Usenet Binaries Incomplete?

[Rob Alisson]

Hi,
the Binaries of most of the main Usenet groups appear to be
incomplete... Perhaps Easynet could update us as to whether there is
currently a problem at their end?

Many thanks

[Nobody]

Post by Rob Alisson
Hi,
the Binaries of most of the main Usenet groups appear to be
incomplete... Perhaps Easynet could update us as to whether there is
currently a problem at their end?
Many thanks

I'd try reosting this to easynet.news.support you're more likley to get a
resonse.

Box

[ChrisH]

Post by Nobody

Post by Rob Alisson
Hi,
the Binaries of most of the main Usenet groups appear to be
incomplete... Perhaps Easynet could update us as to whether there is
currently a problem at their end?
Many thanks

I'd try reosting this to easynet.news.support you're more likley to get a
resonse.
Box

A response maybe, but not a solution. Easynet News has been screwed
for months. I gave up on it ages ago and subscibed to a real news
service. It's still amusing to see the continued awful completion
ratios (<50%) for binaries, and I'm amazed if anyone still uses it for
that purpose. I just send the odd text via easynet (like this one).

ChrisH.

[Nobody]

Post by ChrisH

Post by Nobody

Post by Rob Alisson
Hi,
the Binaries of most of the main Usenet groups appear to be
incomplete... Perhaps Easynet could update us as to whether there is
currently a problem at their end?
Many thanks

I'd try reosting this to easynet.news.support you're more likley to get a
resonse.
Box

A response maybe, but not a solution. Easynet News has been screwed
for months. I gave up on it ages ago and subscibed to a real news
service. It's still amusing to see the continued awful completion
ratios (<50%) for binaries, and I'm amazed if anyone still uses it for
that purpose. I just send the odd text via easynet (like this one).
ChrisH.

Agreed. :-(
If I may enquire, whom did you choose as your news provider? I'm
considering AstraWeb

cheers,
Box

[ChrisH]

Post by Nobody

Post by ChrisH

Post by Nobody

Post by Rob Alisson
Hi,
the Binaries of most of the main Usenet groups appear to be
incomplete... Perhaps Easynet could update us as to whether there is
currently a problem at their end?
Many thanks

I'd try reosting this to easynet.news.support you're more likley to get a
resonse.
Box

A response maybe, but not a solution. Easynet News has been screwed
for months. I gave up on it ages ago and subscibed to a real news
service. It's still amusing to see the continued awful completion
ratios (<50%) for binaries, and I'm amazed if anyone still uses it for
that purpose. I just send the odd text via easynet (like this one).
ChrisH.

Agreed. :-(
If I may enquire, whom did you choose as your news provider? I'm
considering AstraWeb
cheers,
Box

Originally I went with Newsbin (reselling Giganews I think it was),
that was OK but the 2Gb per day limit was becoming a nuisance. Newsbin
have just given up on the provider business so I just took an account
out with Usenetserver which is unilimited. Completetion is good at
about 98%, speed is always max on my line at 1Mbit, I've just had a
couple of brief problems connecting over the past few weeks but that
might not have been their fault anyway (maybe NTL). Newsbin are
recommending UsenetMonster but although a tiny bit cheaper that deal
included a 2Gb daily limit - which I want to avoid. Usenetserver is
around $14/month.

ChrisH

[Boxington Headmaker]

ChrisH <***@noeasynetspam.co.uk.invalid> in message
***@4ax.com
did put finger to key to write ->

Post by ChrisH

Post by Nobody

Post by ChrisH

Post by Nobody

Post by Rob Alisson
Hi,
the Binaries of most of the main Usenet groups appear to be
incomplete... Perhaps Easynet could update us as to whether there
is currently a problem at their end?
Many thanks

I'd try reosting this to easynet.news.support you're more likley
to get a resonse.
Box

A response maybe, but not a solution. Easynet News has been screwed
for months. I gave up on it ages ago and subscibed to a real news
service. It's still amusing to see the continued awful completion
ratios (<50%) for binaries, and I'm amazed if anyone still uses it
for that purpose. I just send the odd text via easynet (like this
one).
ChrisH.

