Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" in RCN http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r21113266 en Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:06:21 EDT Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:06:21 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21222820 lilhurricane : huh?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21222820 Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:17:29 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21222782 anon : Why do you put "feature" in scare quotes, lilhurricane?

It's not a feature, it's a core part of a traditional net package. If fewer people (i.e. nobody you know) use it then it is less of a problem to include it. They certainly include a lot of "features" that only customers with certain types of connections can use.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21222782 Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:10:17 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21194388 lilhurricane : Most ISP providers are terminating this "feature", Maurice.

wbertram mentioned something above ..might be worth looking into

said by wbertram See Profile :
I signed up for the free teranews account and have been running both free.teranews.com and news.rcn.com in parallel to compare news messages on the 6 newsgroups I routinely read. Content appears to be the same on both. free.teranews.comm seems to be a good alternative to news.rcn.com.


--
~Safe Hex~ Team Discovery ~ Project Hope ~ Like A Hurricane~]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21194388 Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:50:40 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21194351 anon : I called RCN tech support today. He said that newsgroups have been unavailable since Sept. 14 and will not be available again. I asked for guidance as to how I could get access to them, and he said he could not help me at all. I insisted that there must be a way and asked him to talk to his supervisor about it, but he answered that it was pointless. I was so angry that I hung up on him. Has anyone been able to find a way of accessing these newsgroups (aside from switching to another ISP provider)?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21194351 Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:46:01 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21149891 anon : Had the same prob. here on the west coast. Went to the ISP web site and found that they changed their news server. So chk. that out and then go to Tools/accounts/news and delete existing acc.and enter new acc provided by your ISP. Hope this helps, it did for me.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21149891 Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:53:50 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21142047 wbertram : news.rcn.com is stilling working in my location in the LV as of 300PM Sat.

I signed up for the free teranews account and have been running both free.teranews.com and news.rcn.com in parallel to compare news messages on the 6 newsgroups I routinely read. Content appears to be the same on both. free.teranews.comm seems to be a good alternative to news.rcn.com.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21142047 Sat, 20 Sep 2008 15:11:09 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21141070 anon : I tried the username@rcn.com plus email password, but that fails too.
Reason: 502 Access Denied via @rcn.com auth server

So newsgroups are totally gone. I agree with all the posters here - RCN handled this poorly, they should have at least informed subscribers.

Oh well... will now need to check out what else is available ere in MA...]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21141070 Sat, 20 Sep 2008 10:10:07 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21133896 anon : I was surprised when all the sudden news.rcn.com was unavailable and merely assumed it was a temporary issue. After a few days, I called RCN support who informed me that RCN no longer "supports" newsgroups and hung up. Hung up! I called back and asked if RCN bothered to send a notice to their valued customers and another "customer service" agent said no, before hanging up again. I called back again and they are still offering their Internet service as including newsgroups and I pointed that out. Apparently RCN's business practice is to advertise one thing, take your money in advance (Internet service is prepaid at the beginning of your billing month), and then not deliver the promised service.
I was formerly a big RCN fan and encouraged my neighbors to switch from Comcast to support the smaller company who was offering competition.

I still would have been disappointed if RCN had bothered to *notify* me in advance that they were discontinuing part of their Internet service, but at least I would have known. Hanging up on your paying customers is very classy, too and is the final straw. Tomorrow I might wake up and find out that their Internet service has been modified again to 128k bandwidth or they dropped port 80 service. No thanks, RCN. Verizon is coming to install next week. Have a great chapter 7. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21133896 Thu, 18 Sep 2008 21:22:14 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21133088 mjr : Nah. Still no dice... Tried all of my rcn e-mail addresses with their respective passwords.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21133088 Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:49:53 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21132480 mechblue : It still works for me today. Using Xnews, port set to 119 and username@rcn.com and password in the place where it says "News authentication (leave blank unless required by server)" space of the server setup under (Special>Setup Xnews>Servers>Basic). Make sure you have @rcn.com after your username. And that you are using your email password (I know I have a different one for the RCN Selfcare screen). And make sure you specify port 119. Other than that, who knows. But I agree this workaround may end soon too. For those of whom usenet is important, RCN may either lose customers or see the bandwith consumption of the customers it had been serving go up if they elect a paid news service without usage caps. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21132480 Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:01:19 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21131835 mjr : I've tried with and without the @rcn.com, too, by the way... No workie...

