# Probably stupid/obvious Steam question



## Epona (Apr 3, 2010)

Thought the gaming forum was probably the best place for this, what with it being a games client....

Is there any way (in the settings or whatever) that I can stop it hogging every last bit of my internet every time I download a game?  Can't even load a webpage while it's doing its thing, and it's driving me up the wall.  

It would be vastly preferable if I could set it up differently, I'd rather games take longer to download and have the capacity to do other stuff at the same time!


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## Epona (Apr 4, 2010)

Wow, this is probably the least successful thread I've ever posted!

Anyhow, it seems that the whole crappy mess-up is probably due to BT "fair usage" policy, everything sprang into action at about 12.30am and I can now use the internet at the same time as downloading a game (which is set to take another 12 hours at least).  Bummer.

Edit to add: next time remind me that it will only take me 20 minutes to get to my local branch of Game in Stratford!!!  I could have a game installed way quicker by just taking the fucking bus and picking up the CD/DVD 

EDIT: Please at least tell me whether this is normal for Steam downloads, or if I'm just being shafted by my ISP!!! Ta.


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## punchdrunkme (Apr 4, 2010)

Its pretty usual for isps to throttle downloads in peak times. Takes the Piss still. 

Anyways, What are you using for your downloads? Theres a number of ways to limit it and that.


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## RaverDrew (Apr 4, 2010)

Quite simply, BT are wankers when it comes to this. Solution: Move to a better ISP that doesn't throttle like Be Faster connection + cheaper than BT in the long run.


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## punchdrunkme (Apr 4, 2010)

Sorry just seen it is steam. 

You can do it by changing the QoS settings on your router to priortise other ports. You need to find which ports steam is using and up the priority for everything else. But like drew said its your isp thats the trouble really and I would recommend using someone else. I changed mine last month and wish i had done it long time ago. If you use it a lot its really worth the extra expense.


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## Epona (Apr 4, 2010)

Thing is that BT are far more reliable than any other ISP I've ever tried - yes they throttle my service at peak times, but it never dies on me, and I keep it connected and doing stuff 24/7 endlessly without issue.  I've tried other ISPs and had problems with the service being down completely for hours at a time with no explanation.  Over several years using BT, the service has only been off once and that was due to a fault on the telephone line which would have affected any other internet service the same (and they came and fixed it really quickly!).  Every time I've tried a different ISP I've ended up with much bigger problems.

Punchdrunkme - how do I do that?  I am pretty smart about the internal workings of a standalone PC, but don't know shit about networks and routers and all that


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## punchdrunkme (Apr 4, 2010)

I think that might be just because broadband service in general has got a lot better in the last few years. Up until like 3 years ago my connection was always iffy. Dropping off all the time and that. The last 2 years ive had 3 different suppliers and no problems with any of them. Might be worth seeing what other people in your area think. 

Going to have a look about the router settings now for you. Just be a minute, need to retrace my steps not done it in a while.


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## punchdrunkme (Apr 4, 2010)

What operating system are you using?


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## RaverDrew (Apr 4, 2010)

Epona said:


> Thing is that BT are far more reliable than any other ISP I've ever tried - yes they throttle my service at peak times, but it never dies on me, and I keep it connected and doing stuff 24/7 endlessly without issue.  I've tried other ISPs and had problems with the service being down completely for hours at a time with no explanation.  Over several years using BT, the service has only been off once and that was due to a fault on the telephone line which would have affected any other internet service the same (and they came and fixed it really quickly!).  Every time I've tried a different ISP I've ended up with much bigger problems.
> 
> Punchdrunkme - how do I do that?  I am pretty smart about the internal workings of a standalone PC, but don't know shit about networks and routers and all that



Be are pretty reliable tbf - Excellent support from their Bulgarian support team (very rarely needed, apart from sorting out extreme specific geeky problems) who really know what they are talking about.  Compare that to BT 1st and 2nd line support who all seem to be broke students doing crap "reading off a script" call-centre work to make ends meet, and rarely know what they are talking about, generally not giving a toss.

Btw if cost is the issue and you have a member of the household on benefits, then you may qualify for the £4.50/month line rental with BT Basic This may allow you a slightly larger budget for a quality ISP.

Anyway, If you want to try and sort the problem out straight away, do you have one of the home-hubs or do you use one of the old-skool modem/routers ?


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## Epona (Apr 4, 2010)

Cheers everyone, early Sunday morning and there are people around to answer my bizarre queries and wonder of wonders I can still type although I have to correct many spelling mistakes after a few beers!

punchdrunkme - My OS is XP pro

RaverDrew - I'm using a 2.0 homehub - not on benefits so don't qualify for cheap line rental   I used to get a low usage discount on my phone with BT, given that I have hearing problems I didn't use the phone much, that seems to have gone out the window though!

