Maxnet - Network News Transfer Protocol.

[Ibex]

MaxNet - Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) based Newsgroups.

My OS is WinXP Pro SP3.

I am subscribed to MaxNet (Indy 1536/512) since October last year.

Since about 3 weeks or so, all of a sudden I am unable downloading/sending messages from various NNPT based Newsgroups. But accessing (browsing) the Internet and using e-mail facilities is not a problem at all.

The MaxNet technicians came to my place 3 times but could not find the problem, in fact they knew little about NNTP based Newsgroups. They finally suggested replacing the (Hatari) router which originally was provided by MaxNet ISP. Well, I purchased a 'Linksys WAG200G' router but the problem still persists.

So, I took my computer to a repair shop but the technicians could not find anything wrong with my computer either. The technicians then connected my computer to a *different* ISP and everything went fine - The access of Newsgroups and downloading/retrieving and sending of messages went without any problems.

Then I recalled that I still have some hours left on my old dial-up connection from my previous (Loxinfo) ISP. I re-established this connection and as with the *different* ISP connection, I am able accessing Newsgroups and retrieving/sending messages.

I am not a technical person but based on the above I suspect that MaxNet ISP has for inexplicable reasons decided to block the access to Newsgroups.

I talked to MaxNet ISP customer services people at their head offices but they don't appear to understand the problem. I explained that Newsgroups connect to a Network News Transfer Protocol (NNPT) using exclusively port 119 and the ISP is most likely blocking this from executing.

I even provided pertinent links and information, but it seems that all this is either not read or just not understood and appreciated.

I'd be most interested if anybody is experiencing similar problems; TIA!

FOR YOUR INFORMATION:

What is/are Newsgroup(s) and how to access Newsgroup(s)?

Newsgroup(s) is a place where people start searching for solutions before approaching Microsoft technical support. Microsoft has created public newsgroups, which are accessible to everybody. Here you can see 

novices as well as experienced people asking questions as well as solving problems.

MVPs (Most Valuable Professionals) play a very important role in these newsgroups. These are the people who are recognized for their contribution in the newsgroups in terms of solving people's problems.

You can access newsgroups by using a News Client. The most popular newsgroup clients are Outlook Express which ships with Internet Explorer.

To access Microsoft public newsgroups using Outlook Express follow the 

instructions below:-

Open Outlook Express from Start ==> Programs ==> Internet Explorer ==> Outlook Express. - Select Accounts from Tools menu.

- Click on Add button and select News from the popup menu.

- Type in all requested information. You have to type the Newsgroup (NNTP) Server name as msnews.microsoft.com.

- Click Finish and you will be asked to chose the specific product 

newsgroups.

Just double click on a specific newsgroup to subscribe to it.

MORE INFORMATION:

Usenet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet

What is Usenet, Anyway?

http://tldp.org/LDP/nag/node257.html

I use Windows Live Mail and 40tude Dialog as Newsreaders.

Here are the News Groups I am actively participating:

News Server: msnews.microsoft.com

microsoft.public.internetexplorer.general

microsoft.public.outlookexpress.general

microsoft.public.security.homeusers

microsoft.public.security.virus

microsoft.public.windows.networking.firewall

microsoft.public.windows.vista.general

microsoft.public.windows.vista.security

microsoft.public.windowsupdate

microsoft.public.windowsxp.general

microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support

and:

News Server: news.aioe.org

alt.comp.anti-virus

alt.comp.freeware

alt.comp.virus

alt.privacy.spyware

alt.internet.wireless

comp.security.firewalls

news.software.readers

alt.os.linux

alt.os.linux.ubuntu

comp.unix.solaris

and:

News Server: news.grc.com 

grc.news.latestversions

grc.privacy

grc.security

grc.security.software

grc.spyware

grc.techtalk

and:

News Server: privatenews.microsoft.com

Account name: privatenews\spyware

Password: spyware

microsoft.private.security.spyware.announcements

microsoft.private.security.spyware.general

Some additional information:

How to Use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...ln%5D;newswhelp

Cheers...

[dekka007]

Most providers Easynews, Usenetserver etc. offer multiple ports and SSL ports for connection to their servers.

[Ratsima]

I'm on MaxNet Indy, but I haven't tried to use Usenet for a long time. So, I downloaded a client (Unison for the Mac) and was able to download the list of groups for both news.aioe.org and msnews.microsoft.com. I used SSL for news.aioe.org and was able to download articles without any trouble. I didn't try to post anything, though.

Although I was able to download the list of groups from the msnews server, I was not able to download any articles. Kept getting a connection time out.

I have to say, though, that Unison is a pretty crappy newsreader. Kept crashing for no good reason.

[Ibex]

I'm on MaxNet Indy, but I haven't tried to use Usenet for a long time. So, I downloaded a client (Unison for the Mac) and was able to download the list of groups for both news.aioe.org and msnews.microsoft.com. I used SSL for news.aioe.org and was able to download articles without any trouble. I didn't try to post anything, though.

Although I was able to download the list of groups from the msnews server, I was not able to download any articles. Kept getting a connection time out.

I have to say, though, that Unison is a pretty crappy newsreader. Kept crashing for no good reason.

I get 'connection time out' all the time. The problem started only recently and even after sending multiple e-mail messages to MaxNet no technical response as yet. I guess they don't want to release me early from my 1 year contract. But never mind only 3 more months to go. In the meantime I use (dial-up) LOXINFO for accessing NNTP based usenet services and make appropriate changes with respect to my ADSL provider (ISP) after my contract with MaxNet has expired.  Good old Bernard Trink would say TIT :-)   

[Ibex]

Most providers Easynews, Usenetserver etc. offer multiple ports and SSL ports for connection to their servers.

Yes, I am aware of that. This however does not address the problem I am experiencing. Thanks for response anyway.

Cheers :-)

[Ratsima]

As I said, I could get on news.aioe.org without any problems (103,217 news groups!!). I could get on the Microsoft site now and then, but usually got a timeout. I couldn't connect to news.grc.com at all.

Good luck with Maxnet....

[Ibex]

As I said, I could get on news.aioe.org without any problems (103,217 news groups!!). I could get on the Microsoft site now and then, but usually got a timeout. I couldn't connect to news.grc.com at all.

Good luck with Maxnet....

I finally received a call from a competent (MaxNet ISP) technician. He was able to fix this problem and I am (again) able to access NNTP based Newsgroups. It seems it was a fault somehow generated by the ISP after all, which I suspected all along. I had to unplug the power connection of the router and disconnect the phone line for about 3 minutes or so, during this time the technician implemented some 'adjustments' at the ISP head offices. When pressing him for details he said that there was a  'synchronisation' issue with phone connection.