Not sure how much all this matters, if RCN is determined to drop the service, I'm sure this door is going to close soon too.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21131835 Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:22:14 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21131726 anon : same here, i can access my email from rcn's webmail but using the same credentials does not work for news server.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21131726 Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:05:07 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21131674 mjr : I get access denied via thunderbird and X-News.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21131674 Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:56:37 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21131519 wbertram : It is working fine with Mozilla Thunderbird.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21131519 Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:24:02 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21131017 anon : What software are you using to access the newgroups? I am useing Agent forte and can not login.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21131017 Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:35:57 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21128387 mechblue : It is back. However as mentioned above, first it said Authentication Required, but after putting in username@rcn.com and emailpassword in the newsreader authentication tab, it works.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21128387 Wed, 17 Sep 2008 22:14:01 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21127561 mjr : I get "502 Access Denied via @rcn.com auth server" when I try my email addy/password]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21127561 Wed, 17 Sep 2008 19:58:29 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21126505 fhaber : username@rcn.com
mailpw]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21126505 Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:01:37 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21126301 jsolo1 : What are you using for youro authentication info?
rcn/rcn?
--
Insanity is living in a state of disillusion.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21126301 Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:31:25 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21126273 fhaber : 1. I'm getting data.

2. Mine always needed authent, even from an RCN IP.

3. I never tried to slam RCN with a third connection - it's so slow it's easy to be a gentleman (g).]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21126273 Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:27:31 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21126220 jsolo1 : fhaber,

Per your other thread where you post it's back. news.rcn.com resolves now to giganews, but it still wants a login/pass to gain access, so not really back.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21126220 Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:16:26 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21126071 mjr : No it's not. I get the dreaded "480 Authentication Required" The same error you would get when you used to try to open your third connection. Only this is my first connection.

Are you actually receiving data from the server, or are you saying it's back because you get an IP from DNS?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21126071 Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:49:18 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21125909 fhaber : Reposting, as requested:

=======================

News - It's Baaack (today, anyway)

News (the familiar and beloved outsourced, Giga, slow NNTP)suddenly started working! Can any of our esteemed RCN folks confirm whether this is intentional?

NSLookUp - Wednesday, September 17, 2008 14:50:45
Generated by CyberKit Version 2.5
Copyright © 1996-2000 by Luc Neijens

Name Server: 4.2.2.4
Query: news.rcn.com
Type of Search: ALL - All records
Protocol: UDP
Verbose: Yes
Recursion Desired: Yes

Header:
ID=20855, QR=Response, Opcode=QUERY, RCODE=NO ERROR
Authoritative Answer=No, Truncation=No
Recursion Desired=Yes, Recursion Available=Yes
QDCOUNT=1, ANCOUNT=1, NSCOUNT=0, ARCOUNT=0
Question:
Name=news.rcn.com, QTYPE=ALL, QCLASS=1
Answer Section:
- Name=news.rcn.com
Type=CNAME, Class=1, TTL=43200 (12 Hours), RDLENGTH=20
CNAME=news.isp.giganews.com
---]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21125909 Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:18:15 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21125871 lilhurricane :
said by LexingtonMA See Profile :

Lilly - who is the right person for us to contact at RCN to let them know how we feel
..you're doing it right here, Lex :)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21125871 Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:11:24 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21123153 LexingtonMA : Lilly - who is the right person for us to contact at RCN to let them know how we feel about the fact that (a) RCN just discontinued a valuable service that absolutely used to be part of the ISP deal, and (b) RCN did so without ANY notification to us?

I guess it was foolish for me to go to the newgroup rcn.general to see if there was an update there


:mad:]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21123153 Wed, 17 Sep 2008 01:17:38 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21121334 lilhurricane :
said by cdr1000 See Profile :

Does it matter if Comcast did the same?

What matters is why.

