Reviews:
 ·WildBlue
| Astraweb vs Blocknews Ok I am about ready to redo my block account. I currently have an account with Astraweb and they have been great. But blocknews.net is offering 200GB for $21.59, while Astraweb is offering 180GB for $25. Which one would you guys choose? The reason I am still questioning is, Astraweb has already proven themselves to me and I don't know anything about Blocknews. I know their retention is slightly lower and that they use Highwinds. So which one would you guys pick?
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Windows 7 Pro 64-Bit / Q6600 / 9800GT / 4GB RAM |
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 Stem BoltAka Smiling BobPremium
join:2002-11-08
Cleveland, OH
kudos:2 | said by Sircolby45: I know their retention is slightly lower and that they use Highwinds. So which one would you guys pick? They don't use Highwinds any more. I've been using them exclusively for over a year and I'm very happy with their service. Their customer support is fantastic. They respond to customer emails very quickly.
I recommend them. Their retention and completion is great.
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Panda Cloud AV Pro + Online Armor + Router/SPI |
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Reviews:
·WildBlue
| said by Stem Bolt:said by Sircolby45: I know their retention is slightly lower and that they use Highwinds. So which one would you guys pick? They don't use Highwinds any more. I've been using them exclusively for over a year and I'm very happy with their service. Their customer support is fantastic. They respond to customer emails very quickly. I recommend them. Their retention and completion is great. Oh you are correct there. I was running the tracert to their website instead of the actual Usenet server. *Face-palm* It is looking like I may go with blocknews. Astraweb has a higher retention, but it is not by very much. I will probably wait until I use up the last 20GB on my Astraweb account. With Usenet the price is going nowhere but down, so no need to jump the gun.
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Windows 7 Pro 64-Bit / Q6600 / 9800GT / 4GB RAM |
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 odinb
join:2001-11-26
Frisco, TX | reply to Sircolby45
According to my logs from my newsclient, I fetch from news.astraweb.com as well as blocknews.net on my blocknews account...
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"It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority." - Benjamin Franklin |
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 swintecPremium,VIP
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME
kudos:3
 ·RapidVPS
 ·Sprint Mobile Br..
 ·VoicePulse
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to Sircolby45
Astrawebs retention is not that much higher if it is at all (assuming the number on there site is a hard number). I just tried a random NZB of 711 days and it came down fine, could go back further but it needs a small repair here and there, so for comparisons sake I wont consider it valid.
I know we are a bit lower cost than Astraweb on the 200 Gig block account but you could always drive the price down further with the larger block sizes if you divide it out over time. All depends on usage I guess.
Anyways, feel free to send me an IM on here if you need any help.
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Usenet Block Accounts | Unlimited Accounts |
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swintecPremium,VIP
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME
kudos:3 Reviews:
·RapidVPS
·Sprint Mobile Br..
·VoicePulse
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to odinb
said by odinb:According to my logs from my newsclient, I fetch from news.astraweb.com as well as blocknews.net on my blocknews account... You must be using a back up server type configuration? Only fetch from one when the other is missing parts?
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Usenet Block Accounts | Unlimited Accounts |
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Reviews:
·WildBlue
1 edit | If you are from blocknews.net the fact that you are here on this forum says volumes to me. There is no better way to understand what the customer is thinking than on a forum. When my block account from Astraweb runs out I will most likely be getting a Blocknews account.
Plus I was highly unimpressed with Astraweb customer service here recently. I sent them an e-mail asking if they had any intentions of competing with Bocknews and this is the response I get.
Currently our best offer for Pay-by-Download plans is 180GB for $25.
Thank you and have a great day !
Really? That is all you have to say. Thanks for nothing. I mean I could think of a million better responses than that. If it was me I would have at least done something like pointing out Astrawebs strengths or something. It is not like I wasn't able to see that this was the best plan that they currently offer. I might have been born in the dark, but it wasn't last night.
I guess what I am trying to say is it felt like one of those copy and paste responses. If you have ever dealt with e-mail customer support then you know exactly what I am talking about.
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Windows 7 Pro 64-Bit / Q6600 / 9800GT / 4GB RAM |
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Rojo
join:2009-04-14
New York, NY | OTOH you got a succint reply to your question minus any fluff. Some of us appreciate that.
Anyway it sounds like you were expecting a special deal by mentioning a competitor. You got the answer, plain and simple. |
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Reviews:
·WildBlue
| said by Rojo:OTOH you got a succint reply to your question minus any fluff. Some of us appreciate that. Anyway it sounds like you were expecting a special deal by mentioning a competitor. You got the answer, plain and simple. I wasn't fishing for a deal. I was fishing for any plans of them changing their block plan. Even telling me there was no plans to change their block account prices at this time would have been sufficient. This answer just pointed out something that I obviously already knew instead of even attempting to answer my question.
