We all know the advertisements of the Usenet providers, high speed is advertised by for example UseNext and Firstload. But this service is not free of charge, i.e. usually quite expensive. But there are possibilities to use Usenet for free and still have good download speeds.
The provider Gigaflat.com works in “free user mode”, but unfortunately it is not possible to achieve a high or full download speed as a free user. But you don’t have to hang your head, there are also possibilities to get downloads for free and at full speed. You have the possibility to upload NZB files at Gigaflat.com, these contain information about downloads via Usenet. In order to get free downloads at Gigaflat, it is important to first create a free account there. The system is simple, Gigaflat is important to have as large a selection of downloads as possible and that’s exactly where we come to the point. Similar to Rapidshare you get points at Gigaflat and if you collect enough points you get a free premium account.
NZB files can be found on various sites, such as the Usenet search engines.
With only 3 test offers you can download up to 900 GB and more for free from the Usenet. The provider UseNext offers a total of 310 GB download volume during the test phase, with a speed of 10 GB. The trial period is 14 days! Firstload offers a larger test access. The provider offers 15 GB with full DSL speed and there is also 14 days for testing. The test account of Usenet.nl is the smallest, but it offers 5GB for download with Fullspeed, during the test phase. Thus one comes easy on 900 GB which one can download free of charge, without entering obligations, important is only that one does not forget during the test phase to cancel. This is best done by mail.
How to find files on Usenet
Depending on whether you simply search for information from discussions or binary files on Usenet, the procedure differs completely.
Search Usenet with Google
The easiest way to find pure information on Usenet is Google. The company offers an interface to a large number of non-binary Usenet groups via groups.google.com. Open the page and enter the topic you’re looking for in the field next to the “Search for a group” button. Alternatively, you can browse the Usenet categories.
- Once you’ve found an interesting group, open it to read the posts it contains.
- If you would like to contribute yourself, simply click on “+ new message” in the right column or on “reply” below a post.
- You’ll need to sign in to your Google Account no later than now.
- Then you can write your post and post it via “Post Message”.
Search files on Usenet
In this case it is best to start the program Nzbgrab , and open the tab “Binsearch”. Next to “Search”, enter what you are looking for and press “Enter”. A list of search hits will appear. The Size column shows the size of the corresponding content. In the column “%” you can see whether it is completely available. By the way: With the addition german you find the German version of the content to the entered term – if available.
Download content: Mark the line with the desired content and click on it with the right mouse button. Select “SABnzbd ➞ XSUsenet ➞ Smart” to start the download with Sabnzbd in the background. You can then observe the progress of the downloads on the Sabnzbd interface. After everything has been downloaded, checked and unpacked, you will find it in the “folder for finished downloads”.
How to protect yourself from contaminated downloads from the Usenet
Attention: Since each participant can upload to the Usenet what he wants, you should make sure that you do not download any copyrighted content and that you do not simply start executable files on your PC, as they could be contaminated. Check them first with an antivirus program, or upload them to virustotal.com. To be on the safe side, you should only run such files in a virtual machine.