Hi there,
I have an incredibly annoying and niche issue whereby whenever I launch a Steam game, my PC's network disconnects. The moment I exit the game, I can see for a brief period that the little globe and yellow exclamation is shown (no connectivity) in Steam, and then it just re-connects perfectly when the game fully closes. This only happens when launching a Steam game for some reason too. Launching from Rockstar or GOG doesn't cause this issue.
There's very little information on this topic that I could find, so here's what I can provide you for context if you can help:
Hardware/Software:
- I run the latest version of Windows 11
- I have an ASUS AX3000 Wi-Fi adapter installed
- I have a super standard Huawei WS5200 router situated in a room approx. 5m (16 feet) away with one brick wall separating them
- I run ProtonVPN
What I've tried:
- I've switched off IPv6
- I've done the whole "flush dns in terminal" route
- I've unchecked "allow the computer to turn off this device to save power"
- I've reinstalled Steam
What has worked:
- In device manager, I've changed the channel width from 5ghz, to 2.4ghz, which keeps the network connected flawlessly, but it significantly reduces my Wi-Fi speeds for use outside of gaming.
- If I move the PC into the room with the router, games also seem to start-up fine and connected.
Would love to hear your suggestions or ideas. It's such an annoying bug that I just can't seem to solve
Source: r/steamsupport · by /u/stefanknz