Agreed. :-(
If I may enquire, whom did you choose as your news provider? I'm
considering AstraWeb
cheers,
Box

Originally I went with Newsbin (reselling Giganews I think it was),
that was OK but the 2Gb per day limit was becoming a nuisance. Newsbin
have just given up on the provider business so I just took an account
out with Usenetserver which is unilimited. Completetion is good at
about 98%, speed is always max on my line at 1Mbit, I've just had a
couple of brief problems connecting over the past few weeks but that
might not have been their fault anyway (maybe NTL). Newsbin are
recommending UsenetMonster but although a tiny bit cheaper that deal
included a 2Gb daily limit - which I want to avoid. Usenetserver is
around $14/month.
ChrisH

Thanks for that, being a Newsbin user myself, I searched looking for their
reselling stuff the other day and couldn't find any info - guess your reply
clears that up. I'll have a look at usenetserver, don't want the cap
either, and $14 isn't too much - guess I'll be putting that down as a
business expense too :-)

It's such a pain that Easynet have allowed these froups to disintegrate into
write only mode, almost no replies, and an abundance of spam. They used to
be a good source of help, and information, and although the Easynet posters
always posted as 'individuals' you knew at least that they we reading our
comments. I'm sort of presuming that this degradation has happened as part
of Easynet's removal of 1st line account managers, and moving small time
resellers (like me) out to a 3rd party.

Anyway, enough of a whine & back to my beer,
clear skies :-)
Box / Matt
--
Q: What goes "Pieces of Seven, Pieces of Seven"?
A: A Parroty Error

[Rob Partington]

On Tue, 27 Jan 2004 00:03:15 -0000,

Post by Boxington Headmaker
Thanks for that, being a Newsbin user myself, I searched looking for their
reselling stuff the other day and couldn't find any info

The latest MOTD mentions that they've given up on the reselling because
it was just too much hassle for them.

Post by Boxington Headmaker
I'll have a look at usenetserver, don't want the cap
either, and $14 isn't too much - guess I'll be putting that down as a
business expense too :-)

I'd suggest octanews but that's purely because I know the person who runs
it and he's a good chap who knows what he's doing (Mike Horwath, if you
know the name...) He has a good business model, I think.

Post by Boxington Headmaker
It's such a pain that Easynet have allowed these froups to disintegrate into
write only mode, almost no replies, and an abundance of spam.

The spam is being worked on and I reply as often as I have something to say.

(Unless you want to hear "we're working on it" every time and I'm sure that
gets very boring, especially when things aren't visibly changing.)

Post by Boxington Headmaker
you knew at least that they we reading our
comments.

We still are.

Post by Boxington Headmaker
clear skies :-)

"Clear ether", surely.

[Anthony Edwards]

On Tue, 27 Jan 2004 00:03:15 -0000, Boxington Headmaker

Post by Boxington Headmaker
It's such a pain that Easynet have allowed these froups to disintegrate into
write only mode, almost no replies, and an abundance of spam. They used to
be a good source of help, and information, and although the Easynet posters
always posted as 'individuals' you knew at least that they we reading our
comments. I'm sort of presuming that this degradation has happened as part
of Easynet's removal of 1st line account managers, and moving small time
resellers (like me) out to a 3rd party.

To the best of my knowledge, none of the easynet staff members who
have posted regularly to easynet.support during the period that I
have been with the company (since 1 June 2000) have been employed
in sales roles, other than in some cases (including my own, until
November 2002) as part of the sales support function.

I still contribute where I can, however an extremely small number
of postings now concern support issues (hopefully a good thing of
course, since it possibly suggests that customer support needs are
being satisfactorily met by the use of official channels) other than
those related to the easynet news server, which Rob is best placed
to answer where possible.

