It’s been an interesting time for Usenet the last few months.  With large NZB sites like Newzbin and NZBMatrix calling it quits last December.  Prompting an influx of new sites to help fill the void.  Even so there had to be a way to find Usenet content fast and download it automatically.  You can’t be there all the time.  A few leading Usenet clients stepped up and are starting to address the need with auto-search and download features.

What do we mean by fast?  We’re not talking about the performance of a website like Binsearch.  They are very fast at returning search results but you still have to go there are query the search engine.  We’re talking about auto-search features.  Configure your newsreader to watch for the latest episode of your favorite podcast and automatically download it.  Set it and forget it.  Let the client do the work while you enjoy other activities.

In the last few weeks we’ve seen updates from three of our favorite newsreaders.  All addressing the same need.  Helping users automatically find and download content soon after its posted to Usenet.  Newshosting, Newsbin and Newsleecher all released new features.  They are also working on more enhancements.  We suggest you try all three clients and see which new search feature best meets your needs.

Newshosting Client Auto-Search

We’ll start with the new auto-search feature in the Newshosting client.  You’ll need to be a member of Newshosting to use their newsreader.  We use them and would highly recommend the service.  They are currently offering unlimited Usenet for just $9.99 a month or $99 a year.  The service includes free access to the client and search engine.  With the new auto-search feature and access to all future software updates.

With the new automatic search feature, Newshosting members can set up queries to run on a regular basis.  As you can see we configured an auto-search to look for the latest Ubuntu packages.  Rather than get just anything related to Ubuntu we wanted to look for the latest distros of the operating system.  To help we set a size limitation of between 800 MB and 1000 MB.  The same logic could apply to any search query.

Once you’ve set up your automatic search queries and perferences the client will do the rest of the work.  We set our search to only show results.  We could have just as easily set it to automatically download the content.  The Newshosting client would go out and check for the latest matches on a regular basis.  Then it would grab anything that matched our search query.  Without the normal delay of finding content manually.

Newsbin Watch Feature

If you’re going to pay for a premium newsreader then Newsbin is an excellent choice.  Their team is constantly adding new features and responds quickly to support requests.  New users can download a free trial of the newsgroup browser.  After that the client costs $30 a year with their popular Usenet search engine built-in.  You’ll still need a reliable Usenet provider to download content. See our awards post for recommendations.

The newly released Newsbin Pro watch feature will help you find and download content faster.  The first version is meant to help you automatically filter out results while downloading headers.  Which in turn will help you find the matching results much faster than manually reviewing headers.  Dealing with headers is time consuming.  We like where Newsbin is headed as they work to incorporate the watch feature into the search engine.

NewsLeecher SuperLeech

The latest addition to the premium clients came from NewsLeecher.  They have a popular search feature called SuperSearch.  They are now adding more functionality with SuperLeech.  The only downside is the price.  You’ll pay $3.99 a month for access to the reader and search function.  You’ll still need a reliable Usenet provider to download the content.  You can use their service or view our awards post for suggestions.

The new SuperLeech feature is currently in alpha testing so you might expect to run into some issues.  That’s the case with the new features in all three clients.  They are kindly rolling them out to help users but there will likely be some growing pains.  The new SuperLeech feature will help find and automatically download content through their SuperSearch engine.  They are asking for feedback and suggestions for future updates.

Are you concerned that your ISP is tracking Usenet?  If so you’re not alone.  We’re not advocating copyright infringement but we’d like to set the record straight.   Tracking by your ISP or anyone else is a massive invasion of privacy.  One that you can help avoid.  First of all if you don’t want your ISP tracking then don’t use any Usenet service provided by them.  You can also enable SSL in your newsreader to help ensure your Usenet privacy.

As long as you enable SSL for each server in your newsreader your Usenet downloads will be encrypted.  The reason is that by turning on SSL you are encrypting the data transfer between your system and the Usenet provider’s news servers.  By relying on the same technology used by financial institutions you can help ensure your privacy.  The process is simple.  We’ll show you how to enable SSL in several newsreaders.

Newshosting Client SSL Setup & Port

Newshosting offers their members a free Usenet client.  You can use it to search for content and download directly from their news servers privately.  To enable SSL you’ll want to open the newsreader, click on Options – Settings.  Now come down the left hand side of the Settings window and click on the Connection tab.  From there check the box next to “Prefer SSL connections if available“.  You can also change the SSL port.  We prefer port 443.  The same SSL port used by HTTPS connections. This will also help you avoid ISP throttling.

Newsbin Pro SSL Setup & Port

Newsbin Pro is easy to configure.  To enable SSL simply fire up the client and click on Options – Servers.  Choose the server you’d like to enable SSL on.  You may have more than one server account listed if you use multiple Usenet providers or connect to more than one server location.  If so just make sure to turn on SSL for each server individually.  The process is the same each time.  Once you’ve selected a server check the box next to “Use SSL – Encrypted Connections“.  Once again you can specify a custom port.

NewsLeecher SSL Setup & Port

NewsLeecher can by configured to encrypt your connections and allows for alternate ports.  Bring up the client and click on the Manager tab.  From there select the servers you’d like to setup SSL on.  Just like Newsbin you’ll want to do this multiple times if you connect to more than one provider or server location.  Once you have the Usenet server setup page open check the “Use Encrypted Server Connections (SSL)” box.  You can check “Show Advanced Settings” if you’d like to change the default port number (563).

That’s all there is to it.  You don’t need a VPN or proxy to help ensure your Usenet privacy.  Enabling SSL is enough.  For web browsing and other applications we highly recommend a good VPN service.