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Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Alternate NNTP Usenet SSL Ports

newsgroups, usenet, ssl, encryption
Alternate NNTP Usenet SSL Ports
Alternate ports for SSL NNTP access
As you may have already seen, Giganews recently announced support for 256 bit SSL encrypted Usenet access on port 443. The reason we decided to offer support for port 443 is that some customers were experiencing slow download speeds on port 563 due to port-based speed limiting on networks between their computer and Giganews.

One of the quickest ways to get around speed issues is to try switching ports. Many customers downloading on non-encrypted accounts have already found this out by switching their Usenet downloads from port 119 to port 80. This trick oftentimes quickly improves throughput rates when the source of the slowdown is port based-bandwidth limiting (networks limiting speeds on port 119).

There are two advantages to downloading Giganews' 256 bit SSL encrypted Usenet access over port 443. First, it will help you avoid port based speed limiting on port 563. Secondly, you may also avoid service-based speed limiting as your NNTP traffic is completely encrypted and running over a web-based port (port 443).

The goal of Giganews' support for port 443 is to offer our customers another path to access our encrypted Usenet service and to assist customers dealing with port based speed limits.

If you have experienced speed issues while downloading on port 563 and notice a speed improvement while downloading on port 443, please feel free to leave us a comment.

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59 Comments

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Another benefit of using port 443 instead of port 563 is that the latter could be closed if you are behind a firewall, while port 443 is often open for HTTPS traffic.

8:27 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am subscribed at a well known french provider for its speed ports limiting on the usenet and on others P2P networks. During 6 months my speed had been limited to 20 kbps, inadmissible!!! But since the opening of SSL port 443 by GigaNews my download speed is increased to 900 kbps. I was in despair until this unbelievable offer from Giganews arrived. I just hope that my provider will not speed limiting the 443 port too. Many thanks to GigaNews!

A very satisfied user...

10:52 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm considering SSL but have one worry, being that I'm using POWERGRAB, which hasn't been updated the last years as I know (version 2.6) - the website is down, but I'm very satisfied and don't want to change to new software. Will I be able to continue using it without problem when upgrading to Platinium SSL service?

4:40 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm considering upgrading to Platinium SSL service, but am worried, if it will work with my POWERGRAB 2,6 reader, since this software isn't updated the last years (Website gone). The software is working fine, so I don't want to change

4:44 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm using PowerGrab 2.6, and haven't experienced problems after upgrading to Platinum SSL service. However, my PowerGrab or my ISP doesn't seem to allow me to use SSL Port 443 OR Port 563. That being said, the Port 119 default for PowerGrab is averaging well over 900 kbps. Should I just be happy for now? Or can my speed go up farther with this port 443? When I try Port 443 or 563, I get NO throughput when I run "test". HELP, PLEASE.

1:56 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Giganews SSL and Newsleecher is the way to go!

8:38 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Since we've gone this route, I'd like to see giganews offer and encrypted http proxy to the service, couple bucks extra a month, should be pretty easy to setup and offer to existing customers.

10:40 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

From another France-based user:
using port 443 instead or 563 or 119 has reduced my download times by six. Attains 850 KB/s easily. Could be better, but its not bad :)
A lot better than UseNext for example!

6:14 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Im not sure if this is a port based issue but when i first started using newsgroup i would dl at 2mb/s which was amazing. I realized that i wasnt using SSL so i clicked the box in newsleecher and the port changed. I continued to get goo speed for about a week but now all i can get max is 800kbps.

1:17 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hmm, That doesnt stop an ISP, Get this im in Europe and I get speeds at like 6mbits I pay for 15+ mbits. I connect to the USA server and I cap out! My ISP is capping the server address.

7:22 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

not sure why anyone would use any binary usenet client other then sabnzbd. dont know what i did before it really...

3:17 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

my isp charter started throttling my nntp connections today, switched immediately to SSL on port 563 and it was still throttled, switched to 443 and now im back to full speed!!!

3:29 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

switching to port 443 fixed my problems with charter, i am now back to full speed. thanks giganews!

3:39 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

my service is throttled on newsgroup ports, tried them all that giganews offer and was getting about 100-150 kBps. i decided to try encrypted on port 553 and bought the platinum package, this was no better.

But then i put it onto port 443 and i get nearly 1MBps which is maxing out my connection. So definately worth it!

10:46 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

A possible solution to this capping problem is for Giganews to set up a system of SSL proxy servers, rotating the IP addresses (no reverse name resolution, numeric addresses only) on a regular basis so the ISP's can't keep up with the changes. Addresses and ports should be emailed to users, NOT posted on the website. ISP's are establishing their own accounts (anonymously of course) in order to keep up with Giganews efforts to bypass traffic shaping. I know mine does. Rotating the addresses randomly and supplying each user with only 1 or 2 address provides a better chance of keeping ahead of the ISP's.

