyone's needs and budget. In addition to that, once you join, you can add additional bandwidth at any time by simply clicking one button. You don't have to wait till your new billing cycle starts to continue downloading. If you run out of bandwidth but want to keep going, you can. Go to the sign up page to check out our competitive rates and flexible plans and select an account that's right for you.

What kind of payment options are available? We have a variety of payment options to fit everyone's needs. If you wish to pay via credit card or online check, you can use our billing agent USAepay. Payment by online check requires a valid checking or savings account.

The third available method is Money Order payment, where you mail us your payment in the form of a money order or cashier's check and we activate your account. This method is perfect for international subscribers. A Usenet account must be purchased for a three or a six-month period when paying by money order. Personal checks are not accepted.

What are your download limits? A table with our current download limits and sign up options is available here. We reserve the right to update and modify these settings at any time. We offer no guarantee (written or implied) that these limits will remain permanent. Purchasing a yearly account does not "grandfather" you into any particular set of download limits, or other settings.

Where are your servers located and what are the server addresses? We have two server farms in the USA and one in Europe. They have been strategically placed in those locations for maximum user speed and convenience. All you need to know, however, are two convenient server access gateway addresses to connect to our servers: News.Usenet.com and Euro.Usenet.com.No need to remember the names of 20 different servers, you can now connect to all of them and get all the content via these two simple access points. In the Member's Area of our website we provide our members with real-time download numbers so they can keep track of their bandwidth at any time.

Do you limit download speed? No, we allow you to connect at whatever speed you are capable of. Your speed will be determined by such things as Internet traffic, your Internet connection speed, and your route to our servers.

How long do messages stay on your servers? Retention is not a constant variable. We are constantly increasing our retention rates and staying ahead of the competition.

Can I use a newsreader to access your newsgroups? Certainly. Newsreaders offer more features for downloading binary files than our Web Gateway does. The Web Gateway is more geared towards text-based newsgroups. We have detailed instructions on using the Web Gateway.

Of course, you can decode smaller binary files (such as pictures) on our website, but when it comes to larger files (videos, free software, or free games) newsreaders make the task go much faster. In addition, Usenet.com offers a free newsreader to our members. Click here to learn more about News Rover. You may also visit News Rover's official website. To download your free custom copy of News Rover, log into the Member's Area and click on the "Software" link.

Do I have to use a newsreader to access your newsgroups? No, you can log into our servers through the Web Gateway. We allow our members to use a newsreader or our convenient Web Gateway to make it easier to connect from different locations.

Can I use my web browser to browse Usenet? Absolutely! Our Web Gateway can be accessed through the Member's Area or directly from the web. The Web Gateway is great for browsing, reading and posting in text groups but if you wish to download binaries, a newsreader is the way to go. The Web Gateway, however, is recommended for beginning users and MSN TV users. For instructions on using the Web Gateway, click here.

Don't want to invest in a newsreader? No problem, try our free customized News Rover which can be downloaded from the Member's Area once you join Usenet.com. News Rover is a great, fully-functional, easy to use application and we provide extensive instructions on how to use it to browse Usenet and download files.

How do I purchase Secure-Tunnel's encryption package through Usenet.com?

Existing Usenet.com members can sign up for a regular-priced package at Secure-Tunnel's website.

MEMBER ACCOUNT QUESTIONS

Why the switch to monthly plans? Our new monthly plans provide you with the flexibility you want at prices you will like. We switched to monthly plans for our customer’s convenience as they are easier to understand, use, and keep track of. We understand that some of our customers are used to the old daily limit plans and for that reason our existing customers can remain on the daily plans until it’s time to renew their account. Daily plan account holders will be able to renew their accounts under one of the new plans only as the old plans will no longer be available. Members can log into the Member’s Area of our website to find out more about the new plans and see how you can save money by signing up for one of the new monthly plans. We will also be sending out email communications with more details about the new plans and how existing members can go about getting on one of the monthly plans.

What kind of features do the new plans have? Usenet.com’s new monthly plans are packed with exciting new features that we can’t wait to have you try and benefit from. We’ve updated our Member’s Area and added many new settings to help you track your downloading, account status, add bandwidth, learn about special offers you may be eligible for, and much more. Once you get a monthly membership, you will have access to all that!

Some of the advantages you will get when you get a monthly membership:

• ability to add as much bandwidth as you wish to your account at any time, 24x7 – no more running out!
• access to detailed real-time bandwidth usage stats in our Member's Area
• no need to connect to 18 different servers - you can now enter Usenet via two simple server access gateways: News.Usenet.com and Euro.Usenet.com
• same great Usenet content but less hassle getting it, saving you time and bandwidth

These great features are not available with the daily limit plans so the sooner you make the switch, the sooner you will be able to take advantage of them.

Where can I see my download limit? Your download limit is the same as the plan you purchased. For example, if you purchased a 20GB monthly plan that means you have 20 gigabytes of avail able bandwidth that you can use to download the desired content from our news servers in one month from your sign up date. You can see your available download limit at any time when you log into the Member’s Area of our website and click on “Server Information.

How can I check my balance to see how much I’ve downloaded for the month and how much I have left? Checking your balance is a piece of cake once you go to the Member's Area. The "Downloads" number in the control panel on the right of the page will show you everything you need to know about your account. "Downloads" includes the amount downloaded from both USA and Europe combined. Please submit a support request if you have any questions about your balance or account.

I have a monthly plan but I’ve run out of bandwidth. How can I add bandwidth to my account? Adding bandwidth to your account is extremely easy. Just log into the Member’s Area and click on the “Add Bandwidth” button on the right. You will then need to select how much bandwidth you want to add and you’ll be good to go.

