DL Speeds

[Dren]

I'm new to this and the TF2 f2p got me to bite.  I'm also very tempted by all the great deals that they run.  However, the dl speed is a bit of an issue.  Please let me know if I should be checking into speeding this up or if I'm normal.  I bounce from max 150KB/S to a low of ....well, zero.  It seems to me that it would take 18 hours to download TF2 at that rate, but the system told me like 9 hours at the start.  Over 18 hours later and I'm still dl'ing.  Does that seem right and why does Steam miscalculate the time to dl?

I want to buy their Valve pack to get pretty much everything they have out right now for $49.99, but I'm looking at like a week of babysitting a dl?  Is that normal?  Is there a way for them to just mail me the cd's?

Also, is there a way for me to copy the game to a temp HD from one computer and paste it to my other on a different steam account (F2P games of course?)  I want to set it up so I can play with/against my sons but not have to do these huge dl's multiple times.  I've been successful in doing this wth WoW and RIFT along with their expansions/updates/add-ons, but that's obviously a different beast.

[5150]

I believe the F2P stuff sits in a 'common' folder under the steam ones so you can probably copy it (although it may then want to spend ages verifying!)

Those download speeds don't sound right but then having said that I only download my stuff either overnight or during the day while I'm at work since I don't have a blisteringly fast connection and don't want it to impact on when I'm actually using the web

[Dren]

I forgot to mention I'm using standard DSL.  I'd pay more to getting faster dl's, but I want to be sure that would actually help first.  Anyone done this?

[Sky]

I normally get 500-700k from steam but last night I was getting more like 300k, and at one point I also saw 150k that would bottom to 0k. I think Steam is just getting hammered.

Normally it's good speeds, though. Also, TF2 has been crapping out hats for years now, it's probably massive.

fake edit - TW cable speeds here

[Paelos]

It's normal Dren. The major problem right now is they are doing a sale, so their DL servers are getting absolutely pounded into dust. After July 14th (4 days after the sale), you should see download rates return to normal. I usually get 1.5-2 MB/s rates. I'm on an upgraded cable rate though.

[Sir Fodder]

Mine max out at 133 Kb/s, still paying over $75 a month for cable internet  with bare bones cable TV here in S. AZ. WTF?  Gonna head down to the Sux Cox office today and try to reduce my rate somehow. I had DSL 15 years ago in this same location that was 10x faster and only cost ~$45 a month 

Still though, I just leave the Steam downloads running in the background, seems like it does a good job of easing up when I'm visiting web pages, if it drags I just pause it for a while.

[Dren]

TF2 is 9.8 Gb, so yeah it is quite large.  Thanks for the feedback.  I'll struggle it out a bit and if I'm still unsatisfied, I'll look into upgrading DSL.

[Trippy]

Make sure your network bandwidth setting is appropriate for your connection. Otherwise right now it is normal for the download rate to drop to 0 for stretches of time. One annoying thing that happens is that if you are playing a Steam launched game it'll usually pause any downloads that are going on. If you don't want that to happen you'll need to ALT-TAB back to the Steam client and manually start the download back up.

[Sky]

One annoying thing that happens is that if you are playing a Steam launched game it'll usually pause any downloads that are going on. If you don't want that to happen you'll need to ALT-TAB back to the Steam client and manually start the download back up.

If you're not doing this already, it's one of the best Steam downloading tips!

[Furiously]

I usually get 1.5-2.3 for my speed. One thing that can help is to pick a server further away from you sometimes. (Or just find that one that is being underutilized the most).

[Strazos]

I can get upwards of 3m/s. However, I'm on FiOS in VA, so YMMV.

However, after bringing up my downloads, my speeds are indeed complete garbage right now, capping at about 500k.

[Minvaren]

600KB/sec (max-ish DSL rate) during the day, 100KB/sec (if lucky) at night.

I'm in Houston - changing datacenters has no effect on D/L speeds via Steam.

[Dren]

I usually get 1.5-2.3 for my speed. One thing that can help is to pick a server further away from you sometimes. (Or just find that one that is being underutilized the most).

I tried that and didn't see any improvement really.  I upgraded my DSL yesterday.  It should take effect by tonight.  I'll see if that helps out.  There were no terms for the upgrade, so  I can cancel it for next month if I don't see any improvements.