It's all running at the same time OK now, my service is restricted between 6pm and midnight cos I can't keep my greedy little fingers off the internet and download all sorts of shit 24/7, so BT are busting my (virtual) balls.  If that makes any sense.


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## RaverDrew (Apr 4, 2010)

punchdrunkme said:


> I think that might be just because broadband service in general has got a lot better in the last few years. Up until like 3 years ago my connection was always iffy. Dropping off all the time and that. The last 2 years ive had 3 different suppliers and no problems with any of them. Might be worth seeing what other people in your area think.



This is because BT have been forced to split into two divisions over the last few years. http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/bargains-and-rip-offs/article.html?in_article_id=403841&in_page_id=5 

BT OpenReach now deal separately with the infrastructure, so as to not give BT Retail (the ISP) an unfair advantage.  This also helped open up LLU (Local loop unbundling) so that other ISP's no longer had to rely on BT Retail to carry their services.


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## RaverDrew (Apr 4, 2010)

Epona said:


> It's all running at the same time OK now, my service is restricted between 6pm and midnight cos I can't keep my greedy little fingers off the internet and download all sorts of shit 24/7, so BT are busting my (virtual) balls.  If that makes any sense.



Makes perfect sense  I've known the same thing happen to many people who use their broadband to send more than just the odd e-mail or only use it for occasional browsing. 

So you have the black-coloured home hub yes ?


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## RaverDrew (Apr 4, 2010)

http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/BT/BTHomeHub2/Steam_Client.htm

Try forwarding the right ports for steam using this guide, this should help.  If you are still experiencing problems then adjusting the QoS settings like punchdrunkme said, may be needed.


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## Epona (Apr 4, 2010)

RaverDrew said:


> Makes perfect sense  I've known the same thing happen to many people who use their broadband to send more than just the odd e-mail or only use it for occasional browsing.
> 
> So you have the black-coloured home hub yes ?


Yep the black hub.  "More than just the odd e-mail" made me laugh, it only gets turned off at most for a few minutes if the 'puter crashes or overheats    We do like to get our money's worth


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## Epona (Apr 4, 2010)

RaverDrew said:


> http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/BT/BTHomeHub2/Steam_Client.htm
> 
> Try forwarding the right ports for steam using this guide, this should help.  If you are still experiencing problems then adjusting the QoS settings like punchdrunkme said, may be needed.


Cheers mate, I'm not going to do anything with it tonight (the little that's left of tonight!!) but I will give it a go tomorrow, thanks for your help


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## punchdrunkme (Apr 4, 2010)

Sounds like mine. Give me a shout if what drew shows you wont work and i will try to help but to be honest its confusing the fuck out of me at the moment. 8 stellas and no food make me a bit wobbly.


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## RaverDrew (Apr 4, 2010)

Epona said:


> Yep the black hub.  "More than just the odd e-mail" made me laugh, it only gets turned off at most for a few minutes if the 'puter crashes or overheats  We do like to get our money's worth



Even more reason to move to an ISP that doesn't throttle, gives you ADSL2+ (theoretically much higher speeds) and lets you gobble as much bandwidth as you need.  Tbh I've had a mixed experiences from BT through various friends and clients.  Some have had regular, nightmare, piss-taking throttling and caps, whilst others have barely noticed any drop in speed. 



Epona said:


> Cheers mate, I'm not going to do anything with it tonight (the little that's left of tonight!!) but I will give it a go tomorrow, thanks for your help



No problem mate. 



punchdrunkme said:


> Sounds like mine. Give me a shout if what drew shows you wont work and i will try to help but to be honest its confusing the fuck out of me at the moment. 8 stellas and no food make me a bit wobbly.



I was going to attempt talking Epona through it all step by step, but with a rapidly disappearing bottle of gin, I thought it might be best to let google be my friend, and see if there were any easy to follow guides that might explain it a bit clearer than I would.


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## punchdrunkme (Apr 4, 2010)

Good thinking! 

Im sure we get it sorted between you me and google anyway.


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## Radar (Apr 5, 2010)

I don't believe the home hub has user configurable QOS. 

It only seems to be possible if you're taking BT Vision at which stage it's enabled at both ends to prioritise video.

Hell, I'm stumped at getting the bugger to respond to outside pings. I've give up, gone back to my netgear and only keep it around in case of line problems.


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## lopsidedbunny (Apr 9, 2010)

Slightly off topic Zen internet are good but a word of warning don't leave the internet running overnight or otherwise you will find that your router (Netgear) freezed up. This has happen to me about three times now (Being lazy to shut down overnight) I now know how to unfreeze the internet, there is a restart button on the router that need to be actived by using a pen. I rung the help desk and one guy told me to take it to a P.C. repair shop! Which I thought was odd. I fixed it myself. As for steam the only game I play is Total War  Ship battles are ace!


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## bmd (Apr 11, 2010)

How about a traffic shaping tool like Netlimiter?


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