solitude, 1 year ago

I’m assuming you didn’t read my post later in this part of the thread (responding just below here to “Giu176” - it’s lengthy, sorry, but start almost half way down into that post and read the rest for more detailed info and recommendations, beginning with the paragraph that starts: “With Usenet a VPN is not needed, because SABnzbd …” That info should provide a good guide on how to get started. Anymore than that and it can get overwhelming for some. I’m an analyst for work, so looking at all the available data, including many threads, and trying to make a decision was kind of daunting when I first started looking at it all.

Otherwise, the Reddit wiki is unfortunately the only other source I’m aware of. Start here: https://www.reddit.com/r/usenet/wiki/index

If you’re new (like I was) I’d stick to basics, like I outlined in the post I mentioned. But here is the part for choosing an indexer: https://www.reddit.com/r/usenet/wiki/indexers

It’s my understanding (and it makes sense) that the “Free Membership Sites” are basically worthless. Pay most attention to the “Yearly Membership” section to get started, and look for “Open” in the “Registrations” column. The indexers I referenced (in the other post) are the main ones more experienced users mentioned. However, I believe some of it is marketing by owners/affiliates. Example: some say how great DOGnzb and NinjaCentral are, but I’m convinced it just self promotion. DOG is extremely expensive (see the pricing there, but you have to “buy” a shirt for a subscription, and if you actually want the shirt you “paid” for, you have to pay extra, so I deleted my account after getting an invite and registering). Ninja isn’t bad, they do have some rare things, but it’s very uncommon for me to find something on Ninja that isn’t already tracked by one of my other indexers. The problem is, you have to get an invite, and it can be rare that it opens for registrations or an invite is available (I think by design, you want the thing you can’t have). Not really worth it though.

The sub for getting invites to other indexers that aren’t “open”: https://www.reddit.com/r/UsenetInvites/

Don’t just make a post asking for an invite, unless you’ve already made a post offering an invite to somewhere else. I enabled notifications on this sub so that I knew when an indexer I wanted became available. Read here to understand better how it works: https://www.reddit.com/r/UsenetInvites/wiki/startingout

That’s how I got DrunkenSlug (DS) and NzbPlanet (Planet), but Planet isn’t that good, imo. You should be able to use it for free though, on a limited basis.

Next, providers: https://www.reddit.com/r/usenet/wiki/providers

See the two recommendations I already made (I’d REALLY suggest just sticking with one of those), otherwise, understanding the differences can get rather confusing, but I’ll provide a brief explanation here. If you have trouble obtaining a file you’re indexer is saying is out there, but you have trouble getting it from the provider you have (I don’t have problems with Eweka, but just so I don’t look like a shill…), having access to another provider, specifically on a different backbone, can be helpful. Here is a link to the provider “Usenet Tree”: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Usenet_Providers_and_Backbones.svg -or- I THINK this is a direct link to a more up to date version, if I recall correctly: https://svgshare.com/i/iG8.svg -and- there is also this website, which kind of helps stopping you from getting overlapping providers (but again, see my two recommendations, and you can use this later if you ever have a problem, but you shouldn’t): https://whatsmyuse.net/

Lastly, even though I don’t use all of this on a server, I installed all the “arrs” on my PC and enjoy having access through them (again, see my other post for an explanation and links to the “arrs”. I don’t like having the arrs reorder my files, and create their own subfolders, so I just use them to reference files I’m kind of following, if you will. So I disable the “download when available” option.

With this post, and the other, it’s already getting kind of lengthy and convoluted. However, if there are any other questions, I’ll do my best to answer.

Actually, one more item, when you get more familiar with Usenet and the arrs, you can reference this site for setting up “arrs” profiles if you want: https://trash-guides.info/