Chuck wrote:
Not being familiar with these services like Yahoo DSL and the like,
where other people are having problems reading newsgroups, is there
some reason you can't download and install a copy of a standalone
newsreader like Forte's Agent or Free Agent? Or do these services not
have news servers, period?


Some ISPs might not give their customers a free news server.

I've had DSL from Bellsouth and cable modem service from Charter. Both
of these ISPs gave me a free news server. However, there were some
newsgroups that I wanted to read that were available on Bellsouth's news
server, but not on Charter's.

So, if you are using a newsreader, or other application like Outlook
Express or Mozilla Thunderbird ( this is what I use ), you can only
read/post from/to the newsgroups allowed by your ISP - if you are using
their news server. Also, if you have a news reader configured on a
laptop and you connect to the internet away from home ( and you aren't
using your ISP ), there is a good chance your newsreader won't access
the newsgroups as ISPs will also block access to their news servers from
IP addresses that are not in their network.

If you don't get a free news server with your ISP, then you can you
google groups to read/post in most newsgroups.

--
Brad Curfman
http://www.curfman.net