Usenet speed issue

[psyfur]

Hi there,

I have the 10MB broadband line from VM and until two days ago I have been fine downloading via newsgroups. I use a third party newsgroup called Newsdemon.

I have been able to download at 1.2 Mb/s for the last 3 months, however in the last few days, my connection will start at 1.2MB and then drop to 75k within a few minutes

I then check a online speed checker which give me 1.2 Mbs speed. So I called VM and they said no issue at there end and I have not be throttled (STM)

If I close my newsgroup downloader and start it again, I get 1.2bs for a few minutes then back to 75.K. I contacted Newsdemon and they said VM issue. I have tried different downloading software and different computers and get the same problem, so the issue is with the internet.

I have been taking the **** I guess with downloading 30Gig a night... However I wonder if they have now blocked my ports, which they deny.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a fix?

[Kymmy]

Which news servers are you using?

[psyfur]

Europe.newsdemon.com

Port 8080

[Kymmy]

Try using the other ports on offer and see if you get the same problem.

Kymmy

[psyfur]

Good point, I have used all three ports I can...

Thanks for your help though!

[Jelly]

Try downloading a file from VM's news server; if they're specifically throttling newsgroups, you'll get a similar speed.

[Richy99]

i have heard in the past of newsdemon throttling accounts after they download a specific amount

[psyfur]

Thanks for the replies, I have an unlimited account with newsdemon and say they are not throttling me.

I will do some test with VM newsgroups and HTP downloads and let you know the results.

Cheers,
PsYFuR

---------- Post added at 16:49 ---------- Previous post was at 16:29 ----------

Just downloaded a gig test file from:

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/download/

So the newsgroup is screwed either VM are filtering the traffic or newsdemon are at fault....

[Jelly]

Did you try downloading from VM's news servers? HTTP downloads won't be throttled, but I remember Traxdata talking about Newsgroup throttling a while ago. A test download from VM's servers should confirm if it's application management or not.

[psyfur]

Using VM newsgroups now but I got stung with STM ROFL!!!

---------- Post added at 20:29 ---------- Previous post was at 20:16 ----------

VM Newsgroups work a treat and for some reason I get much faster speed than the newsdemon ones that I pay for....

[Jelly]

It looks like a Newsdemon problem then, or possibly VM are routing it in a weird way.

[psyfur]

Originally Posted by Jelly

It looks like a Newsdemon problem then, or possibly VM are routing it in a weird way.

Agreed!

Just out of interest has anyone had any experience with SSL news group? I am looking at Giganews and they say that SSL downloading could avoid STM.

[TayUK]

Usenet works fine for me, 2.1MB after midnight on most evenings.

What you could try is one of the 3-4GB tests some of the usenet providers offer port hop and use SSL, you can verify if youve been throttled.

Personally I'm with newshosting as they have a Euro presence, I also use SSL for downloads no matter what I download.

I have noticed a bit of a slow down in the evenings but I suspect its just getting slower with more people coming on board.

I do a lot of Distro hopping and developing with Rpath hence a lot of downloading, also I have Vista, Mac and XP flavour machines, PS3 and a Wii all require patching like its going out of fashion.

Steve

[Jelly]

It doesn't matter if the data is SSL or not, you'll still be throttled.

IIRC I used to use newsdemon and they have always had issues with NTL/Telewest connection I used to get crap speeds but it sounds like a newsdemon problem, with the problems I have had I would advise people to stay away from newsdemon if Virgin Media is your ISP, Giganews does seem the way to go