Steam Download Server Speed Test

22-05-2021 admin

Articles

Speed Up Steam Downloads
Steam Download Server Speed Test 1
Steam Download Server Speed Test For Pc

How to Speed Up Steam Download Speeds

When I run a speed test it shows i get 10mbs download which is what im supposed to get. When i download a steam or origin game it shows the games download at 445kbs. I'm on 152mb internet but my download tops out at about 5-6MB per second. Speed I get over Wifi is 50mbps, Steam download being average 5.5MB/s. I manage to get 12MB/s at the manchester server, give that one a try. I'll test it at 7PM ish when im back from work for you and will post results of the manchester server.

Generally speaking, Steam download speeds are pretty good. Steam was originally built as a game distribution platform, so by design they’re supposed to have a lot of capacity. For the most part, you should be able to max out your internet connection without any issues. However, if you’re not getting the maximum download speeds you’ve come to expect when downloading that new copy of Elder Scrolls Online, here’s a couple ways to try to speed up the download process.

Speed Up Steam Downloads

Change Your Steam Download Server

By default, Steam selects the closest server to your location rather than by choosing intelligently based on the server load. As a result, if you happen to be trying to download massive game files during times such as the Steam Summer Sale or if you just so happen to be downloading games while there are network issues in a certain area, your download speeds may not be optimal. In this case, changing the download server location may help.

How to change the Steam download server:

Step 1

Click on Steam menu item at the top left corner of the Steam utility. Then, click on Settings.

Step 2

In the Settings menu, click on the Downloads section. In the downloads section is a drop-down box under Download Region which shows all the different servers that can be connected to. Normally, this location is the closest to where you’re located, but you can choose other locations to see if download speeds improve.

While Steam used to have a webpage which showed the amount of load on any server, the webpage is now updated to only show the amount of bandwidth used on a region, which isn’t helpful when trying to choose another server.

However, when choosing an alternate server, it may be worthwhile to consider timezones or other factors. For example, if you’re on the West Coast of the US and it’s 10:00PM, it may be worthwhile to try a server in the East Coast of the US as it’ll be 1:00AM in that area.

Try a VPN

If you know you’re supposed to get a certain download speed and you’ve tried changing Steam download server regions, ran multiple tests from Speedtest.net which has confirmed your download speed, but Steam is still downloading at a speed that’s significantly slower than expected, it could be because your ISP is throttling your connection.

This is common during times of heavy internet usage in general as your ISP is trying to reduce speeds to services they find to be less than essential or they simply want to charge specific services more money to get faster speeds on their network. This is why many of you find that services such as Netflix or YouTube seem to require buffering a little more at 8:00PM rather than any other time.

In order to resolve this issue, you may want to try a VPN. VPNs can help circumvent throttling by encrypting the connection between you and the VPN server, so the ISP can’t tell whether you’re downloading a game on Steam or doing something else. While the encryption and the connection to a VPN server will likely reduce download speeds a little, if your ISP is heavily throttling your Steam downloads, it may still allow you to get a faster download speed.

Some examples of excellent VPN services we’ve tested in the past include:

Do you have tips on speeding up Steam download speeds?