5:07 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Using Giganews from Europe and been limited to 3Mbps for 2 months now. But reading this thread provided the solution:-)
Switching to Port 443 gave me about 5Mbps on my 12800Kbps DSL line but I remembered he days when I had 10 Mbps so I continued testing and here is the solution:-)

I use Newsleecher with a Diamond account at Giganews. Newsleecher allows me to download from multiple Newsservers and Giganews is so kind to provide 2 Newsserver. I setup news.giganews with 10 connections and news-europe.giganews with 10 connections for the maximum 20 allowable.

BINGO

10MBps Downloadspeed

The rest is free for VoIP. can't have my wife complaining about Drop-Outs:-)

9:42 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

19th May 2007. I'm with tiscali and was ok on 563 at about 200kb/s until today. They have introduces throttling software this week which also affected i tunes! I was only getting 70kb/s today on 563 switched to 443 now gettin 220 !!:)

9:39 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am also a Tiscali UK broadband user, and was getting a Maximum dl speed of 44 kb/s on port 563! 443 took it back up to a healthy 500kb/s. But will it take them long to throttle this port soon too?? Will we be playing an endless game of cat and mouse with our ISPs until every port is choked to the point of lifelessness? I'm calling my local trading ethics org to see if they should be allowed to do this with out prior advice. I hate greedy people.

11:26 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good results on port 443 with Free (in France)

9:36 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am downloading at 120k when a week ago i was getting 240k. what is going on?

I have tried all the ports and the service is starting to get bad!

Are you investigating this?

12:31 PM 
Blogger Giganews said...

Anonymous,

Please contact Giganews' support department using our contact form found at http://www.giganews.com/contact.html.

They will be happy to assist you with your speed problems. There are no specific issues with the Giganews service so your speed issue is likely being caused by a network you're connecting to / through.

Just contact support and they'll help you trouble shoot this.

2:22 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

with eclipse 8meg most expensive line they do.

was getting terrible speeds at around 1-2kb/s at times never going over 15kb/s until after 1am. Switched to SSL on port 443 and get around 200-300kb/s during the day and full speed off peak. SSL on port 563 is the same as when I didn't use SSL and getting around 2-5kb/s.

Think it's my ISP throttling. Today (17:12pm 26/09/07) I am getting 80kb/s on port 443 which is the only port I can use. Luckily my 12-month conrtact is up in november and I shall switch to Demon who a friend says is very stable 24/7 full speed.

9:13 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My ISP just started throttling 563 this morning. I switched 443 and everything is back to normal :) Would it be possible to update the Giganews Accelerator to allow us to toggle between the two ports?

7:56 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anyway to use Accelerator with port 443?

Just switched to SSL 443 today after my ISP has been throttling my 15Mb line to 500k from 5pm-12am for the last week and now I am back to full speed but lost my accelerator.

11:23 AM 
Blogger Giganews said...

Anonymous,

> Anyway to use Accelerator
> with port 443?

Would you mind emailing support@ giganews.com with your username and IP address so we can look more closely at your ISP's network?

1:23 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My French ISP started throttling port 563 2 weeks ago.
I watched my DL speed drop from 3mps to 700kbs then 20kbs :(
I switched to port 443 and I'm back to 3mbs YIPEE!
Thanks Giganews

4:41 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hello all! i am on btyahoo from the UK, and i think they have capped the connection, i was getting speeds up to 700kb downloads, and now its only near 100kb mark max! i am pretty sure its capped because the connection is trying to force more but it just rapidly drops down to 40kb and then slowly back up to 100kb .. i tried using 463 and didnt make much of a different.. i did a speed test on giganews and its not going above 800kb mark :( anyone else having problems?

9:51 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I should have gone SSL sooner! It is about 1-3mb/s faster in New Zealand. I never got 5-6mb/s before! WEEEEEEEEE

12:03 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Using Alt.Binz downloader on port 563 diamond account, averaging 2000 kB/s or 17-18 Mbps on Cox

12:58 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

my isp has shaped non http ports to 15kb :(

If I could connect through port 80 it would help i think. I can't connect though - is port 80 still open?

6:18 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Traffic was shaped when I hit 300GB, thanks to p443, I am back in business :)

7:09 PM 
Blogger Bob said...

443 works perfectly for me. Amazing!

7:15 AM 
Blogger Unknown said...

I have also found I am being throttled on port 563(Virgin Media National Service). But after changing to 443.. I have speed again. As requested above, a toggle in the accelerator to switch between the two ports, or a field to enter a custom port would be very usefull. The accelerator is a great utility which now I am unable to use.

5:36 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank You for the insight. The chang e to port 443 did real wonders for my speed. 1800 KB/s versus 80! on port 563!

4:36 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

port 443 maxing line speed 1.35mbps in Melbourne, Australia. 563 was throttled to 80kbps

Thanks Giganews!

3:21 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

HUGE speed increase here in UK using port 443. Virgin 50Meg service.

Port 563 was giving about 50% performance. 443 is showing about 90% of the none-SSL speed.

Much better. Glad I spotted this post and changed ports. Thanks.

11:05 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

was capped at around 1mbit on standard newsleecher ports. changed port. now working OK.

