Question


I am trying to connect to a secure game server, but I received the error message ‘SECURE CONNECTION FAILED’
Answer


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Peer Guardian

A number of our users are reporting that their problems connecting to VAC enabled servers were corrected by exiting Peer Guardian, then exiting and restarting Steam. Once Steam has restarted you should be able to connect to VAC Servers.
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Your Internet Connection

Check the stability and reliability of your Internet connection. An unstable connection can cause Steam to download improperly, or your attempt to connect to a server might time out.

There are many online tools that help you to check for problems with your connection, here are two of the more popular:
http://www.dslreports.com/tools
http://www.speedguide.net/analyzer.php

If you suspect that you are having a problem related to your Internet Connection, please contact your ISP.
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P2P, FTP and Web Server Applications

Make sure that you're not running P2P programs like Kazaa, LimeWire, BitTorrent, or Exeem in the background. These programs can consume a large portion of your bandwidth. The same is true for FTP and Webserver applications.

After exiting your Peer to Peer software please EXIT STEAM AND RESTART before attempting to connect to a secure server. Once you have restarted you should be able to connect to VAC servers.
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Security and Firewall and Anti-Virus Software

If you're using security or firewall or anti-virus software, train them to recognize Steam.exe and all instances of HL.exe and HL2.exe as trusted programs. Consult your program manuals for how to do this.

Typically, if you have a connection problem immediately after a Steam update it is being caused by your firewall.

The best solution is to go to the firewall permissions and remove all references to Steam.exe, HL.exe and HL2.exe and let them be relearned again. Just because there are existing permissions does NOT mean they are correct permissions!

You should also only be running one firewall at a time. Never run two or more firewall programs, they can conflict with each other and cause many different connection problems.

After making any changes to your A/V or software firewall settings please EXIT STEAM AND RESTART before attempting to connect to a secure server. Once you have restarted you should be able to connect to VAC servers.
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Firewalls and Routers

If your computer is behind a router with a firewall, you'll need to open the ports that Steam uses to connect to the Internet. Most embedded firewalls require you to open ports manually (they don't learn automatically). Routers without firewalls rarely need to have ports opened for game client (but usually do for game servers).

If your configuration software requires port numbers, please use the following:

UDP 1200 (used for friends service)
UDP 27000 to 27015 inclusive
TCP 27020 to 27039 inclusive
TCP 27040 and 27041 only for CyberCafe Owners

For assistance with your Firewall you will need to go to the support site for your particular Firewall. Windows XP SP1 firewall does not require any specific configuration changes for Steam to work but XP SP2 firewall does.

After making any changes to your router and firewall settings please EXIT STEAM AND RESTART before attempting to connect to a secure server.
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Router Problems

Routers can cause connectivity problems. Linksys routers and Wireless routers especially can cause this. Dual WAN Routers are not compatible with Steam. If you have a stand-alone router and you are having connection problems, you can always bypass the router and plug your computer directly into your modem to see if the router is the problem.
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Viruses, spyware and malware, netlimiting, anonymous IP masking programs

Connection problems can also arise if your system is infected with a virus or spyware. Programs like Cybersitter, Netlimiter, X-Fire and Stegnos Anonymous Internet can also interfere with normal Steam operations.