[One2Go]

Post by Nobody

Post by ChrisH

Post by Nobody

Post by Rob Alisson
Hi,
the Binaries of most of the main Usenet groups appear to be
incomplete... Perhaps Easynet could update us as to whether there
is currently a problem at their end?
Many thanks

I'd try reosting this to easynet.news.support you're more likley to
get a resonse.
Box

A response maybe, but not a solution. Easynet News has been screwed
for months. I gave up on it ages ago and subscibed to a real news
service. It's still amusing to see the continued awful completion
ratios (<50%) for binaries, and I'm amazed if anyone still uses it
for that purpose. I just send the odd text via easynet (like this
one).
ChrisH.

Agreed. :-(
If I may enquire, whom did you choose as your news provider? I'm
considering AstraWeb
cheers,
Box

Hello Box,

Just went through all the hazzle of finding a decent Binary News server.
EasyNet was very good and I use it at work for the normal news groups.
However at home I went with PlusNet and you may have seen the thread I
started PlusNet binary news servers SUCK bigtime. I do have EasyNews for
retention but needed something in between. EasyNet filled that role but
today I noticed the completion ratio is horrible. Only good thing it is
better than PLusNet, so in this dilemma I opened an account with Astra News
server and liked their offers of 25Gig for $10. It is a onetime payment and
when you reach it you either renew or you are done with it.

Completion ratio is excellent, speed not on the same level as EasyNews but
it filles the need when the completion ratio of your ISPs news server is
gone to LA-LA land.

Try it you will not be dissapointed. Downloaded over night gigs of files
and no complaints yet. I will consider the next time the 65 Gig offer for
$25.

Hans

[Paul Bristow]

... I opened an account with Astra News
server and liked their offers of 25Gig for $10. It is a onetime payment and
when you reach it you either renew or you are done with it.
Completion ratio is excellent, speed not on the same level as EasyNews but
it filles the need when the completion ratio of your ISPs news server is
gone to LA-LA land.
Try it you will not be dissapointed. Downloaded over night gigs of files
and no complaints yet. I will consider the next time the 65 Gig offer for
$25.
Hans

Oh, wow! You mean *somebody* has finally, after a decade or more of
faffing about, gone for the one and only business model that ever made
any sense: Pay for the *data*, not for the time you have to *wait* for
the data to arrive! Hallelujiah!!!

Where do I sign up?


Paul B. =:o}

[Anthony Edwards]

On Wed, 28 Jan 2004 00:05:57 GMT, Paul Bristow

Post by Paul Bristow
Oh, wow! You mean *somebody* has finally, after a decade or more of
faffing about, gone for the one and only business model that ever made
any sense: Pay for the *data*, not for the time you have to *wait* for
the data to arrive! Hallelujiah!!!

Most of the specialist News Service Providers offering individual
subscription to their service charge on that basis, and have done
for some time.

[Rob Partington]

On Wed, 28 Jan 2004 00:05:57 GMT,

Post by Paul Bristow
Pay for the *data*, not for the time you have to *wait* for
the data to arrive! Hallelujiah!!!

*boggle* News providers have been doing this for years.

[Rob Partington]

On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 17:54:28 +0000,

Post by ChrisH
A response maybe, but not a solution. Easynet News has been screwed
for months. I gave up on it ages ago and subscibed to a real news
service. It's still amusing to see the continued awful completion
ratios (<50%) for binaries

Some random numbers:

alt.binaries.movies.divx = 61.5054
alt.binaries.mpeg.video.music = 54.8083
alt.binaries.dvd.french = 45.2456
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.electronic = 51.927
alt.binaries.drwho = 89.1188

Not perfect, no, but those are still going up. It'll take until the
middle of next week before things stabilise enough to get accurate
figures on completion because the retention is now 6 days so the stats
will be "wrong" until all the old articles have drained.

(Good if you're a drwho fan, I suppose.)

