Steam being rate limited by Vodafone?

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JohnnyBoy12

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#233600 24-Apr-2018 09:37

Hi all,

We recently switched from Orcon to Vodafone and we're on the Fibre Max plan. (700-900Mbps)

Our first week was great and we didn't encounter any problems downloading Far Cry 5 on steam, we got our usual speeds of 60-80MB/s that we had on Orcon. However about 2-3 weeks later (now) as I was downloading GTA V on Steam I noticed I was only getting 8MB/s max on Steam.

Restarting the router gives me the max speed of 80MB/s for about a minute before it goes down to 8MB/s again, as if it's capped. I restarted the router about 4 times and the same thing happened each time. I then ran my connection through a local VPN and ended up getting about 14MB/s from Steam (I'm pretty sure the VPN was speed limited at this point but you can see how my VPN connection was already giving me a better speed than going directly through).

I switched between different Steam servers and it was the same result, limited to 8MB/s. I also ran speed tests and it was showing 800Mbps from Fast.com and Speedtest. I downloaded a 10GB test file from my European server in Paris and got my usual speeds of 30MB/s. So at this point I'm confident only Steam is being limited at this time.

I'm as loss as to what's happening, any ideas?

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#2001409 24-Apr-2018 09:39

*grabs popcorn*

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#2001413 24-Apr-2018 09:41

Only P2P is traffic managed @gaddman might be able to add some value

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JohnnyBoy12

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#2001415 24-Apr-2018 09:49

I found a similar post here on the Vodafone forums, who has the exact same problem I has:

https://community.vodafone.co.nz/t5/Modems-Wi-Fi/Fibre-Max-Download-Speeds/td-p/218804

I'll see if it does anything:

Edit

No change, still limited to 8.5MB/s. I'm using 1.1.1.1 DNS anyway

hio77

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#2001418 24-Apr-2018 10:02

Using 1.1.1.1 will likely hurt performance.

I've noticed international traffic rather poor on Vodafone lately, but haven't tested enough to document a fault.

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

keepitwarm

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#2001430 24-Apr-2018 10:31

on the Max plan too, I've never had max or no where near, out of steam, its varies for me at about 20-30 MB/s per second sometimes less.

Ubisoft Uplay is also a lot quicker than steam wouldnt far cry have come off that, although i cant remember what,

Origin downloads the fastest for me at about 80-90MB i was amazed once when it hit 94 MB/s peak once, my Xbox and ps4 never download at max either ,also about 20-30 MB/s or slower with PS a lot of the time, they are all hard wired.

I've always put it down to varying CDN's or whatever you call the servers where the data is stored putting limits on what it will deliver rather than restrictions with our ISP's.

.............................................................

simple logic.

gaddman

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#2001473 24-Apr-2018 11:14

We're not rate limiting Steam (or P2P for that matter), so you can rule that out. I've just tested from a few UFB connections and get between 7 and 20 MB/s. Interesting observation that restarting your router improves things for a while, I'll try the same and see if that changes things. But it does make me wonder if you've got other stuff running on your network impacting your throughput - and maybe when that gets busy things start to slow down?

JohnnyBoy12

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#2001474 24-Apr-2018 11:15

Here's an example of how using a VPN increases my speed. I'm sure you can tell it's a little concerning .

https://my.mixtape.moe/dyrupe.mp4

gaddman:

We're not rate limiting Steam (or P2P for that matter), so you can rule that out. I've just tested from a few UFB connections and get between 7 and 20 MB/s. Interesting observation that restarting your router improves things for a while, I'll try the same and see if that changes things. But it does make me wonder if you've got other stuff running on your network impacting your throughput - and maybe when that gets busy things start to slow down?

No other stuff is running on the network right now, there's a raspberry pi but it's for local stuff only and only has a 200Mbps connection. I have noticed that starting any other downloads will impact steam but if downloads are done on a VPN while steam runs on the normal connection, then Steam isn't effected.

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hio77

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#2001485 24-Apr-2018 11:21

Try changing dns back to normal, Clear caches and reboot.

by using 1.1.1.1 your likely not hitting Vodafones content servers at all.

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

JohnnyBoy12

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#2001496 24-Apr-2018 11:27

hio77:

Try changing dns back to normal, Clear caches and reboot.

by using 1.1.1.1 your likely not hitting Vodafones content servers at all.

As far as I'm aware, Steam/Valve no longer serves contents from ISP servers since building their own network in 2011, all content is delivered from their content servers in Australia in Sydney for New Zealanders (or whatever content server you choose).

hio77

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#2001499 24-Apr-2018 11:28

JohnnyBoy12:

hio77:

Try changing dns back to normal, Clear caches and reboot.

by using 1.1.1.1 your likely not hitting Vodafones content servers at all.

As far as I'm aware, Steam/Valve no longer serves contents from ISP servers since building their own network in 2011, all content is delivered from their content servers in Australia in Sydney for New Zealanders (or whatever content server you choose).

This is where your mistaken, Steampipe changed this which is why many providers dropped content servers.

a large quantity of content for steam is delivered over akamai.

Content servers are still used mainly for the GFC files now.

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

Coil

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#2001502 24-Apr-2018 11:33

Some tips for you.
Your internet is now faster than the IO of a mechanical HDD... Just think how well your PC will cope with a steam download (Compressed) then extracting it on a mechanical drive... You are only as fast as your weakest link.

That 800Mbp/s what ever is theoretical maximum. You will never see that unless you have perfect conditions. Please do not expect the laws of physicas to be broken because you pay Vodafone for 800Mb/s

"20-30 MB/s per second" Thats 240Mb/s plus the overhead, That for a direct download is very good...

