Troubleshooting Network Connectivity

Categories: Topics | Steam | Connection Issues

Article: 1456-EUDN-2493 FAQ ID: 11 Updated: October 21st, 2008

The content of this page is moderated by both Steam Support and the Steam user community - any links to outside sites should be treated with caution.

Steam Support will not request your Steam account password for any reason, nor will you ever be asked to enter your Steam account password into a website form.

IMPORTANT:

Before proceeding with troubleshooting, please check the Steam Server Status page to ensure the issue which you are encountering is not related to system-wide downtime. (If you encounter any timeout errors when attempting to access Steam sites, it is very likely that there is a system-wide issue and Steam will not be accessible until the issue is resolved)

Troubleshooting Network Connectivity Issues

Please follow the steps below to diagnose network connectivity issues within Steam:

Firewall
See the Using a Firewall with Steam topic for instructions to properly configure your firewall
for Steam.

Note: If you are installing Steam for the first time or Steam has recently been updated, a
firewall may be preventing Steam from connecting to the Steam Network - even if Steam
worked correctly before the update was applied.
Router
See the Using a Router with Steam topic for instructions to configure your router.

Note: running your router in DMZ mode is not supported by Steam and may result in
connection issues.
Background Applications
Review the Programs Which Interfere with Steam and reconfigure, disable or uninstall any
programs which may be preventing Steam and Valve games from connecting.
Viruses, Trojans, Adware and Spyware
If issues persist, scan your computer for Spyware, Adware, and Viruses Interfering with Steam

Required Ports for Steam

Your network must be configured to allow Steam access to the following ports:

Steam Client

UDP 27000 to 27020 inclusive
TCP 27020 to 27050 inclusive

Dedicated or Listen Servers

TCP 27015 (SRCDS Rcon port)

University Networks and Proxies

Many university networks and proxies block required ports for Steam operation - please consult your network administrator to ensure the required ports are open if you are using a university network or a proxy. Ports required for Steam can not be re-mapped to HTTP or reconfigured to a custom port range.

Known issues with Internet Service Providers (ISP's)

There are several ISP's which interfere with Steam traffic:

Dutch Telecom (Steam traffic blocked)
ISPFree (Steam traffic blocked)
TalkTalk (bandwidth throttling reduces download speeds)
Bluewin (Firewall blocks Steam from provider side - must be disabled through provider's service portal)
012.net (Reported to have connection trouble with downloading game updates and connecting to game servers)

There are connection issues with certain ISPs that can be avoided depending on what type of cable/DSL modem and router you have.

Please follow the guide for Client dropped by server and Warning: Connection Problem issues if this is the error you are experiencing.

Retrieved from "http://supportwiki.steampowered.com/wiki/Troubleshooting_Network_Connectivity"

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