Frequently Asked Questions

• Do I need special software to use your service? How do I set it up?
• I have not received my username/password?
• Are there any download limitations placed on user accounts?
• I notice that you have two servers to choose from. Which server is the right one for me?
• Does ValueNews support WebTV?
• Does ValueNews support yEnc files?
• The content doesn't seem to be the same on both servers, why?
• When I go to download a group I do not get as many article headers as my newsreader reports are available, why?
• Some newsgroups seems to be expiring very quickly, why?
• Why are there articles missing in the binaries newsgroups?
• Some articles that I post from ValueNews do not seem to propagate to other news servers, why?
• I would like a newsgroup (which already exists) added to your servers, how can I do this?
• I would like to create a brand new newsgroup, how can I do this?
• How do I change my username and password?
• I've lost my password. How do I get it back?
• I've lost the server list. What are the server names?
• How do I cancel my account?

A: Yes, you will need a newsreader to access our service. We have setup a Recommended Newsreaders page here. It contains several options for Windows, Mac and Linux as well as some setup advice.

A: When your order is complete you will initially receive an email invoice from 2Checkout.com which does not included your username/password or the list of servers. Once we receive notification from 2Checkout.com we will activate your account and send you via email your username/password and the list of servers. This usually happens within an hour of your order, but under some circumstances it may take a few hours or more to complete. If you haven't received your username/password or are having difficulties accessing your account after 8 hours please contact us at billing@value-news.net.

Important. You MUST use a valid email address that is spelled correctly to receive your username/password. Avoid using free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail) as they can sometimes block our email. Please make sure that any junk mail filters are disabled on the account receiving the information. Orders with invalid email address will be cancelled and refunded after 24 hours.

A: With our Value Server there is a 2 gigabyte download limit per day. There is also a simultaneous connection limit of three streams.

Our Premium Server has daily download limits based on which option you order. The levels are 100MB, 250MB, 750MB and 1500MB per day (500MB/day with our complete package). There are no posting limits on the Premium Server.

A: Both of our servers have different peering arrangements, locations and bandwidth providers.

Our Value Server (California) is a budget server that has very good completion, retention and speed. Overall retention is better than the Premium Server. Posts contain an ad-footer. Great for people who need a ultra high download limit at an ultra low price. Also, if you already have an expensive news provider that you like, but you need a higher download limit without breaking the bank, or your ISP's news server has prohibitively low download limits, add our Value Server as a secondary server to it.

Our Premium Server (Illinois) has excellent completion, retention and speed. Overall completion is slightly better than our Value Server. If no ad-footer in posts and overall completion is important to you, this is the server to get. Options to fit almost any need. Text only users will appreciate the 100MB/day for $3.95 option as well.

The best overall deal is Option 6, which gets you the benefits of our Value Server at 2GB/day and our Premium Server at 500MB/day. The best of both worlds.

A: Unfortunately we do not support WebTV at this time. You must own a computer that can use a newsreader to access the Usenet.

Q: Does ValueNews support yEnc files?

Yes, all of our servers support yEnc files, but you will need a newsreader that can encode and decode these files. Most newer versions of newsreaders do this.

A: This is because the servers are located in different geographical areas with different feeds and peering arrangements at each. We have designed our system this way for redundancy and speed.

A: Most newsreaders determine how many articles are available in a group by performing a calculating of the difference between the highest and lowest article ID number. On DNews (the news server software we use) this calculation is seldom accurate. We will continue to nag the makers of DNews until this error is corrected.

A: The rate of article expiration will vary by group and will depend on the amount and size of new articles coming in. This is especially true for binaries groups. We do not set limits on retention time, the only limitation is the amount of disk space available.

A: This can happen for several reasons. The most likely is that some of the articles (or parts of articles) were filtered out as spam before they reached our servers. We do not filter any incoming articles on our binaries servers, everything we receive from our upstream is posted. Many news servers limit the maximum article size and if any articles are in excess of that size the server will cancel it automatically and it will not propagate out. Also, all news servers have the right to filter out anything that passes through their server. Keep in mind that Usenet was designed to carry only plain text, not large binary files. Processing binary articles places twice as much strain on the server as plain text articles do. For these reasons no guarantee regarding completeness of binary articles is expressed or implied by ValueNews.

A: Another news server may be canceling them . We can take no further responsibility for articles not propagating once they have been sent to our upstream servers.

A: Email support@value-news.net.

A: Please see the following URL for instructions: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/creating-newsgroups/part1/

A: Email support@value-news.net from the same email address you signed up with. Be sure to include your current username and password with your request.

A: Email support@value-news.net with your name and the email address you signed up with requesting that your username/password be sent to you again.

Premium Server

• news.value-news.com

Value Server

• corpsurge1.newsfeeds.com

A: Email billing@value-news.net at least four days before your next billing date. Be sure to include the email address you signed up with and your username and password.