Regarding your fluctuating speed and rebooting getting you better speed and what not, Try another router. Failing that you should setup an IPERF to Sydney and Auckland for 24 hours and see what you get. My bet is its the content provider not receiver.

Edit: I have also never seen an Akamai download max a fibre connection. Also that lower end PC's will not report an overly accurate download speed as some times the internet connection is faster than the IO and it is playing catch up and downloading it in pieces and not a continuous stream.

JohnnyBoy12

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#2001509 24-Apr-2018 11:42

Coil:

Some tips for you.
Your internet is now faster than the IO of a mechanical HDD... Just think how well your PC will cope with a steam download (Compressed) then extracting it on a mechanical drive... You are only as fast as your weakest link.

That 800Mbp/s what ever is theoretical maximum. You will never see that unless you have perfect conditions. Please do not expect the laws of physicas to be broken because you pay Vodafone for 800Mb/s

"20-30 MB/s per second" Thats 240Mb/s plus the overhead, That for a direct download is very good...

Regarding your fluctuating speed and rebooting getting you better speed and what not, Try another router. Failing that you should setup an IPERF to Sydney and Auckland for 24 hours and see what you get. My bet is its the content provider not receiver.

Edit: I have also never seen an Akamai download max a fibre connection. Also that lower end PC's will not report an overly accurate download speed as some times the internet connection is faster than the IO and it is playing catch up and downloading it in pieces and not a continuous stream.

1) It really isn't - an average 7200 RPM drive easily has a 80-160MB/s write speed, 800Mbps falls between those numbers. Plus I'm using a SSD which easily has 250MB/s+ write speed. That's not the problem here.

2) I never said I was getting or wanted 800Mbp/s. I said I was concerned that Vodafone was speed limiting Steam because all other content wasn't limited to that speed. I was however, getting 650Mpb/s from Steam before.

3) I'll try another router, that seems to be the most sensible idea.

hio77:

JohnnyBoy12:

hio77:

Try changing dns back to normal, Clear caches and reboot.

by using 1.1.1.1 your likely not hitting Vodafones content servers at all.

As far as I'm aware, Steam/Valve no longer serves contents from ISP servers since building their own network in 2011, all content is delivered from their content servers in Australia in Sydney for New Zealanders (or whatever content server you choose).

This is where your mistaken, Steampipe changed this which is why many providers dropped content servers.

a large quantity of content for steam is delivered over akamai.

Content servers are still used mainly for the GFC files now.

I reset the router and changed DNS to normal on my computer, flushed then rebooted. It now goes up to 12MB/s but constantly stops before going up again. Strange.

gaddman

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#2001511 24-Apr-2018 11:44

JohnnyBoy12:

As far as I'm aware, Steam/Valve no longer serves contents from ISP servers since building their own network in 2011, all content is delivered from their content servers in Australia in Sydney for New Zealanders (or whatever content server you choose).

Adding to what @hio77 said, here's an example of the different content sources in one test:

Download test for application 232370 [Half-Life 2: Deathmatch Dedicated Server] (also see https://steamdb.info/app/232370/)
Removed existing copy
22 download sources from http://valve2000.steamcontent.com/serverlist/22/20/
Adding download source: steampipe.akamaized.net
Adding download source: steampipe.akamaized.net
Adding download source: level3.cdn.steampipe.steamcontent.com
Adding download source: level3.cdn.steampipe.steamcontent.com
Adding download source: edgecast.cdn.steampipe.steamcontent.com
Completed download of 708 MB in 33 seconds at 171 Mbps (21.5 MB/s), from 11:38:51 to 11:39:24

hio77

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#2001514 24-Apr-2018 11:47

JohnnyBoy12:

1) It really isn't - an average 7200 RPM drive easily has a 80-160MB/s write speed, 800Mbps falls between those numbers. Plus I'm using a SSD which easily has 250MB/s+ write speed. That's not the problem here.

Just remember that's a Continuous write, not a random write like steam does.

Alot of the steampipe stuff actually made IO load far more important than speed over about 100mbit.

In some cases, even at about 40mbit you can see disk constraints.

It's insane in some ways to think, while internet is getting faster... we develop a tech that literally slows things down to reduce the data transferred.

However, this allows us to patch large binary files (think all the Unity engine games with Multi gigabyte data files) with relatively small bytepatches.

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

JohnnyBoy12

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#2001516 24-Apr-2018 11:48

gaddman:

JohnnyBoy12:

As far as I'm aware, Steam/Valve no longer serves contents from ISP servers since building their own network in 2011, all content is delivered from their content servers in Australia in Sydney for New Zealanders (or whatever content server you choose).

Adding to what @hio77 said, here's an example of the different content sources in one test:

Download test for application 232370 [Half-Life 2: Deathmatch Dedicated Server] (also see https://steamdb.info/app/232370/)
Removed existing copy
22 download sources from http://valve2000.steamcontent.com/serverlist/22/20/
Adding download source: steampipe.akamaized.net
Adding download source: steampipe.akamaized.net
Adding download source: level3.cdn.steampipe.steamcontent.com
Adding download source: level3.cdn.steampipe.steamcontent.com
Adding download source: edgecast.cdn.steampipe.steamcontent.com
Completed download of 708 MB in 33 seconds at 171 Mbps (21.5 MB/s), from 11:38:51 to 11:39:24

Do you mind sharing how you've done that test? My speeds are limited to 8.5MB/s again even after resetting DNS.

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