Low download speed on Steam: causes of the problem and solutions. Increasing download speed from Steam Why low download speed on steam

Downloads on Steam are requested not only by users with weak Internet. Even owners of a 100-megabit data link often suffer from low download rates. At such a moment, the need to increase speed parameters becomes acute and you need to know how to do this.

Why increase speed?

To figure out how to increase loading speed on Steam, you need to know the main reasons for this. It would seem that such a serious distributor of digital products as Valve should provide the proper speed.

Often even the power of their servers is simply not enough. For example, on the day of release, Watch Dogs 2 sold over five million copies, and that’s exactly how many users downloaded it from this service. Problems with speed were observed in about a fourth of the parts. These people had no information about the content servers and did not know how to change their speed setting.

Content servers and information about them

If you don’t know how to increase loading speed on Steam, then you’ve never heard of the existence of content servers and their settings. These are mirror copies of Valve's main servers, only they are configured to serve a specific region of the world.

In this way, the developers of the digital store were able to solve the loading problem. For example, three content servers are designed for the territory of Russia. One is in Moscow, the second is in Yekaterinburg, and the third is located in Novosibirsk. By default, the client has one of them. People who haven't changed it automatically download from it, and millions do so at the same time, while the other server only serves a couple thousand users. The secret of how to increase the loading speed of games on Steam depends entirely on knowing information about the content servers. The ability to change the download point will save the player precious hours of free time.

Changing the content server

Before you can increase loading speed on Steam, you need to determine which content server is closest to your location. Distance also affects the download parameters, because the signal must travel a distance and loses speed along the way. When choosing a content server, you also need to pay attention to the designation.

This means that the choice is only available to people using a particular provider. If you have to choose between the closest server and another less busy one, then it's worth weighing the number of people. Pay attention to the number of users, and if it is prohibitively large, then you should switch to downloading from another source. The server change occurs within the client itself. You need to go to the “Settings” window, and then select the “Downloads + Cloud” tab. A drop-down list will appear in the download region column. From it, you must, guided by the tips given above, select an available server. This should only be done before starting the download. If you make changes during the process, an error will occur and you will have to restart. This operation will help increase the download speed on Steam for any future purchases.

Steam is one of the most popular gaming services through which users purchase computer games, after which the purchase can be downloaded to their computer. Below we will talk about the main recommendations that will increase the download speed on Steam.

Many games have quite an impressive weight, so the download speed must be at the level, otherwise you can wait a very, very long time for the download to complete. Various factors can affect slow software download speeds from Steam, and many of them may seem obvious to you, but at least one of them may be the main reason for the drop in speed in your case.

Reason 1: Home network is busy

First of all, you should suspect that your home network is simply so loaded that Steam cannot quickly download the next game. Check to see if anything is downloading on other computers connected to your home network - if, for example, the download is performed through a torrent client, then this is precisely why the speed has dropped in your case.

Try to limit serious traffic consumption on other devices while the download in your case is not completed. As a compromise, downloading can be done at night.

Reason 2: provider line busy

The second most popular reason, which manifests itself if your speed was previously at the same level, but now it has been reduced nowhere. In this case, it is worth suspecting that the provider’s line is busy. You can find out whether your provider is the cause of all your troubles by calling him on the phone.

As a rule, if your provider is carrying out work on the line that could lead to a deterioration in the quality of your Internet connection, you should be notified about this immediately. Moreover, if at the time of work the Internet is practically impossible to use, you have the right to ask for a recalculation, asking to deduct from the payment those days when the Internet did not work correctly.

In addition, you can verify this problem yourself. To do this, close the maximum number of devices connected to the network (or limit their access to the Internet) and perform an Internet speed test on your computer, for example. The optimal speed for downloading games is from 20 Mbit/s and above; if according to the contract you have a normal speed, but in fact it is practically zero, you should deal with your provider.

Reason 3: Download region

Steam automatically determines the most suitable download region, from the servers of which games and programs will be downloaded to your computer. You can increase your loading speed on Steam by trying to change the region to an alternative one.

Reason 4: A download limit has been inserted

A similar reason may be a consequence of previously set parameters in Steam, which you might have forgotten about after a while. We are talking about the set download limit, which allows Steam not to consume all the traffic, thanks to which you can achieve improved network speed in other programs or devices.

Reason 5: No speed limits

1. First, you will need to measure the current speed of your Internet connection, for example, using the online service Speedtest. Please note that before taking measurements, it is recommended to close all programs that consume traffic (including Steam), and also limit network access to other devices.
2. Having identified the Internet speed, and if it is quite high, we go to the Steam settings, where you should go to the tab "Downloads". Here in the field "Limit download speed to" you will need to set a parameter equal to the speed that was given when measuring in Speedtest, for example, if during the measurement the incoming speed was equal to 15 Mbit/s, then this is the parameter you will need to select in the program settings. After making changes, save the settings and check your loading speed.