Apparently RCN... (and others) don't believe there's enough demand.

said by comcastcares See Profile :

This decision is in alignment with other Internet Service Providers that have recently terminated their Newsgroups service due to the declining popularity of Newsgroups as customers chose other methods, such as RSS feeds and web browsing to access information.
I'm fully aware you and others utilized the service.

I'm in complete agreement with folks here that there should have been communication with RCN subscribers
--
~Safe Hex~ Team Discovery ~ Project Hope ~ Like A Hurricane~]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21121334 Tue, 16 Sep 2008 19:25:18 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21120915 cdr1000 : Does it matter if Comcast did the same?

What exactly this thread is about?

RCN did not inform customers.....or Comcast follows RCN?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21120915 Tue, 16 Sep 2008 19:22:51 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21121032 anon : I had newsgroups Sunday morning, and then it died. I tried again on Monday, and got nothing. I sent an email to support. They told me to call the tech support line. The tech support nitwit had no clue what USENET was, or NNTP. When I made it clear to him that he had no business fielding a tech support issue he was clearly untrained to handle, he went away for a while. When he came back, he confirmed my worst fears.

I'm ticked off enough at having Usenet canceled with NO notice, but I really can't believe how poorly RCN has handled this. They obviously didn't bother to tell any of their support people either.

Verizon FIOS will get a phone call tomorrow. I have absolutely no reason to stay with RCN any longer, and every reason to take my business elsewhere.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21121032 Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:30:04 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21120750 lilhurricane : ..seems RCN isn't alone

»[Newsgroups] The Comcast Newsgroups Service Discontinued]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21120750 Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:35:17 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21120170 afty : I am *this* close to switching to Comcast. Let me explain why:

1) Fewer HD channels. I live in Somerville, MA, and for some reason we don't get the HD channels that other areas get. We have been stuck with the same HD channels for the last year. We don't get any of the newer ones like Animal Planet HD, History HD, TLC HD, etc. Yet we pay the same price as our neighbors in Boston who do get these channels.

2) Cancelling news service without any warning. Yes, some of us did use it. At least when Comcast cancelled their news service, they provided free (but limited) access to Giganews for some time.

3) Slow Internet speeds. When I had Comcast, they kept increasing speeds for the same price. And when they promised 6 Mbits down, you really did get 6 Mbits down. With RCN, on the other hand, you are lucky to receive your rated speed. I am on a 10 Mbit plan, but I am lucky to see 3 Mbit in the evenings. Sure I can get 10 Mbits during the day, but I'm at work during the day so that doesn't help me.

4) General incompetence. Actually, I was going to switch to Comcast. I called in to RCN to see if they could make me an offer to change my mind. They offered a nice package at a good price, so I agreed and decided to stay with them. Yet 2 weeks later I am still being billed the wrong amount. I have called in 3 times to have this fixed, and they keep telling me it will be fixed, but frankly I have no confidence in them. If it is not correct when I call next week, I am cancelling my service.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21120170 Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:04:48 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21118335 kcblack : Honestly folks,

Did you actually expect them to handle this in a professional courteous manner or to give you advance notice?

The only good thing I have to say about them is the offering of 20/2 speed, even if it was at a very high price.

I'm done with them as of 9/0/08 and I still can't get them to straighten out my last bill. I told them well in advance that to terminate my service on a certain date. I've got one side of RCN telling me not to pay my bill until they get it corrected, then I have the other side sending me dunning email and phone messages telling me they are going to cut off my service. Good lord,is it too much to ask to tell them to get their act together?

Oh, and BTW, them cutting newsgroups is to provide you better customer service.

Goodbye, farewell, good riddance RCN.

