SABnzbd and Newshosting Usenet Setup

The complete guide to using the SABnzbd newsreader with Newshosting as your Usenet provider.

Need help setting SABnzbd up with your Newshosting account? We’ve got you covered. This guide will walk you through the Newshosting SABnzbd setup process step by step.

Step 1 – Sign up to Newshosting

For this guide to work, you’ll need a Newshosting account.

It’s our most recommended Usenet provider, with industry-leading retention, great speeds, and US + EU servers, so go ahead and sign up if you haven’t already. Read our full Newshosting review for more details.

Step 2 – Download SABnzbd

You’ll also need SABnzbd. It’s an app that handles NZB files to help you mass download from Usenet newsgroups and can even automate your downloading.

If you don’t already have it, you can find free downloads for almost any platform.

Step 3 – Install the SABnzbd Program

Find the SABnzbd installer EXE file and open it. It should be in the location where your downloads are stored – usually ‘Downloads’ (C:\Users\[username]\Downloads, where the username is whatever Windows user you’re logged in as).

Or you can simply look for it in your web browser’s download manager section. For Firefox, this is right next to the URL bar.

After running the SABnzbd setup EXE, the first thing it asks you for is your language. We hope you already know what this is. Select it from the dropdown menu and click ‘OK’.

Then, you have to accept the License Agreement. Once you’ve read it over, click ‘I Agree’.

Next, you’ll be asked which components to install. SABnzbd is a must obviously, and we’d recommend checking the box for ‘NZB File association’ as well. The desktop icon and run on startup options are up to you, though the desktop icon is definitely handy.

After clicking ‘Next’, you’ll be asked to choose where to install SABnzbd. The default is fine, or you can change it to your preferred location.

Continuing on, you’re asked for the Start Menu folder where the SABnzbd shortcuts will be saved. Again, the default is fine. Click ‘Install’.

Installation should only take a few seconds. Click ‘Finish’. But first, uncheck the box about ‘release notes’, unless you’re into that kind of thing.

Step 4 – Set Up the Web Client

From here, you’ll be directed to the folder you setup earlier, where the SABnzbd shortcuts are found. Or you can find it on your desktop (if you selected that option), or by searching for ‘SABnzbd” in Windows. Click the shortcut.

You’ll be asked to set your language again. Click ‘Start Wizard >’.

Next, it asks for your server details.

• Server: news.newshosting.com – Note: There are some other server options you can explore, which can be found here. 
   
• Username: This is the username you signed up for Newshosting under 
   
• Password: And this is the password you set for Newshosting 
   

We’d also recommend clicking the ‘SSL’ box, though it’s not 100% necessary. And then selecting ‘Advanced Settings’, where you’ll set your ports.

• Port: 563 – This is the port used for SSL (secure) connections 
   
• For SSL, you can also use 443. If you’re not worried about SSL, you can use port 119, 23, 25, 80, 3128. The full list of ports can be found here. 
   
• Connections: 100 (NEW!)– This is maximum number of connections on Newshosting’s Limited and Unlimited Plans
   
  If you’re a Newshosting XL Powerpack user, you can set up to 100 connections. Though using the maximum amount of connections is not always necessary. Read more about the Best Number of Usenet Connections. 
   
• Certificate Verification: We recommend leaving this set to ‘Strict’ 
   

Next, you can ‘Test Server’ or simply click to the next window.

And boom, your setup is complete.

You’ll be given the location for SABnzbd, which you can bookmark for easy access later. But you can also access this same menu by clicking the SABnzbd program shortcut on your desktop.

The location is: http://127.0.0.1:8080/sabnzbd/

Clicking it will bring you to the SABnzbd downloads screen, where you’ll find any ongoing downloads. You can also dig into the settings and further tweak things to your liking.

Step 5 – Find NZBs & Start Downloading

Now that your SABnzbd Newshosting setup is complete, you’re free to start downloading.

To do that, you’ll have to find some NZBs with the files you are looking for. But that’s also easy.

You can search for NZBs using free Usenet Search Engines or, better yet, use dedicated NZB Search Indexers (some free, some paid) to find everything you could ever want to download and watch.

And once you start to get the hang of it, you can easily add tools that integrate with SABnzbd to fully automate your Usenet download process. 🙂

Happy downloading!