Steam Downloads SUPER Slow?

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θrm||3ND||ahL Nov 19, 2016 @ 4:34am

Running an internet speed test I get ~33 mb/s.

So I SHOULD be downloading games on Steam at around 3.5mb/s but I'm only getting ~250-500kb/s and sometimes it just drops out completely. It starts fine, hits 4.3mb/s peak and then drops out, stopping and starting between 0kb/s and 500kb/s or so.

Here is a screen shot of that happening: http://imgur.com/aFGnsrV
Here is a screen shot of the pattern it sets into: http://imgur.com/sVnfsoE

On/Off over and over.

I know my internet is running fine - I can stream Twitch on High Quality without any issues.

I've tried changing the download region in case it was the Steam server being overloaded. Changed region from Australia - NSW to Australia - QLD and then to New Zealand. I got the same download issues.

Not sure if related or even an issue: I had some weird in-game visual stuttering for FFX (a single player game) which I haven't had until today (same as this download issue). FFX is a big game, about 37Gb, so I'm not sure how fast it should be to verify these files but it seemed pretty slow to me, (3% in about 10 minutes).

Any suggestions would be helpful.

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Showing 1-15 of 18 comments

Steveio Nov 19, 2016 @ 11:46am

I'm having the same problem. I hope this gets resolved soon.

Washell Nov 19, 2016 @ 12:32pm

Your ISP is probably traffic shaping and throttling (steam) downloads.

Panopticon Nov 19, 2016 @ 5:36pm

Same problem here, in Boston USA area, since last night.

Panopticon Nov 19, 2016 @ 5:37pm

and I'm trying this for Civ6, so it's not just that game

θrm||3ND||ahL Nov 19, 2016 @ 10:36pm

I've opened a ticket, I'll update this thread with any solutions when/IF they get back to me... Steam support lel.

Last edited by θrm||3ND||ahL; Nov 19, 2016 @ 10:36pm

No Boundaries Nov 19, 2016 @ 10:39pm

same problem :D sdadas

Panopticon Nov 20, 2016 @ 3:15am

Windows Defender was the culprit!!
Turn off the real-time protection and you're back in business.

θrm||3ND||ahL Nov 20, 2016 @ 4:13am

My Windows Defender is already off so, still not sure what my issue is...

θrm||3ND||ahL Nov 20, 2016 @ 8:56am

Fixed the issue but I don't know what the exact cause of it was.

I disabled all of my component software programs (background applications) and that seemed to fix the issue.

You can do this by following the Steam instructions here: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=8043-EUJN-5239

For Windows 10, you do the same, just press Windows + R (opens Run command) and type "msconfig". Open it and press Selective Startup and follow the Steam Instructions above as normal. Or you can just Search for msconfig, press Windows and type "msconfig" and select the System Configuration application that shows up.

Make sure you Hide All Microsoft Services in the Services tab of msconfig. Then you should be fine to disable and enable anything without causing any serious issues to your computer.

I slowly re-enabled all the programs batch by batch and the download issue I was getting never returned. So I have no idea what the exact cause of it was but disabling the component software and restarting my computer seems to have resolved the issue for me.

It's a hassle doing all the restarts but if it fixes the issue then that's just what you've got to do. :S

Last edited by θrm||3ND||ahL; Nov 20, 2016 @ 8:57am

halloweenkid9 Jun 24, 2018 @ 8:49pm

you people all realize that this is being INSTALLED not downloaded
when it drops to low download rates its because the developer made a slow and unoptimized download its not just necessarily steam, also see how the disk use increases when it drops the most its just installing the data it just downloaded, it sucks but I mean its not usually steams fault. P.S that second image I'm not sure if it was unoptimized downloads or steam to fault.

Last edited by halloweenkid9; Jun 24, 2018 @ 8:52pm

#10

▢▢▢▢▢▢ Jun 24, 2018 @ 9:46pm

try to close diagtrack in task manager (services)

#11

lil c nj Dec 26, 2018 @ 8:18pm

Originally posted by Panopticon:
Windows Defender was the culprit!!
Turn off the real-time protection and you're back in business.

Worked amazing. That was the culprit. Never has had anything happen to me like this before. I ran speedtest.net a whole bunch of times and was getting 150 up and down, so I was like wtf. Turned it off and it jumped from 500kb/s to 25mb/s+. +rep thanks man

#12

Derens Dec 28, 2018 @ 12:25pm

what helped me was going to Steam -> Settings and finding the "Downloads" category. Then setting the "Download Region" closest to your area. But i knew that my download speed could do better, so I cleared download cache. Now it's working at max speed. Hope this helps someone.

#13