Best Steam Download Region?

[Tin]

I was looking thru ways how to stop TF2 from lagging when I noticed a guide saying to find a download region that works best (or the fastest), and I am having troubles figuring it out. You see, I live in Iowa, which is in the United States. There are a lot of download regions in this continent. I need assistance with this. Can anyone find the best download region for me? Thank you very much.

[Satoru]

you just choose one and see if it helps

Genreally speaking though steam can obilterate your connection so unless there's something localized to the content farm you're using,

Also note that choosing a download region has nothign to do with 'lag'

[SeriousCCIE]

It's not like the download regions are a fine wine that can be paired with a given network connection and rated for the leathery after taste on top of a bouquet of mispent moments and idle dreams leading to delusions of greatness. (that wine is called two buck chuck.)

I think part of the problem at present is there are a lot more people concurrently using the servers than they were originally designed for and the heavy periods of burst activity to be expected this time of year, and even this day, are exceeding design expectations due to various pandemic and cultural experiences -- people that would be trapped with family members are instead able to play games. Stuff like that.

I think the only liquor I can recommend for impatience is one made with mandrake root.

[rawWwRrr]

Originally posted by Azure Nightmare:

I was looking thru ways how to stop TF2 from lagging when I noticed a guide saying to find a download region that works best (or the fastest), and I am having troubles figuring it out.

Because download regions are for game installs/updates. They have no effect on game lag.

[Mr. Warhead]

Shot in the dark. Wouldn't the best region for you be the one that's closest to you? The less length the data has to travel, the faster you get it.

Albeit, downloading and running a game are 2 different things. You might have some problems with your computer rather than the internet.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Originally posted by Mr. Warhead:

Shot in the dark. Wouldn't the best region for you be the one that's closest to you? The less length the data has to travel, the faster you get it.

No. The data travels at the speed of light.

My copy/pasta...

Read and try everything...

Programs Which May Interfere with Steam

Spyware, Malware, Adware, or Virus Interfering with Steam

Troubleshooting Network Connectivity

Try all download servers until you find one with speeds you are happy with.

There are over 130 to try.

Any server near me was slow as dirt. Nearest does not always equal faster.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=9498-WPDF-3220

Today, Vancover was better for me. Yesterday, Rio was better (odd, ain't it?). Btw... I'm on the East Coast.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2313407722

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2301936988

And this earlier today...

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2334197208

Also consider traffic.

[Grease Guzzler]

Is anyone having slow downloads? I'm trying to download games I have bought for X-mas but they're sitting at 5-100kb/s. I think it may be something to do with the traffic

[Crystalhand]

Where ever is the closest one to you. its the best server for download. i don't know if is the problem but i can give you tip about downloading maximum capacity for steam or everywhere...
I have 400mbps speed internet connection and i was downloading games from steam with 5-10 mb/s. it was making me crazy and i tryed something for fixing this problem.

Solution was like this: There is a option called "Green Ethernet" which can able to save energy when its active. When I turned it off I realized I am downloading at my maximum speed. you can try it. Like I said you should chose the server that closest one to you.

[Fear dot Com]

Best way is to just toy around with it...for me, my best download speeds come from Finland's region of all places, and at one point I spent about an hour figuring it out.

[crunchyfrog]

Erm, you have it the wrong way round OP.

Download regions are NOTHING to do with servers for online play.

Download regions are for when you are just DOWNLOADING the game itself. When you get to play it, you will be using GAMEPLAY serves. Entirely different kettle of fish.

In download servers, you can choose anywhere in the world that just offers you the best speed, because ping ain't relevant. Ofttimes your closeset server can be the WORST example.

However, quite the reverse for game servers. You need to have the closest possible in most cases. Simply because you are having a two-way communication with the server and you benfit from that.

So don't confuse the two.

[Duo]

Miniapiles

[Reggaejunkiedrew]

Originally posted by TEYZE BAYILTAN:

Where ever is the closest one to you. its the best server for download.

False. Imagine two faucets, for one the resovoir is 1Km away, for the other its 1000Km away. The 1000KM faucet might take a fraction of a second longer for the water to get to you but if its a larger pipe or has stronger pressure (less congestion) you'll get more water. Regions where it's early morning (2-4AM) often work the best in my experience.

[Judgmental Amaterasu]

Originally posted by Reggaejunkiedrew:

Originally posted by TEYZE BAYILTAN:

Where ever is the closest one to you. its the best server for download.

False. Imagine two faucets, for one the resovoir is 1Km away, for the other its 1000Km away. The 1000KM faucet might take a fraction of a second longer for the water to get to you but if its a larger pipe or has stronger pressure (less congestion) you'll get more water. Regions where it's early morning (2-4AM) often work the best in my experience.

Download regions on Steam have nothing to do with online services for games.

[crunchyfrog]

Originally posted by Damp Wizard Sleeve:

Originally posted by Reggaejunkiedrew:

False. Imagine two faucets, for one the resovoir is 1Km away, for the other its 1000Km away. The 1000KM faucet might take a fraction of a second longer for the water to get to you but if its a larger pipe or has stronger pressure (less congestion) you'll get more water. Regions where it's early morning (2-4AM) often work the best in my experience.

Download regions on Steam have nothing to do with online services for games.

Yes, that's what he said.

He was explaining exactly that.