this post was submitted on 19 May 2024

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Replace Torrenting with Usenet (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Hi,

Sorry if this has been posted before but I'm looking at trying Usenet instead of torrents.

I've done some Googling and honestly, it's a little overwhelming knowing what Usenet provider to use, where to get quality indexers and which download client would be the best.

If anyone has any resources or advice to help me sail the Usenet seas I would be eternally grateful!

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[–] [email protected] 41 points 3 months ago (3 children)

I'm not sure about anything, but the client, as I've been usenetting without thinking much about stuff for almost a decade now.

eweka.nl (share your access with friends and family - I've shared mine with like 8 people some time in the past)
nzbgeek (lifetime API access was like 30€ - well worth it), I also know about nzbplanet, but I don't have a premium account there. You can try these out without paying to see if their offer suits what you're looking for, but you won't get API access of course and you'll be limited in the downloads.

Last, but not least: sabnzbd is the gold standard for clients. Runs on everything: from a raspberry pi to your Desktop PC.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Do you tunnel your usage through a VPN?

[–] [email protected] 23 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Nope. Usenet is quite safe legally, afaik, since you're not uploading/seeding anything. IANAL, though.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago (11 children)

yea that's not true technically. the only reason usenet hasn't been dismantled by infinite court cases is its obscurity.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago

Most Usenet providers offer secure connections so I don't know if it's necessary, but I use a VPN.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (4 children)

I do. Just in case.
Ironically through my seedbox provider :p

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[–] jaykay 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I think it’s 80 for lifetime now, 12 for a year

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

You never know how long these sites are able to stay up in the future, but it's still way less than what I've payed on patreon over time.

[–] jaykay 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I mean, compared to streaming, 80 for even a year is a bargain lmao

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

Lol, true. Although that doesn't include the provider fees, etc.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Thank you! I'll give that stuff a look!

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[–] jaykay 39 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

Sabnzbd for downloading, Frugal usenet for provider, Nzbgeek and drunkenslug for indexer

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

How much does all that cost? Or rather, does all that cost? I currently torrent but could see getting into Usenet if I don't have to provide payment info.

[–] jaykay 20 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Sabnzbd is free, you can install anywhere basically. The rest is not free unfortunately, someone has to host the files, as there are no peers in usenet. I think some, if not all, providers and indexers can be paid with crypto or even mailing them the money by post.

Provider is €50 a year. Indexers are around €10 a year, but there are lifetime subscriptions for some.

In return, you don’t need a VPN, download speeds are stable and there is no seeding.

Out of 220 files downloaded, I only needed torrents 12 times, rest is usenet.

Read up on benefits of one over the other before switching :)

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago

My Prowler stats over the last 90 days are ~1600 usenet grabs vs ~40 torrents. Definitely worth it not have to seed and constant gigabit speed.

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I jumped into Usenet as an experiment and, once it was setup, it was ok. Although it is definitely not simple to get started and it seems you are constantly having to pay for stuff, even to access the trackers, which don't even have all the content!

I decided I didn't download enough and what I wanted was too hard to find, so I went back to Torrents. Way simpler for my occasional use.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago

Yeah I had the same experience. Tried it out, found it way too fiddly to set up, had to pay for stuff at every turn (and managing a bunch of subscriptions is a big part of why I hate using streaming platforms in the first place) and I really didn't find it to be worth it just to cover the tiny fraction of things I can't find on torrents (and which TBH I didn't even find there anyway.) Went back to torrents as it's like 2 clicks to download something and it covers 95% of what I need anyway.

To be fair, it's entirely possible that I was just doing it wrong and not getting optimal results, but also I don't want to start over and pay for a bunch of other stuff to find out.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Only get Usenet with a usenet deal. Usually on/around Black Friday.
Afaik deals are usually posted on r/UsenetDeals or similar called sub.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

Good to know, thank you!

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 months ago (5 children)

What are the advantages of usenets?

[–] [email protected] 24 points 3 months ago (1 children)

In Germany they provide relief from the constant fear your vpn might leak and you'll receive mail.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 months ago

Expensive mail.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago

Higher and better retention of old stuff.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago

It's great, although a little unfair, and perhaps illegal in some draconian jurisdictions, to use nets while fishing

[–] jaykay 8 points 3 months ago

You’re downloading from servers not other people, so you don’t have to worry about the number of peers

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

You can see the discussions that inspired the Comic Book Guy.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 months ago (2 children)

DM me if you want invites to private indexers. They are paid but cheap. I also recommend frugal Usenet because...well...I'm cheap.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I'll bite. What is frugal Usenet?

[–] jaykay 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

A usenet provider

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

Cool, thanks. $5 -$6 / month is cheap.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

What's the advantage of a private indexer vs a regular one? Why would I want one over another? I'm a complete Usenet newbie.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

Main advantage is typically less DCMA take downs. The public ones are public access and therefore the bots crawl those and submit the takedowns faster than on a private indexer.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Why replace torrents? Why not use both? It's a bonus if your usenet provider includes a VPN.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago (6 children)

I use Premiumize, multihoster for most popular Filehoster with access to Usenet, Torrent and VPN. Usenet retention is about 1200 days. It has 1TB of Cloud Storage and you can use their inbuilt Downloader on their website to download stuff straight to their cloud (or your own Mega or Google Drive cloud if you prefer that), so you don’t have to install any Torrent or Usenet clients. (This is not an ad, I just really like their service and been using it for 3 years)

Sabnzb or NZBGet are good choices if you wanna use some client on your own. Just don’t use Momentum, they will steal your credentials.

Most popular indexers are NZBIndex, Binsearch and NZBKing but I prefer Boards like nzbgrabit, nzbforyou or The Hive.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago (1 children)

If you're planning to download media, check out the Server Wiki. It has guides on setting up all the software to automate the process.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Thanks, but I am currently using Radarr and Sonarr, just looking at alternate potentially faster sources

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

You can use those on usenet, too. Just add your new trackers and download client, the rest of the -arr stack can remain as is.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago (3 children)

I switched in the fall, black Friday deals on account and several indexers. Looks like it's gonna be just at $100ish per year. After configuring an arr ecosystem with overseer handling all user interaction and automation, I don't think I'll ever go back. Totally worth the price imho

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Same. I got lifetime memberships to 3 usenet provides but the *arr suite gets ~95% of my media from nzbgeek. Now the only recurring cost is for my provider. Downloads are so much faster and reliable than torrenting, and the automation is amazing.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

That's what I've done. The arr suite is pretty damn convenient. Last time I did this I had to manually go fetch everything myself.

Keeping my eyes peeled for deals and things but may have to bite the bullet and just pay for one to at least try it out

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (2 children)

You set this up in docker? I've been fighting docker all day, finally trying to set up some arr stuff. I'm not convinced that docker is the right way to go.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

I have mine set up outside of docker

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Usenet is old and centralized so a lot easier to shut down and is payed because you pay for server retention and access.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Usenet is considered decentralized, it is made up of many independent servers that talk to each other. take one down, and the rest continue on without problems.