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[IMG]»img218.imageshack.us/img218/2636···3dg6.gif
Windows 7 Pro 64-Bit / Q6600 / 9800GT / 4GB RAM |
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1 edit | said by Sircolby45:said by Rojo:OTOH you got a succint reply to your question minus any fluff. Some of us appreciate that. Anyway it sounds like you were expecting a special deal by mentioning a competitor. You got the answer, plain and simple. I wasn't fishing for a deal. I was fishing for any plans of them changing their block plan. Even telling me there was no plans to change their block account prices at this time would have been sufficient. This answer just pointed out something that I obviously already knew instead of even attempting to answer my question. 1. It does indeed sound like you were fishing for a deal. Sounds like you were asking for something special or otherwise you were heading to Blocknews.
2. Why would they want to tell you before anyone else if they were planning to change their plans?
No company would do that. It is just silly. |
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Reviews:
·WildBlue
1 edit | said by komal:said by Sircolby45:said by Rojo:OTOH you got a succint reply to your question minus any fluff. Some of us appreciate that. Anyway it sounds like you were expecting a special deal by mentioning a competitor. You got the answer, plain and simple. I wasn't fishing for a deal. I was fishing for any plans of them changing their block plan. Even telling me there was no plans to change their block account prices at this time would have been sufficient. This answer just pointed out something that I obviously already knew instead of even attempting to answer my question. 1. It does indeed sound like you were fishing for a deal. Sounds like you were asking for something special or otherwise you were heading to Blocknews. 2. Why would they want to tell you before anyone else if they were planning to change their plans? No company would do that. It is just silly. I am heading to Blocknews. If they don't want to compete then yah I will. That is how it works. I wasn't fishing for a deal. I don't care what it sounds like. I was just trying to check and see if they had any plans to adjust their plans in accordance with Blocknews. I simple yes we are or no we are not would have sufficed. I wasn't trying to get them to give me special treatment. I was trying to see if they had any plans of making it available to everybody.
Either way you have your opinion and I have mine. I think it was a poor response. You think it wasn't. Whatever life goes on. I didn't come here to argue.
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Windows 7 Pro 64-Bit / Q6600 / 9800GT / 4GB RAM |
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 Xizer
join:2004-02-05
New York, NY | reply to Sircolby45
lol @ people who buy block accounts anyway |
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Reviews:
·Rogers Hi-Speed
| Why? Someone who only downloads a few GB a month comes out way ahead value-wise with a block account as opposed to an unlimited one.
Hell, someone who downloads 50GB per month still comes out ahead with a block account. 200GB costs $25 or so. Used up in 4 months means $6.25 per month as opposed to an unlimited account at $10+ per month. |
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Xizer
join:2004-02-05
New York, NY
1 edit | Someone who downloads a few GB a month has no business with a Usenet account. |
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Reviews:
·WildBlue
| said by Xizer:Someone who downloads a few GB a month has no business with a Usenet account. Why is that? Personally I can make a Block Account last for a year. I use just4today.net to get all of the recent posts for free. Then I use a Block account if I ever need anything beyond the 10 day retention.
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Windows 7 Pro 64-Bit / Q6600 / 9800GT / 4GB RAM |
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Reviews:
·Rogers Hi-Speed
1 edit | reply to Xizer
said by Xizer:Someone who downloads a few GB a month has no business with a Usenet account. Wow. |
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Stem BoltAka Smiling BobPremium
join:2002-11-08
Cleveland, OH
kudos:2 | reply to Xizer
said by Xizer:Someone who downloads a few GB a month has no business with a Usenet account. That is just unbelievable. 
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Panda Cloud AV Pro + Online Armor + Router/SPI |
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 darciliciousCyber LibrarianPremium
join:2001-01-02
Forest Grove, OR
kudos:1
 ·Frontier FiOS
·Verizon FiOS
| reply to Xizer
said by Xizer:Someone who downloads a few GB a month has no business with a Usenet account. Some people's children have no business posting here.  |
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swintecPremium,VIP
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME
kudos:3 Reviews:
·RapidVPS
·Sprint Mobile Br..
·VoicePulse
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to metalhawk
said by metalhawk:Hell, someone who downloads 50GB per month still comes out ahead with a block account. Even those who download up to 100 gigs a month can come out ahead, if you buy a large enough block and divide it out overtime. We have a calculator on our site that lays the numbers out and several people have said they never ran the numbers before to really see, but were pleasantly surprised.
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Usenet Block Accounts | Unlimited Accounts |
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odinb
join:2001-11-26
Frisco, TX | reply to swintec
said by swintec:said by odinb:According to my logs from my newsclient, I fetch from news.astraweb.com as well as blocknews.net on my blocknews account... You must be using a back up server type configuration? Only fetch from one when the other is missing parts? Actually, I only have an account with Blocknews, no backup account...
This is what I see lots of in my logs for SABnzbd (with x instead of the number):
2010-07-27 22:11:13,214::INFO::[downloader:755] Thread x@usnews.blocknews.net:563: BODY x@europe.news.astraweb.com
I assumed that meant Astraweb was involved...
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"It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority." - Benjamin Franklin |
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