Does adding bandwidth take effect immediately? Yes! No more waiting around. You can start downloading from Usenet as soon as a minute after you’ve added the additional bandwidth to your account. We’ve made it possible for you to seamlessly continue downloading, as if you never ran out.

How do I find out if I’m eligible for any special offers or promotions? Good question! You can do this by logging into the Member’s Area and clicking on the “Messages Available” button within the control panel on the right. All special promotions, offers, loyalty rewards, or bonuses will be announced to you this way to avoid excessive email communication. You can check your messages at any time. The button will flash if you do have new messages that you have not read yet.

When would my account be renewed? Monthly accounts are automatically renewed at the end of your billing cycle, until you cancel. A billing cycle is not the same as a calendar month. Your billing cycle is one month long but it starts on the date you signed up and ends thirty days after that. You currently cannot renew your account earlier but can always add extra bandwidth if you’ve run out for the month.

How do I upgrade my account? Not getting enough bandwidth every month? If you often run out of bandwidth before the end of your billing cycle, it is probably a good idea to upgrade your account so you can have a bigger download limit. You can upgrade your account at any time by submitting a support request or by calling our customer service staff at . Just let us know what account level you want to be at and we will provide you with instructions on upgrading your account. The plan change will take effect starting in your next billing period. Unfortunately, there is no easier way to automatically do this right now.

How do I change my account information such as password or email address? Both your password and your email address can be updated if you log into the Member’s Area and visit the account administration page in the Member's Area. If you want to change other details of your account such as your username or your level of membership, please submit a support request.

How do I change my billing information? Our billing agents are currently unable to update billing information. If you wish to update this information, you are required to cancel your account with us and sign up again. Sorry for any inconveniences.

How do I cancel my account? To cancel your account sign into the Member's Area using your username and your password, then go to the contact us link and select cancel your account here link. Please fill out the cancellation form and submit it. You will receive an email with a confirmation number from us. If you are being billed through the third party billing company CCBill please note that you also need to cancel your account with CCBill. After submitting your Usenet.com cancelation form for your service, you will will be brought to the CCBill Site to cancel your recurring billing. Please note that no refunds will be made and further billing will be discontinued starting with the next billing period.

MEMBER SERVICE QUESTIONS

What are the addresses of your news servers? Usenet.com members can connect to our news servers using two convenient server access gateways. The first gateway provide you with access to our US server farms that host all newsgroup content, News.Usenet.com. Our second gateway provides access to our Europe servers, Euro.Usenet.com. You need to enter these server addresses in your newsreader of choice. If you are using the free News Rover we provide, you do not need to do that because they have been pre-entered into the downloadable version for you. When using the Web Gateway to connect to the servers, all you need to do is log into the Member's Area and go to “Server Information.” You will then see two links to the two access gateways that you can connect to by clicking on the “Log In” link. Or you may directly access the gateway here.

How can I open more than one stream or connection? Some of the more popular newsreaders such as News Bin Pro and News Rover allow you to have more than one simultaneous connection. This will speed up your downloads by having more than one download going at a time. Some newsreaders will not allow you to open more than one stream. Outlook Express and Agent are two that allow only one stream at a time.

How do I get my free customized copy of News Rover? All you need to do is log into the Member's Area of Usenet.com, using your username and password and go to the “Software” link. You can download your free pre-configured News Rover right from that page. It only takes a few minutes to download and install News Rover and start downloading from the newsgroups.

Where can I get instructions on how to download from your servers with a newsreader? We provide help Multimedias on how to set up several recommended newsreader applications in the Member’s Area, under “Software.” If you want to use News Rover, you don’t need to set anything up. You can just start downloading right after installing it because our servers have been pre-configured for you. We also provide instructions on how to download from Usenet, using News Rover on the “Software” page. That page is your one-stop for all instructions on how to get a newsreader and download binaries in Usenet. If there is anything you don’t understand or need help, please do not hesitate to contact our friendly support staff who can assist you with all sorts of problems, from account questions to technical issues related to our servers, downloading binaries, using a particular newsreader, etc. They are very well-trained and knowledgeable so we encourage you to use them anytime you can’t figure something out on your own.

I want to use the Web Gateway to browse Usenet and download small binary files. Where do I get instructions on using it?

We have an overview of the easy-to-use Web Gateway and instructions on using our service with it here. If you have any questions regarding the gateway after reviewing the instructions, please contact our support specialists. For instant access to the Web Gateway, click here.

Does downloading headers use up my bandwidth? No, it does not. We do not think you should have to pay for headers so we provide them to our members for free. There is no limit to how many headers you can download from Usenet.

Why are some parts of a multi-part post not showing up? The most common reason for missing binary posts is because they get filtered out before they reach us. We have multiple feeds from around the world, so we usually get a pretty complete feed. Some binary posts get canceled as spam or get canceled because they are too large to propagate through other servers. We do not guarantee the completeness of binary posts on our servers; however you should find that we have excellent completion.

How do I add an existing newsgroup to your servers? Submit a support request, including the name of the newsgroup you want added and your username. We will add newsgroups for our members only. We usually handle these requests within 24 hours of your request.

How can I create a new newsgroup? We can add any newsgroup to the alt.* hierarchy. If you want a new newsgroup created, just send us the name of the new newsgroup and your username. Any new newsgroup outside of the alt.* hierarchy needs to go through the Big-8 Management Board. For more information, please visit http://www.big-8.org.

How do I report abuse? You may report newsgroup and Usenet abuse issues to abuse@usenet.com. Please include the name of the group and the article ID when reporting abuse. We will do our best to remove the offending posts as soon as possible.

Have any other questions that were not answered on this page?
Non-members: Please submit a pre-sale inquiry here.
Members: Please submit a support request or contact technical support.