Originally posted by cmcm:

My Steam DL has been complete garbage for months. Regularly get 30 40 kb per sec. Every once in a while it shoots up to 1mb. I think ISPs are screwing it up. Downloads are perfectly fine on other things.

It's worthwhile to talk to your ISP about this like I mentioned above in this thread. I have to do it every year.

My download is 10.0Mbps it used to be around 96Mbps. My upload/download is ~116Mbps in chrome. I redownload and it didn't download anything to change it, I have the NY server as my choice, I tried the Boston server and nothing changed. I have my game downloaded in a M.2 SSD so it's got 32Gb/s read/write. Only two devices on my network the computer and phone. Nothing else is drawing DISK on control panel..

Originally posted by huntzilla360c:

My download is 10.0Mbps it used to be around 96Mbps. My upload/download is ~116Mbps in chrome. I redownload and it didn't download anything to change it, I have the NY server as my choice, I tried the Boston server and nothing changed. I have my game downloaded in a M.2 SSD so it's got 32Gb/s read/write. Only two devices on my network the computer and phone. Nothing else is drawing DISK on control panel..

Question - are you SURE that's the correct download rate?

The reason I ask is because by default, Steam reports downloads in MEGABYTES per second, instead of the usual MEGABITS. So any speed you see on Steam you will have to multiply by 8 to get your "normal" speed.

And if this is the case, 10MBps would not be too far off at around 80Mbps.

Defend Steam all you want, its def something on their end. I have the hardware and the connection to support high speed downloads and yet I'm throttled at 21 mb/s. Origin on the other hand got me to 120 mb/s, and Uplay got me to 80 mb/s.

Lord Gaben does not do this. Change your download server

Originally posted by blakmajika:

Defend Steam all you want, its def something on their end. I have the hardware and the connection to support high speed downloads and yet I'm throttled at 21 mb/s. Origin on the other hand got me to 120 mb/s, and Uplay got me to 80 mb/s.

No, this is basic logic. It's not "defending Steam". Id on't care one hoot about ANY company,

The fact is CANNOT be steam because EVERYONE would be suffering this issue and these forums would be permnanently chock a block with complaints - and they aren't.

If you seriously think that Steam pushes out software that selectively chooses people to throttle, then you're being ridiculous. I'm sorrry you have issues but the fact remains if others aren't having ti when they're using the SAME software and servers, then the issue CANNOT POSSIBLY be them.

This is basic logic 101.

I'm getting capped at 4 MB/s by steam I was getting 11 MB/s. My service is 100Mb/s and I get that at any test site. Only steam gives me 32Mb/s. Switching servers changes nothing.

Steam doesnt cap downloads It will literally saturate your connection

Your downloads are limited by

1) your disk IO
2) your CPU
3) Your ISP

Are you saying CenturyLink might be limiting my speed to steam only? How could you say that a harmless and wonderful corporation could do such a thing?!?!?! LOL! I guess it is one of the two, since I get full speed everywhere else!

I'm betting you are correct about my ISP CenturyLink, They see that I use more data than they thought I would use from steam. So they throttled Steam specifically to reduce the load on there pathetic servers in my area!

Originally posted by RadRick01:

I'm getting capped at 4 MB/s by steam I was getting 11 MB/s. My service is 100Mb/s and I get that at any test site. Only steam gives me 32Mb/s. Switching servers changes nothing.

Switching servers to WHAT?

Are you doing the very thing I keep talking about that others do? Just picking another one near you? Because that's the WRONG thing to do.

But it may be your ISP. The thing to do is check other servers WAY across the world, and see if you see any difference one way or the other. If there is absolutely no change at all, even in the slightest, you could reasonably suspect something awry with your ISP.

yep steam definitely throttles their bandwidth, its been like this for years, but even more so worse during recent world events.

they also have an issue with a process that used to show called pre-allocation, they now have recently hidden it behind the download process thinking people couldnt tell.

either way, there is no reason steam downloads should happen in small chunks, going from (example) say 30MB down to kb's, then 0 download speed for seconds or minutes, then jump back up to w/e speed, then repeat rinse, making downloads take horrendously long.

switching servers never works for me, clearing download cache never works for me, ect.. i pretty much just have to deal with the nonsense and force stop game updates and start them manually when its convenient for me.

also, its not my isp, they dont throttle unless you pass your data cap (mine currently is 1.2GB per month, or pay extra monthly for no data cap), i have no issues with any other download source other than steam, everything else downloads at my max speed (300mb = 37.5MB, my speed is 99% always higher than my payed for speed), my house is on the corner of my block, im the first in the line, so i get no traffic congestion on my line, im right next to the booster, all my cabling is new and checked over, if i ever do have issues and i call, the tech is there next day (i personally know the tech who does the work im my town, he has family right across the street from me and he lives in town, i also have his personal number and the pole techs number who does the line fixing on the poles).

that being said, i have had my internet service provider for 4+ years so far and not had very much of a problem, if i did have any, the issue is resolved 99% by the next day (sometimes resolved before the tech gets to my house, but is still checked thoroughly).

but on this topic issue, i have asked many, asked my techs and the isp, my techs cant explain the issue aside from being a steam side issue, my isp looked into it a long while back when i bothered them with it, they dont do anything to block/throttle or anything on any sites/ect..

as well, i have zero issue on any other download source, so its a steam issue, they either are running super crappy servers and havent bothered to upgrade their hardware and/or bandwidth, or they are purposely throttling speeds to alleviate bandwidth so everyone gets some from steam, plus the pre-allocation nonsense which may or may not have a hand in this issue, cause i see no reason game updates of 100+ mb should be taking longer than 1 minute at most to download and install.

i test my pc's hardware, internet (lines, router, ect..) regularly (daily/weekly depending), my pc is maintained, cleaned, optimized, all drivers updated, no "problem" programs that steam accuses of being an issue, ect.. ect..

the speed thing and the pre-allocation thing, happen on all types of hardware (m.2, ssd, hdd, ect..), new or old, same goes for w/e other hardware people want to claim causes slow steam download/install speeds.

they can easily set bandwidth throttling on servers in regions/states/ect.. that have history of congestion, its not something new to server administration, if you cant comprehend how they can throttle certain locations over others, then i suggest you go take a few classes/courses in computers/servers and learn how they work.

anywho, im not going to debate/argue with anyone over my statement, you cant change the facts and i dont care for the copy/pasta or constant arguing that certain people repeat every time someone brings up an issue with steam, basically trying to tell everyone steam has no issues, it does, so deal with it.

You can't change facts, but you don't just get to assert them.

If Steam throttled badnwidth then how come many of us don't experience it? THat completely destroys your claim.

Are you saying they selectively choose who to limit? How do you possibly determine it wasn't something else in the long line between your house and Valve? You CANNOT.


Don't pain assertions as facts. That's not how reality works.

Originally posted by Demon of Elru:

Originally posted by wuddih:

Steam downloads are not solely limited by your download bandwidth but rather your cpu and storage device.
steam downloads are not "throttled" and this excludes your ISP traffic shaping you.


you can have 3 heads with 15 ears, it is never just you
but you are in the same boat as many other misinformed that found the easiest understandable entity to blame for their problems.

I have an i7 9800X and an SSD. So you're just looking foolish. Next time try thinking before typing works ok little one?

That can be true. I'm not sure if you are using Windows or Linux but I know you can go into task manager in windows and you can set priority of apps. May not be for for internet but either way if you give Steam higher priority it may help with internet as well if other apps are demanding on CPU. I could be wrong but worth a shot to try.