[ChrisH]

Post by Rob Partington
On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 17:54:28 +0000,

Post by ChrisH
A response maybe, but not a solution. Easynet News has been screwed
for months. I gave up on it ages ago and subscibed to a real news
service. It's still amusing to see the continued awful completion
ratios (<50%) for binaries

alt.binaries.movies.divx = 61.5054
alt.binaries.mpeg.video.music = 54.8083
alt.binaries.dvd.french = 45.2456
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.electronic = 51.927
alt.binaries.drwho = 89.1188
Not perfect, no, but those are still going up. It'll take until the
middle of next week before things stabilise enough to get accurate
figures on completion because the retention is now 6 days so the stats
will be "wrong" until all the old articles have drained.
(Good if you're a drwho fan, I suppose.)

If it were me I think I would've kept those numbers to myself until
they looked better :-)

Anything less than 95% and you (well, me actually) are not going to
have much success at retrieving multi-part posts. PARs will only
compensate so much and are not always offered.

You carry an enormous range of groups, perhaps more than you have
capacity for. It may be preferable to offer a more limited group
listing but having a better completion ratio - at least what remains
is useful. On the other hand, it's difficult to drop groups which even
a small number of people currently use without a lot of whinging from
those users. So maybe reducing the retention time is the answer
(though whinging would still result!). However the way I see it,
because Easynet News cannot be used for downloading ANY multi-part
binaries, then even a partial solution would be welcome.

ChrisH

[Rob Partington]

On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 17:51:41 +0000,

Post by ChrisH
If it were me I think I would've kept those numbers to myself until
they looked better :-)

I was correcting the "<50%" assertion.

Post by ChrisH
Anything less than 95% and you

...are one of those companies that doesn't dedicate themselves to news.
Which covers easynet, so that's ok.

Post by ChrisH
You carry an enormous range of groups, perhaps more than you have
capacity for.

We have plenty of capacity on the storage side.

Post by ChrisH
It may be preferable to offer a more limited group
listing but having a better completion ratio - at least what remains
capacity for.

Numbers of groups and amount of storage has no bearing on completion,
unfortunately.

Post by ChrisH
. It may be preferable to offer a more limited group

I'm working towards that, although independently of the completion problem.

Post by ChrisH
On the other hand, it's difficult to drop groups which even
a small number of people currently use without a lot of whinging from
those users. So maybe reducing the retention time is the answer

Also doesn't help since no group takes up so much room that it would
adversely affect the others noticeably.

Post by ChrisH
(though whinging would still result!). However the way I see it,
because Easynet News cannot be used for downloading ANY multi-part
binaries,

I spent a large part of last night downloading multi-part binaries
from a variety of groups as part of my testing. Admittedly, there
were some incomplete ones, yes, but to say it "cannot be used for
downloading ANY" just isn't true.

[ChrisH]

Post by Rob Partington
I spent a large part of last night downloading multi-part binaries
from a variety of groups as part of my testing. Admittedly, there
were some incomplete ones, yes, but to say it "cannot be used for
downloading ANY" just isn't true.

Hang on a minute, *tonight* looks much better - completion is better
than I've seen for months. Excluding tonight and maybe last night (I
clear my headers every couple of days so some older incompletes would
have been listed) what I said was correct. It could not be used for
downloading ANY multi-part binaries from the groups I subscribe(d) to.
Movies were particularly badly hit, but so were CD Image groups. Don't
rely on my comments, ask your users. Do you think I would have PAID
good money for a secondary news account if yours was functional??

There is noticeable improvement right now, let's hope it lasts.

ChrisH

[Rob Partington]

On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 20:40:19 +0000,

Post by ChrisH
Hang on a minute, *tonight* looks much better - completion is better
than I've seen for months.

That's good news then.

Post by ChrisH
Do you think I would have PAID
good money for a secondary news account if yours was functional??

It's never going to be as good as a paid news service, unfortunately.

Post by ChrisH
There is noticeable improvement right now, let's hope it lasts.

Until the next thing falls over...

[ChrisH]

On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 17:51:41 +0000, ***@noeasynetspam.co.uk
(ChrisH) wrote:

Completion looks better tonight, better than your numbers suggest.

ChrisH

[Rob Partington]

On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 18:40:55 +0000,

Post by ChrisH
Completion looks better tonight, better than your numbers suggest.

It should keep rising until next Tuesday at least. Mind you, then
I could change the retention to 12 days...