Fiddled for an hour or so, fussiest setup I've run across, currently still no access.
When you sign up and pay there is about a 10 minute delay before account goes from pending to active.
The email and pw you use to sign into the web page is unrelated to username and pw needed for your usenet client, that comes a bit later in an email.
Backbone is usenet express for first 1000 days retention then goes to HW, I think that is High Winds, not sure. People who don't suffer from access denied say speed is very high, as in maxing out a GB connection.
The owner, Nate is often present on reddit, so I expect my issues not to last, but they shouldn't have existed.