Looking for ways to fix the Steam download problem? Anyone have suggestions on troubleshooting?
Looking for ways to fix the Steam download problem? Anyone have suggestions on troubleshooting?
Hi. This might be a giant wall of text, but TLDR: I'm trying to download stuff off Steam and I'm for whatever reason being capped around 20-23 MB/s regardless of what i do. This has occured out of no where. I'm sitting on a 1000/500 connection and I'm able to download off Epic Games/Battle.net (example) with either +90 or 100 MB/s without any issues. I have attempted to use a VPN while downloading on Steam and suddenly there isn't any issue. I'm getting the 100 MB/s download speed that I "normally" had. I'm sorry if this all sounds extremely privileged, but it's bugging the hell out of me and I cannot figure out what's the issue. I am on a Windows 11 system, AMD based. MSI X670E Tomahawk board (It's a Realtek 2.5 GbE chip, I doubt this matters, but figured I'd include it). Full spec list: Windows 11 (64bit), 22H2 version MSI X670E Tomahawk, BIOS 1.41 (07/03/2023) AMD 7800x3d Asus RTX 2080 Ti 32GB G.Skill 6000MHz CL30 2x Samsung 970 Pro (not in raid). Corsair RM1000e 1000/500 connection Things I've tried: I have reinstalled Steam, I've changed the installation area of Steam (both SSDs), I've changed download regions all over Europe, nothing changes in that regard (still caps at the 20-23 MB/s). I've checked CrystalDiskMark, no issues. The only program I have in the background is MSI Afterburner (I've also tried to close this if somehow this should be the issue, no changes). My Router i believe to be working, since Epic/Battle.net works just fine without the VPN. Firewall is allowing Steam. I've checked for Malware, none. I've tried factory resetting the router, no change there. I've tried changing the cable, also made no difference. Cleared Download Cache, App cache. Tried Google/Cloudflare DNS and my own ISP also, didn't change either. Removed/reinstalled the Realtek driver (newest). I'm unsure of where to go from here. I've contacted my ISP, they say they've never heard of an issue with Steam being blocked (or being slow). Steam support was also not very helpful and asked me to contact a local repair store for "repair". I assume this is a standard copy paste reply. Is there a way to locate an IP of the download server of Steam to run a tracert in order to perhaps look for a bad jump? If anybody has any ideas, I would love to hear them.
Steam includes built-in download limiters adjustable via the settings. It’s good to confirm none are already configured. If not, consider applying a 100MB/sec restriction and check if it raises the speed beyond 20-30MB/sec.
Also worth noting is CPU usage while Steam handles unpacking and installation. If Steam isn’t getting enough processing power, it will slow down the download rate. For instance, during my tests of Warframe on a 7950x3D and 4790k configuration, I experienced reduced speeds—my system’s downloads hovered around half the expected rate based on my network connection. This issue appeared during a fresh installation from scratch. The screenshot shows the process as it ran. For those curious, this image also uses a PCIe 3.0 4x M.2 SSD (SM951 AHCI), which has been standard on most motherboards since 2015; essentially no drive limitation here.
I included a photo showing the issue with your device. It’s running at about 22 MB/s, the CPU and SSD are not performing well, and it’s a Samsung 970 Pro.
It seems your ISP's routing might be affecting this. Consider switching the download region to a nearby country.
Have you attempted to link your device to the network using Wi-Fi? Occasionally, success happens during playful experiments.
It seems there might be an issue affecting your download performance. I've checked various settings and locations, including New York, but the speed remains consistent at 20-23 MB/s. Using WiFi doesn't improve it either. The only factor that seems to help is switching to a VPN.