Steam download kills internet and local network connection

[DaveTheBrave777]

About two weeks ago when downloading from Steam my network connection just completely dies - no internet, no local network, nothing. This also has the nasty side effect of killing the ENTIRE network that its plugged into. So all my wifi devices and everything are knocked offline until I pull my computer off the network. I've been using Steam for years and this is the first time this problem has occurred.

I get a yellow exclamation on the network icon and the only fix is to pull the network plug out of the computer to reset it.

I've traced the problem to Steam. I have google fiber and am directly wired into the google fiber router. I've also done speed tests and downloaded stuff through other apps, streamed multiple videos from Netflix and Hulu...so it not being able to handle the download speed is not it.

The speed at which it dies is proportional to the download speed. If I specify unlimited, it dies within about 10 seconds, at 5 MB it lasts about 20 minutes - I can watch the graph spike then start dropping to 0 quickly then the network icon flips to yellow.

I can restrict the bandwidth speed but that just delays how long until the problem appears. I've dropped it to about 1.5 MB so I can at least get through a download but now takes hours instead of what should be about 10-20 minutes!

I've seen numerous posts on this issue but no resolution and no official acknowledgement from Valve or Steam that this is an official bug.

The only two "fixes" I've seen mentioned in other posts are upgrading to Win10 or get a new ethernet card. Neither of which I'm real keen on since it WAS WORKING before - obviously something changed in the one the numerous Steam client updates I seem to get every time I launch it.

As an FYI - this is happening on a Win 7 Pro install. E2200 gigabit ethernet card.

So just to recap -the problem is not:
* Because I'm on wireless - its wired
* Because its a slow connection - Google Fiber dude - 950 MB download speed
* Because my router is old - I'm directly connected to the Google router, 2016 tech
* My computer is too slow - Core I5 - pretty speedy
* Antivirus is interfering - tried it without it, same problem

I've been in IT over 20 years, I've done quite a bit of process of elimination of the obvious, checked the cabling, rebooted, blah blah. There's thousands of setting combos and haven't stumbled on the right one yet.

If anyone has any other suggestions or fixes please post them here. I'll post my own if I figure one out.

[Dakusan]

I've been running into this too. Exact same symptoms. It only happens when stream is downloading. Win 7 Pro on a gigabit connection.

[DaveTheBrave777]

I never was able to resolve this on Win7. The problem went away after I upgraded to Win10. Not an optimal solution but one to try if you're planning on upgrading anyway.

[socman45]

this is happening for me as well. Win7 Pro, TWC Arris DG1670A modem/router combo. Steam loads, downloads begin, internet slowly fades out to nothing. I have to close Steam, disconnect WiFi, reconnect to WiFi, then internet works again.

Also, I am on 2.4 Ghz connection. Can't find much about this problem anywhere.

[The Giving One]

Цитата допису socman45:

this is happening for me as well. Win7 Pro, TWC Arris DG1670A modem/router combo.

This is probably about the 10th thread/post I have seen in my time here about connectivity issues when the user had one of those darn combo units...they are a pain from what I have seen, due to the limitation of not having a seperate router and modem, of course.

The only suggestion I can provide for you that may not help is to boot your computer into safe mode WITH networking enabled, and troubleshoot Steam in that boot.

Note I said "with networking" here, please.

Also, have a look at this support page and all links in blue.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=1456-EUDN-2493

[socman45]

Thanks, but actually I think I just found a solution (it's been working for a few minutes at least). This YouTube video described the problem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIKQU3nZk8g

So I scrolled through the comments - YO TYSON GUY YOU DA REAL MVP: "(go) into the Network Adapter properties under the Device Manager and (set) the adapter to B and G only - (disabling N) (seems) to fix the problem. Likely, the slower channel setting is addressing the symptoms without addressing the root cause. But it did work."

[The Giving One]

Цитата допису socman45:

So I scrolled through the comments - YO TYSON GUY YOU DA REAL MVP: "(go) into the Network Adapter properties under the Device Manager and (set) the adapter to B and G only - (disabling N) (seems) to fix the problem. Likely, the slower channel setting is addressing the symptoms without addressing the root cause. But it did work."

If that does indeed resolve it for you, this is excellent feedback and may help others in the community with a similar setup and issue. Thank you very much for this, as I cannot remember seeing this mentioned in the other threads/posts when users had a combo unit.

[socman45]

Three downloads later, 3.7 GB total, internet still working.. where's the success kid meme when I need it eh? :)

[||^||₴฿Ɇ₦||ɆⱠł||^||]

???

[socman45]

https://www.bing.com/search?q=success+kid&pc=MOZI&form=MOZLBR

[Dakusan]

Alas, but I am on a physical network connection...

[ezrasidran]

This is happening to me, too!
So, what's the solution?

[Dakusan]

I think I ended up formatting ~.~

[Deus Ex]

Hello everyone,

I have been suffering from this problem as well for some time and decided to solve it once and for all. Fortunately, it has worked and I felt compelled to share it. Unfortunately some of posts on other forums about this are now archived or locked and thus I'm hoping people searching via Google will find this:

I have noticed that people having this problem have 3 things in common:

1. Windows 7 (64bit)
2. Killer E2200-E2400 network adapter
3. Start downloading a game on Steam only for their internet to disconnect until they restart their modem/router.

What I did was buy the Intel Gigabit CT Desktop Adapter and disabled in Bios my Killer E2200. Then I uninstalled the Killer drivers and installed the latest Intel drivers and restarted my pc.

I immediately noticed my webpages loaded faster but now came the big test; start up Steam and see if downloading a game would cause my internet to crash again (causing me to need to restart my modem as always). Boom problem solved. Before I didn't matter which game, any game I would download would cause my internet to disconnect 100% of the time, now I downloaded big 70gb games, no problem. I am very delighted and hope as many of you as possible read this; the problem is not related to your modem nor windows nor steam but to the stupid Killer network adapter.

Kind regards,

[The Giving One]

Цитата допису test:

2. Killer E2200-E2400 network adapter
3. Start downloading a game on Steam only for their internet to disconnect until they restart their modem/router.

What I did was buy the Intel Gigabit CT Desktop Adapter and disabled in Bios my Killer E2200. Then I uninstalled the Killer drivers and installed the latest Intel drivers and restarted my pc.

Quite often, concerning MSI boards or Killer Network Devices, It is the Killer Network Access Manager software that comes bundled with the Killer Drivers on the download page for MSI.

There is a totally seperate download for the Killer Drivers (only) there usually. The Killer Network Access Manager is a known process/program that inteferes with Steam and network connectivity.

I suspect you had this software installed, and if you did, it surely was suspect to your issues you posted above about. However, thanks for the information.

[DEAD]

ok