Yep. Most providers give an SSL connection too so no need for the VPN. I've been using Usenet reliably for over a decade now.
this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2025
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Yes and it's still glorious. SSL should be enough, but I use a VPN as well
For downloading through Usenet a VPN is as important as for DDL, i.e. it's not necessary.
Depending on the local laws it's more important to use a VPN and pay anonymously for your indexers. But I don't know of any Usenet busts where customers got charged (e.g. for supporting a criminal organisation), so it's not necessary.
If you upload you must use a trustworthy VPN provider and you must pay through an anonymous payment method like Monero.
Google: "NZBs" do some reading and pick a provider with SSL connections.
Yep, no need for VPN if you use a provider with SSL.
Basically yeah - the only thing exposed with ssl w/o vpn is the initial connection to your provider, so your ISP or another entity eavesdropping could prove you initiated a connection but would have no idea about the contents transferred. A little pedantic I know, but best to be informed of the minutia of these endeavours.
I found you need four things:
- A VPN
- A good Usenet provider
- An NZB app
- An NZB indexer, which is a website
From there, it is a lot easier than torrents. The downside is you might be paying for all 4.
Follow up, my costs. YMMV
- VPN - Proton, but I get it as part of the family package for email, calendar, VPN, drive etc. $500 every 2 years. Standard Pricing for just VPN is $10/month. Steeper discounts for the longer you pay up front. Plus there are plenty of good VPN providers out there, but you have to pay for them.
- Usenet provider - I'm using NewsDemon and have the $80 unlimited for 4 years deal. For deals like this you have to hunt around a bit or maybe play the waiting game.
- NZB app - I'm currently using SABnzbd+, free on my linux desktop. Will move this to an ARR stack once the NAS is built out.
- NZB Indexer - I'm using NZBGeek, $6 for 6 months, $12 a year, $80 lifetime. I chose the lifetime option. Plenty of other options for Indexers, and some that are invite only. I imagine costs vary wildly.
How I use it for now: After securing all the subscriptions, I fire up the NAB app and configure it to use my Usenet provider. Fire up the VPN, head to my NAB Indexer. Search for what I'm looking for in the Indexer and download the NZB file it generates. Feed the NZB file into my NZB app and it heads out to my Usenet provider to pull what I asked.
When I get off my ass and built my homebrew NAS, I'll run all this through an ARR stack.