I've recently gotten a laptop and I decided to use it to download my Steam games while I'm out and about, as my home network is quite limited. (Stupid country internet :angry:)
I started downloading games at my place of work, until recently my Steam client stopped connecting (showing the "cannot connect to Steam network error, please start offline etc.)
How frustrating. I can visit the Steam website without any sort of VPN or any of that stuff. I'm not quite sure whats going on. I thought it had something to do with ports, as I've heard companies that want to stop piracy will block the port for torrenting or something like that. Not really sure, so that's why I'm here. Do any of you know what I could do / what could be happening? Thanks.
1.) Your work internet is monitored and it's their internet; you don't really have any sort of right to download shit on their dime, and if you do, you could very likely get in trouble.
2.) The Steam website is on port 80/443. The Steam client downloads on ports 27015-27030. [URL="https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=8571-GLVN-8711"]This cannot be changed.[/URL] You would need to ask your boss if it's OK to unblock those ports. Since they apparently noticed someone pulling a ton of data on ports designated for gaming, there is probably a [i]reason[/i] these ports are now blocked. You should be fortunate that they have not actually brought this up with you personally.
3.) If they say no, the only solution would be to set up a VPN, which would be as slow as the internet on your VPN server host (but backwards - if you have 5 Mbps up, your VPN will only be able to have 5 down). But this is almost certainly in violation of your company's IT policies and will get you in trouble.
[QUOTE=Snowmew;52157785]1.) Your work internet is monitored and it's their internet; you don't really have any sort of right to download shit on their dime, and if you do, you could very likely get in trouble.
2.) The Steam website is on port 80/443. The Steam client downloads on ports 27015-27030. [URL="https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=8571-GLVN-8711"]This cannot be changed.[/URL] You would need to ask your boss if it's OK to unblock those ports. Since they apparently noticed someone pulling a ton of data on ports designated for gaming, there is probably a [i]reason[/i] these ports are now blocked. You should be fortunate that they have not actually brought this up with you personally.
3.) If they say no, the only solution would be to set up a VPN, which would be as slow as the internet on your VPN server host (but backwards - if you have 5 Mbps up, your VPN will only be able to have 5 down). But this is almost certainly in violation of your company's IT policies and will get you in trouble.[/QUOTE]
On point three that is not how VPN speeds work. You only send the request to the VPN, it's not like you're somehow sending all of the data back up to the VPN for some reason.
For example I have an 80 Mbps down 6 Mbps up connection at home and get 20 Mbps down with BoxPN.
Otherwise yes - VPN is the only option if they won't unblock the ports, but you're better off not risking getting fired for some video games.
[QUOTE=Snowmew;52157785]1.) Your work internet is monitored and it's their internet; you don't really have any sort of right to download shit on their dime, and if you do, you could very likely get in trouble.
2.) The Steam website is on port 80/443. The Steam client downloads on ports 27015-27030. [URL="https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=8571-GLVN-8711"]This cannot be changed.[/URL] You would need to ask your boss if it's OK to unblock those ports. Since they apparently noticed someone pulling a ton of data on ports designated for gaming, there is probably a [i]reason[/i] these ports are now blocked. You should be fortunate that they have not actually brought this up with you personally.
3.) If they say no, the only solution would be to set up a VPN, which would be as slow as the internet on your VPN server host (but backwards - if you have 5 Mbps up, your VPN will only be able to have 5 down). But this is almost certainly in violation of your company's IT policies and will get you in trouble.[/QUOTE]
Ahh, that's what I thought. Thanks anyways.
Try launching Steam with the -tcp flag, might be an easy way to solve the problem.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/u1VaAAI.png[/img]
[QUOTE=Dr. Evilcop;52157812]On point three that is not how VPN speeds work. You only send the request to the VPN, it's not like you're somehow sending all of the data back up to the VPN for some reason.
For example I have an 80 Mbps down 6 Mbps up connection at home and get 20 Mbps down with BoxPN.
Otherwise yes - VPN is the only option if they won't unblock the ports, but you're better off not risking getting fired for some video games.[/QUOTE]
BoxPN is a VPN service provider; all of your data goes through their servers. Your home connection is irrelevant.
The default setup of a VPN is to tunnel all traffic through it. If you have a split-tunnel VPN, which is rare and not particularly helpful in OP's case, then it's plausible that you could negotiate a connection through the VPN then have an inbound connection returned back to you from the remote server, but then you lose the whole point of a VPN.
