Here in MILWAUKEE I am seeing this since yesterday (on and off):
Timed out while establishing NNTP connection
I am using: news-server.wi.rr.com which seems to resolve to: Name: news-server.rdc-kc.rr.com Address: 24.94.170.102 Name: news-server.rdc-kc.rr.com Address: 24.94.170.94 Name: news-server.rdc-kc.rr.com Address: 24.94.170.98
I can reach them via telnet to port 119 fine...but I am wondering if there is a better server out there I could/should be using.
I am only interested in text articles...not binaries.
You *have* to use your local news server (even though yours happens to be in KC) because of authentication. Here in Western Ohio (WOH), the news server is news-server.woh.rr.com. For most divisions, you just replace "woh" with "wi" or "nyc" and so on. So, you are using the "right" server.
You can't login to RR's NYC news servers, for example, because they don't know who you are.
What does your area's network status say for NNTP servers ??
All three respond okay to me, though .94 might be a little slower than the other two...
What you're doing is fine, for now. If you ever get a 'host not found' error, remember that you might need to reset things back to "news-server.wi.rr.com".