VM say they don't cap 50mb, no traffic shaping or fair-use policy in place.(Its in my contract) so I'll put this down to "an accident" but if the NEW port gets throttled then VM are going to have to prove that they haven't blatantly breached t&cs....

2:53 PM 
Blogger Shannara said...

Both ports are throttled by GCI (http://www.gci.com), ATT (http://www.corp.att.com), and ACS (http://www.alaskacommunications.com).

I had to cancel because those are the only internet providers in Alaska. After canceling, I got an email asking for me to come back ... umm how? You guys can prevent ISPs from throttling?

... what about a different port?

9:37 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This fixed my problem. I LOVE YOU GIGANEWS!

9:43 PM 
Blogger zarathustra said...

Any Virgin customers need to drop 563 right bloody now for secure news!

Virgin HAVE admitted to traffic-shaping NNTP traffic but NOT SSL on 443.

5:12 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Virgin customer here.

I was having slow speeds on port 563 and switched to 443, the moment I did that my speeds went for 1.8MB/s to 6.0MB/s

11:50 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Virgin Media user in Berkshire, UK. They just started throttling all other ports here by 75% but Port 443 SSL fixed it. Now back to maxing my connection, Cheers GN.

3:05 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

USING VM 50MEG

Back up to full speed on this port.
Thanks Giganews.

10:05 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ports 563/80/119 heve been Throttled by 90% using newsgroups by my ISP, 24/7. 443 Is the only one that works now. 59Kb's on other ports, 6Mb's on 443.

12:51 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Another virgin customer here, changed port and can now download 10 times faster, thanks Giganews! VM need to get a grip as they have lost a customer when I move house next month.

10:57 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm with Virgin Media and always had problems with my download speed, I dont consider myself a very heavy user and stick to 20GB fair usage policy.

Had no problem to start with, then suddenly my download speed went to about 256kbit/s (15K/s). Since I still like using Xnews with the Giganews accelerator bit stuck, but changed the port setting in Mimo to 443 from 563, back up to full 8MBit/s. Bloody Virgin Media.

11:01 AM 
Anonymous Joe said...

Virgin Media (Liverpool)

Same here, noticed HUGE drop in speed in the past week, switched to 443 and now getting ~48-52 Mbit/s again

12:33 PM 
Blogger Sean said...

Thanks for 443 Giganews, Your life savers, Due to ISP Traffic Managment on my 50mbps Connection. i was only getting 650kp/s on 536, now on 443 i'm getting a nice 6130kp/s :D

Cheers Guys :D

2:44 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh my god been trying to fix this problem for a while. Thank you so much!! Port 443 and Im back to 50Mb!!!
Thanks Giganews your worth every penny...

2:32 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi

Same here. Was only hitting about 600kbs now back to my usual 2.3mbs.

But im getting too many connections error message sometimes. I'm running 40 connections. I have the diamond service so i should be allowed 50.

D.

3:21 PM 
Blogger sazzle said...

Another virgin customer here, switched to 443 speeds went through the roof! thanks giganews!

3:23 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great stuff. Did the trick. Massive difference. Thanks a lot.

12:18 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think I have just about had-it with Virginmedia! I wish they are more transparent. Havent been getting my 2.3MB/s consistently cuts out in the evenings and weekends very frustrating especially if that is the only time one has. I rang customer support and they know nothing about the throttling issue. If there is a policy and it is clearly stated that we can plan accordingly but instead it is done surruptiously. I cannot understand why on the virginmedia newsgroups servers you can get decent speeds but over the past two weeks, there has been a systematic, in my opinion, throttling of giganews. I have switched to ssl got the diamond package and yesterday was delighted that everything was great nah! today different story.

Virginmedia heres the deal - stop this arbitrary throttling because it will inevitably cause a hemorrhaging of your customers (I have been with you for 15 years!) and now considering leaving because SKY confirmed to me that there is no throttling and they can guarantee that as a condition on a contract with them.

The cost of converting or bringing back a customer is so huge that it outweighs the effort. The best money spent is to retain current customers. Marketing 101.

Not only that, the very customers that you are now upsetting are those most active on the scene and will thrash your name. The reputational risk is enormous. Does no one appeciate this at HQ?

So Virginmedia, stop meddling and get back to providing a reliable trustworthy service!

12:01 PM 
Blogger DeMoS said...

I cant get a decent connection on any of teh ports now. Seems Virgin has throttles all of them. Can anyone else confirm?

12:47 PM 
Blogger Nix. said...

My speed been dropping since i moved house, i've just upgraded to 100MB but giganews was running really slow, however rest of my internet was ok, been racking my brains for a while then seen this post, changed to port 443 is running at maximum again.

thanks for post. I wonder why i was getting full speeds in my old house on old port and not in my new house?

3:25 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

SSL 443 FTW, I couldn't even connect to the server but now everything is working just fine.

9:07 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

switched to 443 and speed rocketed... im on 50 meg but grabit was running mid 60's to 70 meg speeds so happy days

3:16 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Switch to 443 and Boom back to what I expect.. Cheers for offering....

10:46 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

4mb/s instead of 600kb/s...
much better ^^

9:37 AM