Reason 6: low internet speed under contract

And finally, the most common reason is that you are connected to a low-speed tariff that cannot provide decent download speeds from Steam. For example, many users still use ADSL (which, due to its capabilities, cannot provide speeds higher than 11 Mbit/s), although fiber was installed in their home a long time ago.

If you also use a telephone line to use your home Internet, check your home connection on the provider’s website or immediately call the provider. If you have fiber optics installed in your home, you will have access to significantly more favorable Internet tariffs, which are distinguished not only by higher speed, but also, sometimes, by a significantly lower cost compared to your old tariff.

This article will discuss how to increase the loading speed of games on Steam. This problem affects the majority of users of this gaming platform both in Russia and throughout the rest of the world.

Game loading speeds on Steam may be slow even if you have a very good Internet connection. Anyone, even a novice computer user, can solve this problem.

Third party programs

The download speed of any application in download managers depends on many nuances. For example, network congestion can be a speed-limiting factor, since if it is minimal, then all game files will load into the operating system much faster.

Closing all third-party download managers or torrents can help in how to increase download speed on Steam. Downloading files through browsers will also have to be paused. You will need to turn off all software that uses your Internet connection. Eg:

• Skype.
• Any of the antiviruses.
• Windows Update.
• Game center Mail.ru.

After the applications that load your network have been disabled, you can analyze the positive change in download speed in the program. Most often, this method helps a little, but to increase the loading speed in Steam.

User region

We increased the download speed from Steam by reducing the load on our Internet connection, but now we should move on to the next tip, which is also actively used by users of the gaming platform.

Now we will talk about changing the player’s region in the Steam settings, since in some countries and regions, downloading applications is noticeably slower than in others. That is why it is worth changing your region in order to achieve such a result as increasing the download speed.

To do this you need to follow the following method:

1. Launch Steam.
2. Go to the menu section “Settings - Downloads - Region”.
3. Change the region to one that is as close as possible to your place of residence.
4. Save the set value.

How to increase the download speed on Steam by a couple of hundred kilobytes per second? This method will help you with this. When setting the region of your location in the settings, you can select absolutely any region.

Internet connection problems

In certain circumstances, users require gaming at a specific time of day. But it happens that it is at this time that the so-called prime time comes, when the loading speed of all applications can simply drop to zero.

The fact is that it is during this period of time that the load on the servers of the Steam gaming platform will be maximum and its capacity may simply not be enough for you. Even if you just launch the game, it will function with interruptions or errors.

How to increase download speed on Steam? First of all, you need to wait for a time when there will not be as much activity on the gaming platform as during prime time. Most often this occurs in the evening if you live in the CIS countries. Before and after this period of time, the Steam servers should be more or less unloaded, and the speed will be restored to its usual level

The second thing you need to remember about download speeds on Steam is your provider and connected Internet tariff. If you need to have a higher download speed, then you should connect to a high-paying Internet connection package or even change your provider. But such a drastic action on how to increase loading speed in Steam should be the last thing you pay attention to.

Other methods

There are some other ways to increase loading speed in Steam. It may often be that the problem with the download speed of applications occurs only on a given gaming platform, while in other download managers and torrents everything is quite good.

For example, you can try the following methods:

• restarting Steam;
• personal computer or laptop;
• modem;
• checking your computer for malware.

These were the main ways to increase loading speed in Steam. All of the above can help in this matter, you just need to have a little patience.

Steam is a popular gaming service that allows you to purchase and run licensed copies of games directly on your computer. Due to the fact that a large number of people use the service, the download speed of games drops significantly. There are several ways to increase the speed of downloading files and use all the capabilities of your Internet channel.

Instructions

The best way to increase loading speed on Steam is to use content servers. They are copies of Valve's main main server, which stores all downloadable games available to users of the service. Official content servers are often loaded and downloading from them is very slow, so it makes sense to use other mirrors.

Select the content server closest to your location using the corresponding function on the Steam website. Look at the server data. If it has any load other than zero, then it can be used. If the name of the mirror contains the parameter, it means that only a limited number of users can use it.

Go to your Steam client settings. To do this, open the program window and select Steam - “Settings”. Next, go to the “Downloads + Cloud” menu. In the “Download Region” field, select the server you found. After that, apply the changes by clicking on the “Ok” button. Restart the client.

After restarting, Steam will use the specified server. Try downloading any game. If the download speed has increased, then all the applied settings were correct.

If you want to achieve maximum game download speed on Steam, it is advisable to disable other Internet programs running on your computer. Thus, an enabled torrent client can significantly reduce the performance of other programs. You should also disable all kinds of download managers, browsers and other applications that transmit data over the Internet.

Tip added on August 4, 2014 Tip 2: How to increase download speed on steam Steam is a digital distribution system for computer games. With it, you can buy and install licensed versions of various games through your personal user account. If your internet connection is not very good, you can try increasing the content loading speed.

