Something is throttling my friend's internet speed.
Something is throttling my friend's internet speed.
He asked me about his home network situation, suspecting a throttling issue. I picked "throttle" because his connection speed was normal at first but dropped after a couple of minutes. He’s tried several fixes—turning the firewall on/off, adjusting network profiles, enabling/disabling the adapter—but the problem persists. The real-world download speed before changed was strong, then dropped again after some time. His ISP claims 150 Mbps bandwidth, and his Speedtest showed a noticeable decline.
Are you certain it's not the ISP's behavior regarding the bandwidth he's utilizing?
If they aim to be rough, they can simply limit his speed constantly. This is the first time I've heard about this approach with his ISP. I believe he hasn't informed them yet, so it might be worth giving it a shot.
It seems this occurs consistently each time he downloads from Steam, especially around the same time after connecting. Given the location we're in, it's unlikely many people are downloading games simultaneously. Based on what he told me, it probably applies to other services as well. I'll need more proof for confirmation.
I’ve heard from folks who use Fiber and Steam that connections can lag. I recall those summer sales when servers were down for a while, making them unreachable early on. Steam doesn’t always reflect real speed, so it’s not a reliable sign. Try a speed test at DSLreports.com. If it shows full performance, the problem is likely Steam or the peering point. Otherwise, it points to your internet type.