I really need this upgrade to work regardless.  Having two computers, multiple iPods, and a PS3 all being used at the same time many nights is really stretching my peak time bandwidth.  It will only get worse once the 3 year old graduates to wi-fi toys.  Then it will be 4 kids and my wife fighting for bandwidth.

Finally got TF2 to completely DL last night.  There be some good fun y'all.  I stayed up way too late, which is a good thing for me these days.  I'd been in the downs for gaming lately.  It is refreshing to have fun again.  Now I need to figure out how to get the other computer hooked up for some good old fashoined co-op play with my sons.

[Der Helm]

Things that have helped me in the past (but not during the pounding the servers take during these sales)...

- Setting the download location to a place near you (or change it to another location not that far from you (to try to get on a different server or something))
- Setting your connection speed to the maximum
- deleting clientregistry.blob

[NiX]

I tried that and didn't see any improvement really.  I upgraded my DSL yesterday.  It should take effect by tonight.  I'll see if that helps out.  There were no terms for the upgrade, so  I can cancel it for next month if I don't see any improvements.

I really need this upgrade to work regardless.  Having two computers, multiple iPods, and a PS3 all being used at the same time many nights is really stretching my peak time bandwidth.  It will only get worse once the 3 year old graduates to wi-fi toys.  Then it will be 4 kids and my wife fighting for bandwidth.

Finally got TF2 to completely DL last night.  There be some good fun y'all.  I stayed up way too late, which is a good thing for me these days.  I'd been in the downs for gaming lately.  It is refreshing to have fun again.  Now I need to figure out how to get the other computer hooked up for some good old fashoined co-op play with my sons.

You really should have waited. The Summer Sale, as has been mentioned, is crushing their content servers. I always get 1.8-2.2, but I barely break 500 Kb/s because of the sale. Half the time it won't even download.

[Dren]

Meh, I wanted to try it for other reasons.  If my kids are playing on the other computer and the PS3 (Black Ops online,) my bandwidth gets hammered so we all have issues of latency at the same time.  I'm experimenting with this for both Steam and with handling more concurrent gaming.

I tried to copy over TF2 from my main computer to the other and couldn't get it to work.  I looked at the help areas online, but couldn't find anything.  I guess they want you to hammer their servers even more when you want to install a F2P game on multiple computers in one home.

So, I'm currently hammering their servers some more as we speak. 

[Paelos]

Last night was the worst. I was barely clearing 200 kbps most of the time.

[NiX]

Meh, I wanted to try it for other reasons.  If my kids are playing on the other computer and the PS3 (Black Ops online,) my bandwidth gets hammered so we all have issues of latency at the same time.  I'm experimenting with this for both Steam and with handling more concurrent gaming.

I tried to copy over TF2 from my main computer to the other and couldn't get it to work.  I looked at the help areas online, but couldn't find anything.  I guess they want you to hammer their servers even more when you want to install a F2P game on multiple computers in one home.

So, I'm currently hammering their servers some more as we speak. 

For copying to work you have to start the DL on the computer without the game, let it get to 1%, close steam and then copy it over. Otherwise it causes issues or just doesn't work.

[Dren]

For copying to work you have to start the DL on the computer without the game, let it get to 1%, close steam and then copy it over. Otherwise it causes issues or just doesn't work.

Where is it copied to though?  I found a directory for it in the Steam directory, but the size was way too small.  I tried it anyway and it didn't work, of course.  I figured it was copying all the files into different places to prevent me from doing exactly what I wanted to do...  Original DL is almost 10 Gig.  The file I found had 1 Gig in it.

[NiX]

Should be under this: Steam\steamapps\common\TF2 Folder

Every Source Engine game needs the base asset files though. So in the Common folder you should see some fairly large files (TF2.something or other and Source.something or other). Sorry, I'd be more descriptive, but I'm on my work laptop and it doesn't have a single Source game installed on it.

[luckton]

It's my understanding through some articles I've read that, if using a public DNS server (i.e. Google/OpenDNS) you could be inhibiting your download rate as well, as opposed to using your ISPs.  May want to experiment with that.