It depends on the ISP's implementation of the usenet/newsgroup
protocols. If the ISP is trying to run news servers the update and
transmission can be a major problem, Some of the Midsized and smaller
ISP's use a passthru service. Supernews is both a usenet repository,and
a ISP passthru provider. I believe Google also provides the service but
is not as fast on posts. It takes less technical knowledge to provide
passthru service, Just a couple of entries in the DNS. To figure out if
your ISP is providing passthru or local news service do a "Ping" on the
newsserver name. It will show if the server is inhouse or a passthru.
in Tom's case it seems they are trying to run it in house.

Tom

Tom Watson wrote:
I read someone's comment the other day about how their ISP claimed
that "no one uses newsgroups anymore."

My own ISP has made the same comment to me when I've called to
complain about inadequate Newsgroup service. They seem to feel that
their customer base uses Usenet in only a marginal fashion. They act
as though they couldn't be bothered.

This newsgroup, in particular, seems to be vibrant and well
subscribed. The chess newgroups that I lurk on seem to be in the same
condition.

When I look at the Netscan statistics, I see signs that there are many
active groups.

Why this attitude by the ISP's?

I use two newsgroup providers, TeraNews being my backup, because my
ISP's provider is often out of whack. TeraNews is fine for a backup
but is often down.

However, I've had complaints from some that they don't see my posts
when they come through my ISP's provider (Voicenet, I believe) because
their system does not pick up the posts.

I've tried reading the group through Google but it seems to have a lot
of lag time between the time that posts are made and when they show up
on Google.

What is going on with this Usenet thing? Are the ISP's right in
claiming that Usenet is dying? And, given that the ISP's don't care,
what is the most reliable way to read and post on Usenet?


Regards, Tom
Thomas J. Watson-Cabinetmaker
Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania
http://users.snip.net/~tjwatson