Instructions

The loading speed of games largely depends on the content servers used - mirrors of the main Valve server. They store all games that are available to Steam clients in encrypted form. By default, the program is configured in such a way that the content server is selected depending on the user's region and taking into account the minimum ping of the current connection, however, the automatic selection of Steam is not always optimal. For example, the main Russian content servers Central, Urals and Siberia most often do not offer high speeds. You can change the content server and increase the loading speed of games.

Choose a content server depending on its current load. Statistics with this data are available at http://store.steampowered.com/stats/content/. Choose the server that is closest to you and least loaded. Please note that zero load means that the server is currently unavailable. Also try to find servers with the parameter: they are faster and are provided by various providers, among which yours may be.

Switch to the selected content server. To do this, go to the Steam download settings and open the “Downloads + Cloud” page. Specify the desired content server in the “Download region” line. Also set the most accurate data in the “Internet connection speed” field (Approximate speed). Save your settings and restart your Steam client. Close all open sessions downloading data from the Internet, and also temporarily suspend the system antivirus and firewall. Try to start downloading the desired game. The speed of downloading it to your computer should increase significantly.

How to increase download speed on steam - printable version

Arcades, adventure games, shooters and horror games have all this for a self-respecting gamer, but where do they all come from on the computer?

The time has long passed when you had to stand in a long line in a store or at a special slot machine for a new game in order to enjoy a new gaming hit.

Today, all the latest gaming news can be purchased through online services, and steam is considered the most popular. But, many users note that from time to time the speed of loading the game on a personal computer leaves much to be desired and this problem can persist all day.

So, how to increase the loading speed on steam if you urgently need to download a game.

What is steam?

Steam itself is a fairly well-known gaming service for players to purchase various games for their personal computers, and due to the fact that the service is used by a very large number of players, the speed of the game customer is often very low.

But, there are several ways that you can increase your download speed by using a third-party Internet explorer.

It is important to know: now that you are familiar with the main essence of this service, you can move on to an emergency solution to the problem.

Instructions for increasing download speed

1. Perhaps the most common way to increase load is to use additional servers with game content, which, through a special processing algorithm, are capable of accepting a larger flow of information. Such servers are an exact copy of the main steam server, created by other software developers. It stores and is available for downloading all the games that are currently available on steam. These servers have gained great popularity due to the high load on the original site, and using them is quite simple and convenient.
2. If there is a slow loading. Then, using a special function in steam itself, you can select the nearest server, which, for example, is located in your country, and not overseas. Thus, the download speed will increase significantly due to the faster data transfer channel. To implement this function, you need to go to your account settings: Settings – Downloads and Cloud – Download region – at this stage you need to select the nearest mirror server – Ok. After restarting the steam client, the changes will take effect, and you will see for yourself how the speed of downloading files will increase.
3. The solution to the problem of slow download speed is almost on the surface. Often other programs that require a constant Internet connection and tend to update in standby mode consume the necessary computing power for high-speed loading. Therefore, the user just needs to close them and there should be no problems with download speed.

It is important to know: emergency solutions to the problem were listed above, which should help in most cases, since, according to specialized forums, these are the problems that most often lie in wait for the vast majority of steam account owners.

But what to do if these problems are absent, and the download speed of the game file is negligible? Shouldn't we interrupt the long-awaited download of the new version of GTA? The problem may be hidden deeper in the system itself and there are several ways to solve it, which will be discussed below.

How to increase loading speed on steam

The steam platform itself represents a large system for the sale (sale) of digital versions of video games, which the user can purchase online and install on his personal computer offline.

All actions within the system are carried out directly through a special individual account, and if the user is faced with a global lack of Internet traffic and server overload to download the new game, then this problem can be solved in the following way:

1. The article has already written about third-party Internet servers that contain all the steam server data. Steam itself is initially configured in such a way that the content and the server from which it will be available for downloading is selected directly depending on the set region of the user account. But, there are cases when the automation makes mistakes and the user is provided with an overloaded Internet server, which is why the download speed suffers. For example, Russian steam servers, as a rule, delight users with good optimization and even load sharing, which ensures consistently good content loading speeds. Therefore, it is recommended to select the Russia or Ukraine region in the settings if download speed is important to you.
2. Experienced users choose a specific content server depending on how busy it is (you can view this information directly on the information page of the server itself). It is best to choose the nearest less loaded server. Thus, you are guaranteed to ensure optimal file download speed. Switching occurs in the standard way (Settings – Downloads + cloud – required server – OK).

It is important to know: Steam has recently introduced new FILTERED server standards. They are distinguished by faster loading speed and correct distribution of the flow of information received.

Useful information about Steam

The user can also adjust the content download speed he needs in the Internet connection speed tab. As you understand, this parameter increases or decreases the speed of downloading files.

Conclusion

Problems or overload with the server greatly affects the loading speed of steam. But, you can avoid or solve this problem for yourself in a few clicks of your computer mouse.