Can I use my account immediately?
If you purchase your account online with a major credit or debit card, you're account will be activated immediately, and it will be fully functional and ready to use at that time. You'll also receive an email message from NewsGuy that confirms the purchase and offers helpful suggestions for using the service. With alternate payment methods, your account will be activated the same day we receive your money order or check payment, and you'll receive an email confirmation informing you of the account activation.

How does your free trial account work?
With our free trial offer, visitors can try NewsGuy's newsgroup service for 14-days at no cost or obligation. You'll receive 20 GB of download capacity, and complete access to the newsgroups. During the signup process, you'll be asked to select a newsgroup plan that interests you, and you'll provide basic contact and billing information. If you cancel the trial account online within the 14 day time period, the account will be closed instantly and you will be charged nothing. If you choose not to cancel the trial account, after 14 days it will convert to your selected newsgroup plan, and you will be charged the applicable membership fee at that time.

How is data counted toward my account's monthly download limit?
If you've purchased a metered account, you'll have a specific amount of data that you'll be able to download from the newsgroups each month (15 GB, 50 GB, etc.). NewsGuy does NOT count header data, nor do we count any data you upload or post. Unlike some providers who count every bit and byte toward your capacity quota, NewsGuy only counts the specific files you choose to download from the newsgroups. If you've purchased an "Unlimited" account, you are not subject to monthly download limits.

Is there a way to track how much download capacity I've used?
An online Account Manager allows you to monitor and control every aspect of your NewsGuy account. Members can access the Account Manager 24/7 to view their realtime download statistics.

If I don't use my monthly download capacity, do I lose it?
No. With NewsGuy's Carry Forward Bandwidth™ feature, you'll never lose the capacity you don't use! Any unused monthly download capacity will automatically carry forward to the next month & will be added to your new month's quota! There is no limit on the amount of unused capacity you can carry forward, and no limit on the total amount carried forward over time. In the event that you deplete your standard monthly capacity before the end of a given month, your downloads will begin to draw from any Carry Forward Bandwidth you have accrued.

Does NewsGuy offer free capacity or loyalty rewards?
Yes. Each month that you maintain an active NewsGuy account, you'll receive free download capacity in the form of BonusBytes™. This free capacity increases each month, and it's a permanent addition to your standard monthly download capacity! You'll be notified each month when BonusBytes have been added to your NewsGuy account, and a tally within your Account Manager area will display the BonusBytes™ that you've earned to date. Additionally, NewsGuy members receive 10 GB of download capacity on their birthday each year.

What is Bandwidth on Demand™?
If you occasionally require more download capacity than your account supports, Bandwidth on Demand™ allows you to purchase reserve download capacity that will only be used if you deplete your account's standard monthly capacity. Bandwidth on Demand remains in your account until it's been used, or your account expires. If you should leave NewsGuy for up to 12 months, any leftover Bandwidth on Demand within your account will be there when you return. 5 GB of Bandwidth on Demand costs $2.50, 20 GB is $7.95, 40 GB is $14.95 and a whopping 75 GB is only $25.95.

What happens when I reach my account's download limit?
You will receive an onscreen message when you've depleted your account's monthly download capacity. When this occurs you can wait for your account's standard capacity to be automatically refreshed at the end of your monthly cycle, or you can purchase extra download capacity (Bandwidth on Demand™) if you wish to continue downloading before your standard capacity is restored. If you find that you're routinely depleting your download capacity, you may also consider upgrading to a larger metered account plan or and unlimited download account.

How do I know how much I've downloaded?
Members can monitor and manage their service through an online Account Manager. Through this area you can view your account's standard capacity, Carry Forward Bandwidth, BonusBytes and Bandwidth on Demand capacity usage.

Billing Related Questions

How is my account billed?
Members choose between automatic or non-automatic billing. With automatic billing, account renewals are automatically charged to your credit card according to your payment period and account type. With non-automatic billing, one week prior to your renewal date you'll receive an email reminder that includes instructions for renewing your account online. If you're discontinuing your service, you can ignore the email reminder and your account will close automatically at the end of it's service term.

How can I change my billing preference?
Members can change their automatic and non-automatic billing setting by emailing our support staff.

How can I cancel my account?
Accounts will close at the end of their service term if they are set to non-automatic billing. Members can change their automatic and non-automatic billing setting by emailing our support staff.

How can I renew or upgrade my account?
Members can renew and upgrade their account at any time through their online Account Manager. When upgrading an account, any unused time on your present account will be applied to the upgrade purchase price, and your current account settings (login, email addresses, etc.) will be carried forward to the new account.

Newsgroup Related Questions

How many newsgroups are offered at NewsGuy?
NewsGuy currently offers over 100,000+ newsgroups, and new groups are routinely added to our service. Some Usenet services may advertise a larger number of newsgroups, but it's important to note that a large percentage of those additional newsgroups are inactive groups with little or no on-topic content. If you view our current list of newsgroups, and don't find a group that you're looking for, let us know and we'd be happy to add it!

