Your Complete Guide to Usenet in 2022

Updated on Jun 1, 2022. In this article, we’re going to explore what Usenet is, what you can do with it, and how you can use it. However, before we get started discussing Usenet, let’s jump into our introduction.

What is Usenet?

Usenet stands for “Unix Users Network” and it was originally developed as an alternative to Arpanet (which was itself the internet’s predecessor). Despite originally being a competitor to the internet, you can now access Usenet through the internet.

Usenet has existed since the early days of the internet, and it’s almost like a cross between a content aggregation site and a torrent host. Usenet contains forum-like topics for discussion, videos available for downloading and streaming, and much more.

Groups hosting messages and discussions are known as “newsgroups,” and these are hosted on larger “news servers.” This is similar to how social media sites and content aggregators like Reddit are divided into subreddits and posts.

You’ve also likely heard of how Usenet hosts plenty of content that you can access for free, and this is where binaries come into play. Binaries are accessible through NZB files, which are similar to torrent files, which essentially guide you to where you’ll find the binary you’re trying to download.

Popular Newsgroups

These are some examples of the most popular newsgroups you’ll find on Usenet:

alt. is one of the most popular newsgroups and it consists of a wide range of topics
news. is for topics and news that are directly related to Usenet itself
rec. is about things like art and other recreational topics
sci. is about science and tech
talk. is a relatively unrestricted chat channel where people can take the time to discuss various topics

Considering that there are over 200,000 newsgroups, you’re more than likely to find one that suits your tastes and your needs. Even better, if you can’t find a newsgroup that matches what you’re trying to discuss with other users, you can form your own and see whether or not there’s enough of a demand for it among others.

How to Use Usenet

There are three things that you’ll need to access Usenet, which we’ll address over the course of this section of our guide. The first of them is a subscription to a Usenet provider, the second one is an indexer, and the final thing is a Usenet client.

Usenet Providers

Selecting a Usenet provider is almost like selecting an ISP, though for Usenet and not the internet. You need a provider because Usenet doesn’t work in the traditional P2P fashion that your usual website does.

When selecting your ideal Usenet provider, there are a few aspects that you’ll want to account for:

Monthly Transfer Limit

As with an ISP, some Usenet providers limit the amount of data that you can download over the course of a month. These limits typically range from as low as 5GB per month to an unlimited amount of data, with the latter plans typically being a little more expensive.

Retention

This is the amount of time that a provider will keep content on their servers because they only have a limited amount of space to store data. Starting with the day that something is first posted, a timer starts before it ends up getting deleted, and this period is usually one year (365 days).

However, this also varies based on the content that’s being deleted. Due to the relatively low amount of space that text takes up, some providers may delete text after four years instead of the one year that applies to binaries.

Completion Rate

This determines how successfully posts are received by your service provider, which essentially measures the number of missing files in binaries and posts. The vast majority of providers have a competition rate of over 99%, which means that fewer than 1% of files are missing.

Connections

The number of connections that you can have determines the number of devices that you can connect to Usenet at one time. This will also affect how many downloads you can have running simultaneously. Thankfully, many providers offer a large number of connections that shouldn’t cause you any issues.

Get a Usenet Index

Searching Usenet manually is relatively challenging compared to searching the internet, so most people use Usenet indexes, which play a similar role to search engines like Google.

Much like with a search engine, you enter a query that will return results that match that term. You can then download the .nzb files presented to you and access them using a client.

The vast majority of Usenet indexers are free since they’re funded through the ads that you’ll be seeing while you use them. You can find your indexers by searching for them on the internet.

Get a Usenet Client

Being able to conduct searches with an indexer is only half the battle since you’ll need a Usenet client to access any of the files you come across.

There are three kinds of Usenet clients, though the third is a mixture of the first two:

Newsreaders

These clients are used to browse newsgroups (the forum-style parts of Usenet), so they’re mainly designed for chatting. While it’s technically possible to download binaries using a newsreader, it will be a lot harder.

NZB Downloaders

These clients are designed exclusively around downloading binaries, and they typically don’t support browsing newsgroups.

Hybrids

Hybrids are a combination of the previous two kinds of Usenet clients, allowing you to access newsgroups as well as binaries at the same time. The only downside to hybrid clients is that they’re rarely ever free and they don’t typically work cross-platform.

Getting Started With Usenet

Now that you know the basics, here’s what you need to do to get started using Usenet as soon as possible:

Start off by installing your Usenet client.
Enter your usenet provider’s server details when your client prompts you for them.
You’ll also have to enable SSL at this point, if your provider supports it.
Enter the max number of connections your provider allows in the “connections” field.
After you finish the setup wizard, your computer will restart and you’ll be provided with an address that you enter into your web browser to access your client. Take note of this address and maybe even bookmark it.
Use an indexer to find what you’re looking for and download the .nzb file for it.
Open up your Usenet client and upload the .nzb file that you just downloaded.
At this point, your binaries will be downloaded as .rar files that you can unzip using a program like Winrar.

Using a VPN With Usenet

You can’t expect us over here at PinpointVPN to go a whole article without mentionig the utility and power of VPNs.

One of the main advantages of Usenet is that it tends to be a lot safer than the internet, but you can never be too safe. Using a VPN can help protect your privacy because your IP address gets logged whenever you download an NZB file.

Along with stopping your IP from being logged, a VPN will also ensure that nobody can see that you’re actively on Usenet. Perfect Privacy is another excellent option for those trying to use Usenet safely.

One of our favorite VPNs for Usenet is NordVPN, which combines a straightforward interface with a good price point and robust servers.

Another thing to consider is that some Usenet providers offer VPN add-ons for their service, so if you’re exclusively using your VPN for Usenet, these might be a more affordable choice.