Kevin
--
"Because we’ve invested over $4 billion in building our MegaBand network so you can enjoy the internet the way it was intended to be – fast and uncapped." (RCN marketing Promo)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21118335 Tue, 16 Sep 2008 10:50:35 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21116591 anon : rcn.com is down for me too. Also my email is intermittent. With all the problems we "CUSTOMERS" have endured with outages poor CUSTOMER service and poor handling of ISSUES, I believe we deserve COMPENSATION! I am going to pee in the wind ONCE 1-800-ring-rcn can be accessed and ask-Demand a credit. After they Laugh at me and hang up on me while they transfer me to an under achieving Supervisor,I will report back to all of you. How does a telecommunications company have a busy signal when you call them and How can an ISP not have a running webpage? What a joke!!! Who are we dealing with...NewNet? If I don't get a credit I am definitely inquiring about a New ISP. No email at this time. Oh wait now I got some. Good thing WE THE CUSTOMERS don't NEED e-mail. THANK YOU RCN!!! ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21116591 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 23:15:58 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21116445 anon : I can't log onto regular "RCN.com" What is going on? Their phone has been busy for a while now too. Maybe they finally self destructed... :)Bethlehem PA]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21116445 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 22:51:24 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21116395 fhaber : Everyone's doing it. Everyone else gives notice. This was pitifully handled.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21116395 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 22:43:49 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21115346 bilsky : Or at the very least a post on the RCN official pages.

I was a daily newsgroup user. Very sad to see them gone. It was one of the things that separated them from the other ISPs that I could choose from. Now, not so much.

-jason]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21115346 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 19:35:55 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21115336 mjr : I've stood by RCN for a LONG time. I signed up for RCN service in October of 1997, when I moved into the LEahigh Valley, signed up for triple play when it was first offered to me more than 6 years ago, and have sent them more than $10,000 since the beginning. This leaves a real bad taste in my mouth.

Quite disappointed. Seriously, how much did it cost RCN to subcontract giganews? Can't imagine is was very much at all.

Very disappointed.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21115336 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 19:33:44 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21114527 propsny : Wow, this is outrageous. To simply take away a provided service without any notice! They raised rates recently, still provide crappy cable TV service, and now abruptly discontinue newsgroup service!

Since my apt building forces RCN on us as our only cable tv and internet provider, I will surely look to move immediately so I can get rid of RCN from my life once and for all!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21114527 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:04:06 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21113499 nickcatal : Get a 3rd party USENET provider

Your entire life will change :)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21113499 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:30:37 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21113836 anon : RCN Newsgroups were contracted out to Giganews, with it's excellent 200day+ retention, though at a severe cap of 35k/s with 2 connections. So network drain as an excuse for this service termination is certainly not the case.

It's a shame the way this change of service was handled. I knew immediately something was strange, since Giganews was clearly still up while news.rcn.com did not resolve.

Newsgroups are a major part of traditional ISP services. I can't understand why RCN decided to drop their distinction as one of the few ISPs still offering Usenet access the way they should.

RCN's newsgroups was a major factor in my signing up for bundled TV/Phone/Internet service with RCN. Terminating an entire class of service without even a notice and leaving customers to go figure it out themselves is in poor taste, RCN. FiOS just got into my building, after this stunt I'm unsure if I will be keeping my business with you.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21113836 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:09:23 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21113535 nickcatal : Most ISPs have horrible news services anyways, and they monitor your usage... going with a 3rd party provider is probably the best bet anyways]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21113535 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:20:45 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21113510 wbertram : Unfortunately, we are in an area where only RCN provides service. Can't even get DSL service here.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21113510 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:15:55 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21113491 wbertram :
said by negativeduck See Profile :

Alany,

Honestly, the call center was aware they had all of the information sent to them a few weeks ago and then an update sent last week. That's not say that a tech didn't make an error and what not. I appreciate the feedback and I'll have the note sent again so nobody else has to feel the pain that you did.

All of their "scripts" as you put it should have been updated but I'll get this double checked to make sure something didn't get missed.

Sorry for the inconvenience and your wasted time.
First you raise my rate by $30 a month, then you cut off news.rcn.com without so much as an email notice, forcing me to purchase an alternative news service, and next you will force me to rent additional cable boxes for all the TVs in the house. Seems to me like a recipe for disaster - RCN's disaster! Does RCN honestly think that a large portion of their customers are not actively seeking out alternative source for the services they presently purchase from RCN?

