Looking for Usenet posts with older content?
Usenet is great for downloading the latest content in the highest quality. But for older or niche stuff? Well, it can be a little hit or miss.
However, there are some ways to improve your chances of finding and grabbing those elusive classics. Keep reading for a few useful tips for finding older content on Usenet.
Use Good Indexers
The age of the content you’re trying to download actually doesn’t matter. Rather, it’s the age of the upload.
Of course, the older the content, the older the upload is likely to be. However, users will usually re-upload old content over time.
You just need a good Usenet indexer to find it. So, if you don’t see what you’re looking for on one indexer, try another one.
We have a full list of NZB sites that you can look through, but the ones below are some of your best bets for finding older content:
Note: DrunkenSlug and DogNZB only open registration a few times per year, so you’ll need to wait to get access. They’re worth it though.
Get a High-Retention Usenet Provider
Ideally, older content would be re-uploaded every year or so. But in reality, that’s simply not the case.
So, don’t be surprised when the only upload you can find for the file you’re looking for was 5 to 10 years ago.
It’s still possible to download many of these ~10-year-old files. You’ll just need a Usenet provider with a high retention rate to do it.
That means you’ll want a Usenet provider on the Omicron backbone, since their retention is the best by far in the Usenet industry.
There are quite a few providers to choose from, but our favorites are:
Eweka is best for users in or near Europe, while Newshosting is the best for people in the US – and pretty much anywhere else. Both providers will give you over 13 years of retention!
Use Torrents as an Alternative
If you’ve checked several newsgroup indexers and still can’t find what you’re looking for – or an upload that’s recent enough for you to successfully download – there is an alternative.
Yes, we’re talking about torrents. When it comes to old, niche, or foreign content, you can often find things on torrent sites that you wouldn’t find on Usenet. Though you might have to wait a bit if there aren’t many seeders!
We’ve provides lots of tips for searching for torrents. Just make sure to use a VPN, since torrenting is a lot riskier than downloading from Usenet.
PIA VPN is our favorite VPN for torrenting. It’s safe, fast, and very affordable. Sign up today to keep your torrenting activities protected!
Wrap-Up
As we’ve seen, finding and downloading older content from Usenet can be tricky, but it’s still possible with the right combination of quality NZB indexers and high-retention Usenet providers.
And if all else fails, there’s always torrents!
What’s your favorite indexer for finding old content? Let us know in the comments!