Hitnews Review

Last Updated: Jan 19, 2022

Rating
Price	€6.99 / Month
Retention	2100 Days
Free Trial	7 Days
Features	Dutch Servers
	SSL Included
	30 Connections

Hitnews is a Usenet service provider that offers multiple USENET access plans including special nighttime and short term accounts at discounted rates. They are located in the Netherlands and provide its users with unlimited Usenet search and downloads, SSL encryption, up to 30 connections and 2100 days of binary retention.

Quick Facts

• Multiple download speed plans
• Up to 1000 Mbit
• Nighttime Account Option
• Short Team Account Option
• Long-Term Subscription Discounts
• SSL (Privacy Protection)
• Unlimited 3-day Trial
• 2100 Days Binary Retention
• 99.9% Completion

Binary Retention

Hitnews offers approximately 2100 days of binary retention. This is less than our best usenet service providers offer.

Pricing

Hitnews has several accounts that are differentiated by speed. These plans can be purchased on a monthly, quarterly, semi-annual and annual basis. All of these multi-speed plans include unlimited downloads and Usenet search, as well as SSL-secured connections.

Hitnews also offers a nighttime account option that comes at a discounted price. With this type of account you get a full download speed of up to 1000 mbit at a one month fee of €4.50 or an annual fee or €49.99. Schedule for Hitnews nightitme Usenet access is Monday through Friday from 12AM to 4PM CET and Saturday and Sunday from 12AM to 10AM CET. Your download speed is limited to 1Mbit at any time outside the aforementioned hours.

This provider also has short term plans at 1000 mbit of download speed for users who only need Usenet access for a certain period of time. Pricing are as follows:

• 48 hours - €1.50
• 1 week - €3.00
• 2 weeks - €5.00

Free Trial Info

You can get a three-day free trial from this provider. You won’t be billed until it ends and the trial is unlimited, so you can see the full capacity of this provider before you decide whether or not to buy.

Special Offers / Coupons

Hitnews has a dedicated coupons page on their website. Currently they offer a special discount for new clients that allows users to extend their trial version with a month with 50% off by using the coupon code: WELCOME. They also have promotional coupons and a frequent promotion running for their loyal members.

Additionally, they currently have an Unlimited 7-day trial offering for new users that allows them to test a Hitnews service out for only €1.00. This enables users to experience Hitnews’ full usenet service. Use the coupon code: HITNEWS when signing up.

Speed Test

Hitnews did well in speed testing. You shouldn’t have any problems getting the speed you paid for unless you have problems with your ISP.

Connections

All Hitnews plans come with 50 connections

News Servers / Ports / Configuration

• news.hitnews.com
  Unencrypted Ports: 119

• ssl.hitnews.com
  Encrypted Ports 763, 995

Frequently Asked Questions

• Q: How does the nighttime access package work?:

• A: The nighttime access package is based on nighttime during CET time, so keep in mind that the actual times when you get your maximum speed may vary locally. If you’re in the US, the time difference will be significant. That being said, this is an interesting offer but not one that we find particularly practical for most USENET users. Those who find it to increase the value of the product will likely be those who do a lot of scheduled downloads that they can complete during those hours or those who know they’ll consistently be using USENET between the hours listed more than they will at other times.

• Q: What about the 48-hour access?:

• A: The 48-hour access might be good if you have a lot of downloading to do and don’t want a subscription. However, this doesn’t seem like quite as good an option for such usage when we compare it to block access. Block access never expires and offers a lot of download data—especially from our best Usenet service providers, such as Tweaknews—so there’s really no advantage in purchasing a short-term plan, as far as we can see. You’d be better off with block access. If you don’t use the entire download allotment on your block plan, it won’t expire on you.

• Q: What about the prices in general, are they good?:

• A: They’re actually a bit high. You can get unlimited, unmetered access from most of our best Usenet service providers for better prices than you’ll get from Hitnews.

• Q: Is there a nighttime option for the US?:

• A: No. This service is very much focused on the Netherlands, where it’s located. There isn’t a similar nighttime hours discount available for users in the US. For US users, of course, that means that any late-night downloading you’re doing is going to be done during the throttled hours.

• Q: Can I bring my own newsreader this service?:

• A: Yes, any newsreader or downloader should work fine with this service. You don’t have to use a provided newsreader or deal with other restrictions from this provider.

• Q: Do the very low number of connections on the slower plans make a difference?:

• A: When connection numbers get as low as 2, yes, it can make a difference. We normally advise readers to not worry too much about connections—most providers offer far more than users will really need—but, when there are so few offered, we do advise that you take it into consideration. Again, block access is a much better value than very limited subscription access.

• Q: Should I use the unsecured, unencrypted server?:

• A: No. We always recommend using SSL, simply because it’s better to err on the side of privacy rather than on the side of being too vulnerable online. The SSL server shouldn’t slow down your connection and it offers a lot more protection for your privacy, so always use that, if you choose to take our advice.

Support

support@support.hitnews.com

Contact Information

RSP Sales LLC attn. Hitnews
969 Street Road
Southampton, PA 18966
U.S.A.

Security/Company Privacy Policy

Hitnews says that they will not share any personal information about you without your consent or without a valid warrant from a law enforcement agency. They do not share information with third parties otherwise.

Payment Options

You can pay for your service at Hitnews with a bank transfer, iDeal, Bitcoin, PayPal, Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Discover card.

Our Opinion

Hitnews has an interesting selection for subscriptions, but we’re not convinced that they’re entirely practical for the average USENET user. The 48-hour subscription, in particular, is outshined by block access from most any provider. While your block access will run out once you hit the allotted amount of data, it won’t require you to make another payment to keep it active. That’s too much of a difference in value to ignore.

The nighttime subscriptions might be useful for some users in the EU but, beyond the time zones that apply there, this is of questionable value. The time limitations are likely to affect people located elsewhere in the world at times when they’re most likely to be downloading and, because the throttled bandwidth is so low, we cannot recommend it. Again, block access is a better option for such users.

We recommend any of our best Usenet service providers over Hitnews. They all offer better prices, more flexible packages and more value for the dollar than Hitnews, and you don’t have to worry about your speed being throttled based on the time of day you download. They also have better retention times, support options and update their sites more frequently with new information, which makes them better choices all around.

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