So for you to download any data through your home-hosted VPN server, you'd be limited by the upload speed of your home network (and the download speed of both networks, incidentally).
[QUOTE=knutmora;52157827]Try launching Steam with the -tcp flag, might be an easy way to solve the problem.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/u1VaAAI.png[/img][/QUOTE]
If the network is doing actual web traffic filtering (blocking specific sites and URLs), then that probably won't work as it knows the steam addresses.
Edit: Just noticed he can get to the steam website, ha.
[QUOTE=Demache;52160803]If the network is doing actual web traffic filtering (blocking specific sites and URLs), then that probably won't work as it knows the steam addresses.
Edit: Just noticed he can get to the steam website, ha.[/QUOTE]
Late reply, but I'll be damned - that did it. Thanks so much!
Just a question of time before the sysadmin notices it again though, and then you'll most likely get in trouble
[QUOTE=Rixxz2;52185042]Just a question of time before the sysadmin notices it again though, and then you'll most likely get in trouble[/QUOTE]
Depends on your sysadmin. At the very least, they won't notice. At the most, you'll get a email or visit from them, or your direct superior/management. Most likely telling you to quit it.
None the less, they won't enjoy your decision when discovered and they'll just block it all together forcing you to find another loophole.
You can always try to make friends with your IT department for some brownie points.
The people who do the network seem to be really lazy. They've blocked certain social media websites but in a really strange way. They have an automatic blocking system that blocks proxies and VPNs and such but that only goes so far. Some of the most commonly known VPNs are unblocked and open for use.
[QUOTE=deadvcr;52185444]The people who do the network seem to be really lazy. They've blocked certain social media websites but in a really strange way. They have an automatic blocking system that blocks proxies and VPNs and such but that only goes so far. Some of the most commonly known VPNs are unblocked and open for use.[/QUOTE]
I'll chime in here, since I am actually "the people who do the network". We deployed a new packet shaper recently and missed applying a rule for Steam downloads through the guest wireless subnet. The result was a single user hogging all the bandwidth, including bandwidth from the server VLAN. That means one user took down all of our hosted content which tanked 5,000 employees' wireless, desk phones, and access to internal resources, as well as countless external customers who couldn't access various websites and services. Please, please don't be that person. You are asking us to assist you with circumventing policies and procedures that are in place for a reason, which could potentially be a breach of the EUL in your workplace.
-edit-
Saying that the network people are "lazy" strikes a nerve with me. If you've ever been in the trenches you know that "laziness" is probably a misinterpretation of being overworked. Just because your network people are "lazy" doesn't mean you can take advantage of them.
[QUOTE=Dr. Evilcop;52157812]On point three that is not how VPN speeds work. You only send the request to the VPN, it's not like you're somehow sending all of the data back up to the VPN for some reason.
For example I have an 80 Mbps down 6 Mbps up connection at home and get 20 Mbps down with BoxPN.
Otherwise yes - VPN is the only option if they won't unblock the ports, but you're better off not risking getting fired for some video games.[/QUOTE]
VPN's only work in that way if they are configured for split tunnel, which is unlikely for a paid service.
[QUOTE=deadvcr;52185444]The people who do the network seem to be really lazy. They've blocked certain social media websites but in a really strange way. They have an automatic blocking system that blocks proxies and VPNs and such but that only goes so far. Some of the most commonly known VPNs are unblocked and open for use.[/QUOTE]
Managing a corporate network isn't like managing your home network. To you the end user, its meant to be simple, at least we try. But underneath, there is a hidden enigma of complexities, technicalities, and interaction between systems. Further compounded by the fact there is often poor documentation, and those that work on it just "know" how it works. And even more, unless you work for a huge company, the entire system is operated a by maybe a dozen or less people, none of them specialized to a system. And by the way, you are expected to implement, change and fix things, with ZERO perceived downtime but do it ASAP.
Nobody sits around trying to find and block all the VPN sites, there simply isn't enough time. And honestly, beyond filtering malware, and limiting bandwidth, IT doesn't give a shit about web filters. Management wants them. Web filters aren't perfect. We wait until somebody complains about something, and then we fix it. It looks like we are lazy, until you realize that there are many things IT does behind the scense every day that you never see, nor should you, because that means we are doing our jobs correctly.
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