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Connection issues can be caused by a wide variety of things. Sometimes it's due to lack of content,
so please ensure you have all necessary content needed to play on the servers. You can find the link to our workshop collection
here. You will also need Counter Strike: Source content and Half-Life 2: Episode One & Two. Once you have all of that, try reconnecting and seeing if your issue is resolved. You may also need to ensure that you've enabled custom downloads from the server (you can find how by seeing
this screenshot) and also ensure you've got your model quality turned to "High", regardless of your graphics card or CPU (which you can see
here on where you change this)
If you still encounter connectivity issues with the server, either whilst joining or whilst in game, then it's very possible there's something wrong with your connection to the server. This could mean the fault may lie with your Internet Service Provider, your own network or in some cases it may even fall down to the server!
To rule out your ISP and network:
- If you have a friend who lives in the area
and using the same ISP as you, see if they can connect to the servers just fine with all of the content installed. If they can connect just fine, odds are it's just your network. If not, then it could be a fault with your ISP or network. Check your ISP's service status page to see if any faults have been reported in your area, or if you there's no faults reported, try to contact your ISP but only after you've attempted to reset your router or modem (and if applicable, upgrade your router's firmware)
(Please note that adverse weather conditions such as storms, heavy rain or snow can affect your connection and in some cases make things unplayable.)
To rule out the server:
- Ruling out any server issues on a wide scale is pretty easy. Generally if other players aren't experiencing the same issue as you, then it's down on your side. If you see your game hanging on "Authenticating with Steam" then it's most likely an issue with the Steam servers, which is
outside of our control. Once again, if that happens then it's best to get a friend to check and see if the same issues is happening.
- In extremely unlikely circumstances, it could be possible your IP has been firewalled. For obvious reasons, information about how these blocks are performed is restricted due to security reasons, thus only the security team has knowledge of how they are issued. If it's suspected that you might be firewalled, you create a Help & Support thread in order for a teacher to assist you further and possibly get you in touch with someone who would be able to assist you from that point on.
- You can also check the stickied threads in Help & Support, or the announcements forum to see if any status updates have been posted in regards to server maintenance. Those threads should have an ETA attached, which will help you get a better guess as to how long your looking at until the issue is resolved.
If you still struggle with connectivity issues, feel free to post a Help & Support thread!