So, you sent a notice of the impending netnews cancellation to your absolutely useless customer service team. Why wouldn't you send a notice to your CUSTOMERS??? So that they could make appropriate preparation to cut over to another news service?

I don't know whether FIOS or SECTV will prove to be better or worse service providers than RCN, but I can assure you that I will be off this sinking ship at the first opportunity I have.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21113491 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:12:02 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21113268 negativeduck : Alany,

Honestly, the call center was aware they had all of the information sent to them a few weeks ago and then an update sent last week. That's not say that a tech didn't make an error and what not. I appreciate the feedback and I'll have the note sent again so nobody else has to feel the pain that you did.

All of their "scripts" as you put it should have been updated but I'll get this double checked to make sure something didn't get missed.

Sorry for the inconvenience and your wasted time.
--
Bryan Laird
Director Product and Technology]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21113268 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 13:32:09 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21113266 jsolo1 : Bryan,

I suppose it would have been proper to give customers at least a 30 day notice before terminating the service [instantly].

I reviewed several months of past statements. Could not find any indication of impending service changes.

It's like one of the cell companies removing a feature and informing the customers after the fact.
--
Insanity is living in a state of disillusion.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21113266 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 13:31:36 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21113132 anon : Last night I discovered that my newsgroups stopped working (its been quite a while since I used them). I checked the settings but I was unable to resolve the problem despite my skillset so I called for RCN tech support. Why couldn't RCN just tell me that RCN discontinued newsgroups when I called with this problem of server not found?

Instead, last night the RCN tech support guy scripted me click by click through the Outlook Express setup to add the account for news.rcn.com, which I already tried and knew backwards and forwards, but try and try we did, amazingly it just wouldn't work - go figure - then he kindly informed me that he has completed all the support on this problem that RCN is obliged to do - which struck me as an odd thing for him to say - and he advised me there was nothing else he could do - and then he told me that this problem is due to the configuration of my computer not RCN and I need to call Microsoft - he said they know this problem and they will be able to help me. But even as I pressed for a better explanation of this fishy posture he would not say anything more about this problem supposedly he knows Microsoft knows about except that I should call Microsoft. It was very peculiar and now that I have found this post I have to conclude that it was all a snowjob. I sincerely resent this deceptive brushoff and who wouldn't? . Why not just tell me RCN no longer provides newsgroups instead of wasting my time and sending me off on a fools errand? Is RCN worried that someone might be upset over this or spread the word that this contracted item is no longer provided? Maybe if I call back I can get a different story. That happens sometimes with tech support but this was really not the way to treat customers.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21113132 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 13:09:28 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21112373 jsolo1 : Looks like its dead in chicago too.

Bryan, phasing out, or phased out already?
--
Insanity is living in a state of disillusion.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21112373 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:51:16 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21112327 negativeduck : Yea, you could say it's official. The news (nntp) service as provided by RCN is being phased out. In large part due to non usage yes there were a few (and by few I mean an incredibly small number) customers who used it however, several times that are using nntp service from a third party.

Additionally for the same reasons that other MSO's are discontinuing the service we are going in the same direction.
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Bryan Laird
Director Product and Technology]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21112327 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:44:09 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21112227 mjr :
said by Jim5 :

Is it official? Has RCN discontinued newsgroups...?
Where has this been rumored? I had not heard any rumors of RCN discontinuing newsgroups...]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21112227 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:21:08 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21112201 wbertram : Could we get an update on the news server problems?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21112201 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:17:55 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21112113 anon : Is it official? Has RCN discontinued newsgroups, like Time Warner did in August?

Or is this just a temporary outage or connectivity issue.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21112113 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 09:58:46 EDT Re: [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21111644 mjr : Can't connect in LV either.
Went down around 9:15 PM last night.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21111644 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 07:16:11 EDT [Newsgroups] "Unable to connect to news.rcn.com:119" http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21111379 anon : Hi, I can't seem to connect to RCN's news server in NYC.

Was working fine till today. I also noticed some TV channels have been moved around.

Can anyone connect to news.rcn.com:119 just to download a grouplist and make sure it's still up?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21111379 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 02:31:45 EDT