Steam Download Tools

[simcore]

The purpose of this thread is for people to learn of and discuss the available software used to manage the Steam client's downloading sessions.

One of the main concerns of people is that they may download from a separate content server which is not unmetered.

There are a number of third party programs that you could use that should prevent Steam from using other content servers. Which one you decide to use is up to you. In the following posts I will list some of these options, from third party software (OS dependant) to hard firewall rules. (OS or networking equipment dependant)

PLEASE NOTE
TelstraClear takes no responsibility for any user incurred charges for content served from another Steam Content Server.
TelstraClear takes no responsibility for any damage or harm caused by the use of this unsupported third party software.
Some titles may not be available on TelstraClear’s Steam Content Server, in order to download these they may come from a different content server which would be metered usage.

Please ensure you have read or more in depth FAQ before downloading via Steam.

TelstraClear's Steam Content Server IP is 203.167.129.4

[simcore]

Steam-Limiter
Is designed to block non TelstraClear Content Servers and HTTP file system

http://code.google.com/p/steam-limiter/downloads/list

Steam Limiter was originally built for XP, but appears to work fine with newer versions of Windows, there is currently no support for OS X users. Steam-Limiter is capable of blocking both third party content servers and the Valve http file system.

Once downloaded, ensure that you start steam-limiter before Steam itself, and check that your profile is selected as your appropriate ISP, example below. If you have done correctly, a title that is not available on the TelstraClear Steam Content Server should not start downloading and the installation will fail. TelstraClear can not guarantee that this software will work perfectly and is unable to accept responsibility for any incurred usage through it's use.

[Dr Woomanchu]

As far as I can tell from some forums, Frey's has had some issues since a recent Steam update.

I have been using Steam Manager . Its advantage is that it changes Windows Firewall settings for you , and doesn't need to be running to do its job

[simcore]

Firewall access setup (no Steamwatch/Frey's filter)

Hey guys, heres a quick run through of how to only use the TelstraClear steam server without having to set up SteamWatch.

People using Windows 7 or Vista (sorry XP users!) will have a firewall capable of this built into their OS. On Windows 7, you can find this by opening Control Panel, then going to System and Security and clicking Windows Firewall. Once there, click "Advanced Settings", which will open "Windows Firewall with Advanced Security".

Go to "Outbound Rules" and click "New Rule".
Select "Custom" and press next, then next again to skip the Program selection screen (you could set this up to only apply to Steam, but it doesn't really matter) and go to the Protocol and Ports screen.
Change protocol type to "TCP" and under "Remote port" select "Specific Ports" and enter "27030", then click next.
Under "Which remote IP addresses does this rule apply to?", click "These IP addresses"
Click "Add..." then "This IP address range:" and enter "0.0.0.0" in the "From:" box and "203.167.129.3" in the "To:" box, then click "OK"
Click "Add..." again and then "This IP address range:" and enter "203.167.129.5" in the "From:" box and "255.255.255.255" in the "To:" box, then click "OK"
Click next to go to the "Action" page and leave this on "Block", click next again to go to the "Profile" page.
On the "Profile" page, depending on your situation uncheck any boxes where you don't want this rule to apply. If in doubt, leave them all checked.
Click next and enter a name in the "Name" box. I called my rule "TelstraClear Content Server", but this is arbitrary.
Click "Finish"

From now on, Steam should only connect to TelstraClear's server for content updates!

[simcore]

Hard Firewall-Rule
Blocks only non TelstraClear Content Servers, does not block http file system

Here is a quick run through of how to only use the TelstraClear Steam Content Server using a Firewall rule. These steps are translatable to various operating systems, (including OS X) which include an inbuilt firewall. Be aware, this will not block Steam's http file system, the titles of which are not available on the TelstraClear Steam Content Server.

People using Windows 7 or Vista (sorry XP users!) will have a firewall capable of this built into their OS. On Windows 7, you can find this by opening Control Panel, then going to System and Security and clicking Windows Firewall. Once there, click "Advanced Settings", which will open "Windows Firewall with Advanced Security".

Go to "Outbound Rules" and click "New Rule".
Select "Custom" and press next, then next again to skip the Program selection screen (you could set this up to only apply to Steam, but it doesn't really matter) and go to the Protocol and Ports screen.
Change protocol type to "TCP" and under "Remote port" select "Specific Ports" and enter "27030", then click next.
Under "Which remote IP addresses does this rule apply to?", click "These IP addresses"
Click "Add..." then "This IP address range:" and enter "0.0.0.0" in the "From:" box and "203.167.129.3" in the "To:" box, then click "OK"
Click "Add..." again and then "This IP address range:" and enter "203.167.129.5" in the "From:" box and "255.255.255.255" in the "To:" box, then click "OK"
Click next to go to the "Action" page and leave this on "Block", click next again to go to the "Profile" page.
On the "Profile" page, depending on your situation uncheck any boxes where you don't want this rule to apply. If in doubt, leave them all checked.
Click next and enter a name in the "Name" box. I called my rule "TelstraClear Content Server", but this is arbitrary.
Click "Finish"

[Lias]

^^ This works mint, did last night. Only issue I found was I had to disable the rule to install games, because it kept telling me the server was too busy to handle requests. Installed, paused, enabled rule, unpaused downloads, away we went. Possibly (probably even) caused by some of the games not being fully available on that server yet would be my guess.

