Ngroups Review
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Ngroups- 550 days binary retention |
Pricing Plans
- Unlimited:550 days retention, 24 connections - $19.99/mo.
- Unlimited Eco:550 days retention, 12 connections - $14.99 /mo.
- 5 GB a month, 160 day retention, 12 connections - $5.99/mo.
- Unlimited Eco account - $19.99 for 2 months then $11.99 for life.
- Unlimited Eco account - $29.99/qtr. for life.
Retention
- 550 Days of Binary Retention
- 1095 Days of Text Retention
Plan Types
- Monthly Plans: Yes
- Block Plans: No
- Metered Plans: Yes
Misc
- Completion: 99.9%+
- Newsgroups: 85,000+
- Connections: Up to 12 to 24 connections
- SSL: Yes
- Payment Options: : Credit cards, PayPal, Moneybookers
- Support Info: Online support form - FAQ page
News Server Addresses
- news.us.Ngroups.NET (US)
- news.ssl.Ngroups.NET (US SSL)
- news.eu.Ngroups.NET (Europe)
- eu.ssl.Ngroups.NET (Europe SSL)
Review Of Ngroups
Once you visit the website of Ngroups, they will ask you a simple question: „ do you think that they are just another newsgroup provider?“. Well, the answer is: „think again“. Their motto is “more for less“. They have been providing quality usenet access for almost 7 years by now and they have customers all over the world. They have started their business on November 1, 2003, as part of a Swedish company „GL Design IT“, who, at that time, had already operated the Swedish usenet newsgroup provider known as “Usenet.SE”. Ngroups is now a subsidiary of Poohnix, Ltd from London .
Servers
They have two server systems, located in US (Ashburn, VA), and central Europe (Amsterdam, NL). Each of them can be accessed by using standard connection (NNTP) or SSL (NNTPS). The addresses of these are as follows:
NNTP:
- news.us.ngroups.net (US server farm, Ashburn, VA)
- news.eu.ngroups.net (EU server farm, Amsterdam, NL)
Ports are 119 or 443.
NNTP+SSL: (NNTPS)
- news.ssl.ngroups.net (US server farm, Ashburn, VA)
- eu.ssl.ngroups.net (EU server farm, Amsterdam, NL)
Ports are 563, 80 or 81.
They encourage the subscriber to use the closest server, but if this server is having some issues, the other server can be used as well. The subscribers of “Unlimited Extra” option may use up to 50 simultaneous connections, but other account types allow 20 simultaneous connections to their server systems. Finally, their redundant server systems that are connected to several redundant backbones, ensure nearly 100% uptime
Retention and completion
Binary retention is up to 600 days. Text retention is 1095 days and the completion rate is over 99.9%.
Pricing
They have several options available; one metered, 2 unlimited, manual account and block account as well. Let’s check the specifications for each of these:
Unlimited Extra, 50 connections – $19.99/mo.
Unlimited Eco, 20 connections – $14.99 /mo.
Light: 5 GB/month, 20 connections – $5.99/mo.
Manual account: the subscriber can choose transfer limit per month and the maximum number of connections. It does not have auto-renewal, though.
Block account: the subscriber can choose transfer limit per month and gets 50 connections. The subscriber will also get non-expiring download quota, meaning, once he or she runs out of traffic, refilling with the desired amount is all that needs to be done.
Access
They do not provide a web interface. In other words, newsreader software is required to access their services.
Downloads
The monthly download limit is reset on 00:00 GMT, on the same day the subscriber has signed-up. The weekly download limit is reset at Mondays, 00:00 GMT.
Account sharing
Only one IP at a time is allowed, meaning, the accounts are for personal use only.
Privacy
They don’t log what subscriber downloads.
Recommendation
Very decent service, excellent retention rates and competitive pricing. That definitely makes them worth considering.
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