Easynews

The market for Usenet services is diverse, with so many options out there. Often, you have to look into the finer details to help make your decision, but one obvious strong point to consider is choosing a provider which has been around for years.

And that’s certainly the case with Easynews. Launched in 1995, it’s one of the most popular and feature-packed Usenet services around. The company has built up a lot of credibility thanks to its broad range of Usenet capabilities.

With Easynet, you can access Usenet services through traditional Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) servers and web browsers. It’s also formed a partnership with Newhosting, which means you can run both newsgroup services alongside each other, for extra flexibility.

Accessing newsgroups

One of the most distinctive things about Easynet is that it offers a web-based service, letting you access newsgroups from any device with a simple web browser, which can be pretty handy.

• You can sign up for Easynews here

Such a setup should certainly appeal if you haven’t tried a Usenet service before, because you don’t need to configure a third-party newsreader application. Of course, this also means you can use the service on tablets and phones as well as computers.

The web interface is simple, letting you get around with a minimum of fuss. It offers everything you need to get the most out of Usenet, with a focus on letting you find, download and stream content quickly. The ‘global search’ feature is handy, in particular: it allows you to hunt for items across global newsgroups, and filter by file, quality and date.

Speed

Easynews is a powerful Usenet service. It can handle more than 100,000 newsgroups at a completion rate of 99%, and members have access to over 3,000 days of binary retention and 2,650 days of web retention. That’s one of the highest rates we’ve seen, along with Astraweb which also offers 3,000 days of retention.

If you intend to be dealing with a ton of files and traffic via your Usenet service, then it’s important to go for an option that’s nippy. Easynet, unlike many other services out there, acts as the ISP. The company owns all its servers and routers, giving you the best performance levels possible, it promises.

Privacy and pricing

Usenet services can store a lot of your personal data, so you’ll want something that puts security first. When you purchase the ‘Big Gig’ package, you get access to easy-to-use VPN software. This is an additional service to beef up your online security and ensure privacy.

Easynews doesn’t track your usage of the service, or downloads, and as is the case with Astraweb and many other providers, you can post material without your personal identity being exposed. There’s free SSL encryption too, along with alternate ports and connections. 

This service isn’t too expensive, either. The classic plan starts at $9.98 a month (around £8, AU$13), and for that you get 20GB per month and 1GB of ‘loyalty gigs’ (bonus GB which mount up the longer your account remains active).

With the $14.97 plan (around £12, AU$19.50), you get 40GB per month and 2GB of loyalty gigs, and the most expensive option costs $29.94 (around £24, AU$39). With this top-tier offering, you get 150GB, 12GB of loyalty gigs and unlimited VPN usage. If you’re a beginner with Usenet, the first option should suffice.

Final verdict

Easynews does exactly what it says on the tin – namely, it lets you access newsgroups easily, and that’s not always the case with Usenet services. As well as this, the service offers a fair pricing structure, and you can sign up for a 14-day free trial to test it out before committing. Also, Easynews does well in the security stakes, which is an added bonus.

• We’ve rounded up the best Usenet services of 2017