Connection speed to AGN, and what it means for downloads

What you see

• The join screen sits on a percentage for a very long time
• Server content downloads far slower than other things on the same connection
• It eventually completes if left alone

What usually causes it

• A genuinely slow or congested connection
• Wi-Fi rather than a cable, particularly at distance
• Something else on the connection using the bandwidth
• A long route to the server, which shows as a slow connection time even on a fast line

Worth checking first

• Run the speed test in the Support Assistant. It measures this PC against AGN specifically
• Compare it with a general speed test if you have one: a big gap between them points at the route rather than at your line
• Check whether anything else is downloading or streaming
• Note whether you are on Wi-Fi or a cable

Safe steps, one at a time

• Under about 5 Mbps, expect a first join to take a long time. That is slow, not broken - let it run rather than restarting it, because restarting begins the download again
• Use a cable for the first join if you possibly can
• Pause other downloads, game updates and streaming while it completes
• Make sure there is plenty of free disk space, because a full disk looks exactly like a stalled download
• If the speed to AGN is poor while a general speed test is fine, send us the report - that gap is about the route to us and is worth investigating

When to stop and ask staff

Escalate when a player's general speed is good but their speed to AGN is poor, or when several players report low throughput to AGN at the same time - that pattern suggests our host or the route, not their lines.