Unison 2 wasn’t the only usenet-related upgrade this week: we’ve also made great improvements to Unison Access, our usenet service.
Remember, to use Usenet, you need two separate things: a Usenet client (that’d be Unison 2), and a Usenet server to access. Some ISP’s provide access, but increasingly, many don’t.
Unison Access is now $9 a month, with unlimited transfer.
That’s right: no transfer limit. And all the trimmings are included: SSL support, a European server, 300 days of binaries, up to 8 simultaneous connections, etc.
There’s more! If you launch Unison 2 with no server configured (or choose “Setup Assistant…” from the Unison menu), you can even try a one-time 24 hour trial of the service, free of charge.
There are a whole lot of excellent choices out there for Usenet service. But since Usenet Access isn’t our bread and butter, we can offer this crazy good deal — one of the best prices you’ll find anywhere.
If you subscribe to Unison Access already, thanks! We’ll keep making it better!
Dante Cassara
1/7/2010 3:38 PMThat’s awesome! I’ll try the 24 hour service in 24 hours :)
Andrew E.
1/7/2010 4:07 PMSome detective works leads to Highwinds Media Group as your backend to Unison Access.
Sounds great to me! I’ll be signing–up at the start of next month.
Michael
1/7/2010 4:11 PMWhat kind of completion rate do the Panic servers have? I read that previously Panic resold Supernews — is that still the case?
James
1/7/2010 4:37 PMWhat’s the kb/s?
Cabel
1/7/2010 5:13 PMMichael: We do not resell Supernews. 300 days worth of binaries at this moment. James: There’s no rate limit! (Unless you hit 400 GB in one month, then I believe it limits you to a still-impressive 1 Mbit.)
Michael
1/7/2010 6:39 PMCabel, thanks for the reply, but 300 days is the retention; I’m looking for the completion rate. Should be a percentage. If it’s comparable to my current provider, I’m on board.
Donald Allen
1/7/2010 6:57 PM8 simul is nice, but I can get 20 with Giganews. I wonder if that really makes a big difference… I’ll give it a shot for 24 hours!
Cabel
1/7/2010 7:22 PMDonald: It’s true, and Giganews is a great service to be sure! But to get unlimited transfer would set you back $30/month. It’s all down to your needs!
Dusty
1/7/2010 8:57 PMDoes the service provide a web interface, or is access through Unison only?
Daniel
1/8/2010 4:05 AMIs it possible to connect to the Usenet Access news server from another client? I love Unison (of course!) but I also use another client on my NAS box, and would need to be able to connect to my Usenet Access account from there.
John
1/8/2010 7:49 AMMaybe for your next blog post in the Unison series you could do a primer on usenet for those of us who were too young to experience the first time around? Unison and Unison Access sound swell and all, but I have no idea what I would use it for.
Cabel
1/8/2010 11:00 AMDaniel: Yes, you can use any client you want with Unison Access!
Thibault
1/11/2010 5:08 AMSimple question: Where are the data-centers located? Do you have worldwide locations? My question is mainly because I’m located in Europe, and wonder what is the speed you have there :-). Thanks for the great news!
Neven
1/13/2010 10:18 AMThibault: Unison Access servers are located in the US and Europe, so you should be good to go!
NeoNichu
1/16/2010 10:10 AMWondering about user privacy when someone downloads his Linux distributions via Unison Access. How’s your stance on that?
Dennis
2/1/2010 1:01 AMWhich provider suplies the usenet access for you guys?
Jules
2/6/2010 3:34 PMThe provider seems to be a bit of a mystery (Why the mystery, Panic?)
Most of the dedicated providers these days have significantly upgraded their retention: Giganews (548 days), Astraweb (539 days), Newshosting (521 days), Supernews (350 days) – 300 days is a little bit limp. That said however, $9/mth including SSL though for only 8 connections (instead of the usual 20) isn’t the absolute best value around but it’s up there in the top 5, I’d say, so it isn’t to be scoffed at.
Given that one of Unison’s most awesome things is it’s multithreaded uberness, it’s a bit of an oversight to have so few connections…