What are NewsGuy's completion and retention rates?
While it's impossible for any Usenet service to guarantee 100% content completion, thanks to our extensive newsfeed relationships, NewsGuy's 99.9% completion rating ranks as one of the best in the industry. Retention refers to the number of days that an article or file will be available to you on a news server. We continually increase our capacity to deliver some of the best retention around! NewsGuy currently offers 900+ days retention in binary newsgroups & several years retention in text groups!

Does NewsGuy throttle or restrict connection speeds?
No, we do not limit connection performance in any respect, so our members are able to access NewsGuy as quickly as their Internet connection allows. If your ISP should throttle Usenet connections, please note that NewsGuy offers alternate ports that allow our NNTP newsreader users to circumvent throttling restrictions, and our web-newsgroup interface (Direct Read News) is not subject to ISP throttling.

How do I setup my NNTP newsreader to access NewsGuy's newsgroups?
Members can use their favorite NNTP newsreader to access NewsGuy, and most readers will require 3 basic settings, which are noted below. For additional setup information, please visit our Getting Started area.

• News Server Address: news.newsguy.com
• Username: your 6-8 character NewsGuy username
• Password: your 6-8 character NewsGuy passsword

How can I access the newsgroups with my web browser?
In addition to accessing the newsgroups with a NNTP newsreaders, NewsGuy members also have the option of using our Direct Read News interface to access the newsgroups through the web. Read, post and download from the newsgroups using your favorite web browser, no additional software or plug-ins required! Visit our Direct Read News launch page to get started!

Why does NewsGuy offer alternate NNTP ports?
We do not restrict connection performance in any way, but occasionally a member's ISP will throttle newsgroup connections by placing restrictions on the standard port used by Usenet (port 119). NewsGuy offers alternate ports that allow our NNTP users to circumvent throttling restrictions, and those port settings can be found in our  Getting Started area. Please note that because our Direct Read News interface is web-based, it is not subject to ISP throttling!

Does NewsGuy support SSL encryption?
All NewsGuy accounts include SSL at no extra cost! SSL provides the ultimate in privacy and security for your newsgroup connections, and NewsGuy offers both NNTP & HTTP SSL. Other providers may charge an extra fee, or do not support SSL at all. For information regarding SSL setup, please visit our Getting Started area.

Does NewsGuy support NZB?
Yes, NewsGuy's servers support NZB downloads.

Why am I receiving a "502 Authentication" error?
If you are unable to connect to NewsGuy and receive this error message, it's usually related to one of the following:

• An incorrect username and/or password setting is being used
• An incorrect news server address setting is being used
• You're account may have expired and needs to be renewed

Why am I receiving a "Maximum Connection Limit" error?
NewsGuy members can establish up to 32 simultaneous connections, and this message will appear in the event that a member exceeds the connection limit. The simultaneous connection feature creates more opportunities for our members to multi-task within the newsgroups. As an example, a member can use one connection to read a newsgroup, while simultaneously using multiple background connections to download and post to other newsgroups.

Why am I receiving an "Account Already In Use" error?
Members can connect to NewsGuy from any Internet connection they'd like, but because these are personal accounts, access is restricted to a single computer or IP address at any one time. As an example, a member can access NewsGuy from different Internet connections during the course of the day (home, work, school, hotel, etc.) but access would not be permitted from two different Internet connections at the same time.

Email Related Questions

Do all NewsGuy account plans include free email service?
Most of our newsgroup account plans include free email service, as well as free website / file hosting. For the most current comparison of our account plans and features please visit the Compare Newsgroup Plans area.

How many mailboxes do I receive?
You'll receive 5 mailboxes that can be activated and configured at your convenience. The mailboxes are POP, IMAP and Web accessible and you'll find additional setup details within the Getting Started area.

What is Direct Read Mail™?
Members have the option of accessing their mailboxes with their favorite POP/IMAP software or our Direct Read Mail™ web interface, which allows you to compose, send and receive email through your favorite web browser without additional software. Click here to access the Direct Read Mail launch page.

What is SpamHippo™?
Developed by NewsGuy, SpamHippo™ is a defense system that protects our members' mailboxes against harmful spam and viruses. Members have complete control over the process, turning the defense system on or off at their discretion, and defining the specific protection controls they wish to apply to their mailboxes. Click here to access the SpamHippo launch page.

Do the mailboxes support SSL encryption?
Yes, we support both POP/SMTP SSL and Web SSL. For additional SSL setup details please visit the Getting Started area.

Why do you offer alternate POP & SMTP ports?
Occasionally a member's ISP will block them from sending or receiving email from an outside email service, and they will do this by restricting the standard POP (110) and SMTP (25) ports. NewsGuy offers alternate ports that allow our email users to circumvent those restrictions, and those port settings can be found in our  Getting Started area. Please note that because our Direct Read Mail interface is web-based, it is not subject to these type of ISP port restrictions!

Can I consolidate my mailbox storage?
Each of the 5 mailboxes comes with a default storage capacity of 50 MB, and members have the opportunity to reallocate that storage to their liking through their Account Manager area. As an example, if you only have a need for 1 mailbox, you can reallocate the storage from the 4 unused boxes (200 MB) to create a single mailbox with 250 MB of storage.