[Camo260]

Hey simcore,

I did this with SteamWatch 3 by putting what you said into the SteamWatchSettings.xml file.
How do I check if this is actually working?

Cheers

[simcore]

Hey Camo, use a program like TCPView for Windows, or NetLimiter.

You'll note the majority of the content coming from the Steam Content Server IP (203.167.129.4) presuming that content is loaded at this point (the majority is still yet to load), but other servers may be delivering content to you at the same time.

Please be aware of the usage risks. http://www.telstraclear.co.nz/sub-sites/gaming-steam/

[toofast]

Also beware that steamwatch leaks (uses a small amount of data from other metered servers), and the setting up of the firewall rules is much better solution.

[dark_hunter]

http://users.on.net/~marttinen/
The requested URL /~marttinen/ was not found on this server.

[simcore]

Yeah heard it's down yesterday, I'd suggest checking out Steam Manager or using hard firewall rules if you want to ensure it's restricted dark_hunter.

Tweet if you need some more assistance to @simcore

[canterbury_kid]

I set up all the firewalls and stuff, and it all appears to be working, and I was able to download the Counterstrike Beta at really high speeds, but when I went to download Driver: San Fran, Nukem Forever or Sanctum, it says Steam Server Busy. Is this because the files just arent present on the telstra server, will they become present etc, or is it an issue with the firewalls ive set up???

[Lias]

Is this because the files just arent present on the telstra server

Generally, this.

[Citysoldier]

Thats the way it is supposed to be.  If it is not on the server then u will get that busy message.  They will appear on the server some day lol.  Be aware as someone mentioned, some of the games are converting to an http system with delta patching or something which may mean its not unmetered.

[Nigel Bree]

Last week when TelstraClear sent out the e-mail announce for this, since I have a gaming machine still running XP I quickly threw together a tool for my own use to limit Steam's content server connections. It's available at http://code.google.com/p/steam-limiter/ - like the other tools mentioned above it won't attempt to filter http downloads, but for anything on port 27030 it will limit Steam's connections to a specific server with no leakage by hooking into Windows Sockets so it can do the port-specific filtering and redirect connections to other servers to the unmetered one.

Given that it's at least in the "Works on My Machine" state (or two machines, on XP and one running Win7 32-bit) it's at least there if anyone wants to give it a try.

[simcore]

I'll give it a try!

[<Spectre>]

Steam Manager has changed hosts. Now available here:
http://www.anguswolfcastle.co.cc/steam

[prawln]

I tried the windows firewall, it worked like 2 weeks ago... decided to do a mass download last night of games with the firewall on... 42gb on my cap :ambivalence:
Has anything changed?

[toofast]

Not that i know of. I just downloaded something now. Going through TCL server. I recommend checking with tcpview when you download. Unless all those games went through the http port (which the firewall doesn't stop).

[prawln]

ahh might have gone though the http. Whats the best way to stop it going through the http port

[sasqnz]

I set this up through my firewall in the end and it works really well. Unfortunately Telstraclear doesn't have Deadspace 2 mirrored so for all this effort i'm gonna have to download from orcon and waste my cap on NZ traffic.

[Milkbot]

I'm sorry if this is the wrong area, if it is just redirect me to the right area, but:

I knew that telstra has unmetered Steam downloads, so I checked up on everything and made sure my content server to New Zealand (Telstra) and all. I downloaded Shogun TW 2 and Skyrim this month, and perhaps stupidly I didn't check my usage meter, which is 17 blocks over. I rung up to inquire about this but I don't think the lady knew much about steam, and just told me that sometimes websites have videos and such that aren't hosted on unmetered servers and such. She really did try to be helpful, but we weren't able to work anything out.

Is there any recourse I can take? I'm only looking to get the usage for those two games wiped.

[DarkVirus]

I dont think you can get the data back.

There is a post in this forum under announcements which shows how to control your steam downloads to ONLY telstra clear.

The way steam works (which is by design) is to offer the client the best speed, and least loaded content server.

Just because you set TCL as the location, its might either A: not have that game downloaded yet, or B: have been busy serving others, so your steam client downloaded from the next available content server.

There are tools you can get to hard-limit your steam to the one server, but as i mentioned, if that game isnt available on that server yet, you might not be able to download the game at all.

It sucks, but its steam's job to ensure you get the content one way or another, its the ISP who chooses to uncap data sources, but its up to us(gamers) to ensure we get it from the right place.

[toofast]

The biggest problem atm, is a lot of stuff still isn't on the TCL server, because its still in the loading phase. So unless you can block your steam to only 1 server, I would hold off until the server is officially announced.

[simcore]

Thanks for the responses guys.

Milkbot, I'm surprised that Shogun 2 is not yet available, Skyrim however I can confirm is not yet loaded onto the content server.

Feel free to PM me your account number and some further detail and I will see what I can do for you however.