SteamWatch - A must have for Internode users that have Steam! - Overclock.net

WaLshy11 · 06-19-09

Recently, I have brought some games from through Steam which meant I had to download them.

I changed the download settings in File > Settings > Download > Download Region to Australia - NSW (Internode), thinking that Steam will download files from the Internode server, thus making it an un-metered download for me. It worked for the first game I downloaded, but it didnt work partially for the second game (I stopped the download once I realized it wasnt being unmetered). It seems that Steam downloads from Internode, only if another source isnt better, E.G. one of Steam's servers.

I thought there had to be a way for me to direct Steam to only download from Internode servers, and it seems there is!

I came across this nifty program called SteamWatch

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SteamWatch is a Windows Service which monitors Valve's Steam application and block connections to servers which aren't explicitly defined. This allows you to block connections to servers which are overseas and metered by your ISP. It comes operational with the Internode unmetered IP addresses or GameArena steam servers.

Basically, it makes Steam download from Internode so you dont get metered for your game downloads.

What you need to do is download the program (links at bottom of this post) and install it. During the installation you will get to a screen that looks like this:

Select the option Both GameArena and Internode Steam Servers and continue the installation.

After the install is done, you need to configure the SteamWatch IP Address whitelist so it allows more Internode servers.

Right click on the SteamWatch icon on your taskbar

and select Stop SteamWatch. This will stop the service so we can edit the whitelist.

Right click again and this time select Edit SteamWatchSettings.xml

A new window will pop up and if you scroll down a bit you will see a list of IP Address's:

You can delete the  since the IP Address's doubles up (dont have to, but I like mine neat even though I probably will never edit this list again

)
Add the following IP Address to this list (these have been taken directly off the Internode unmetered IP Address list):

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Save the document, and start SteamWatch service up again.

If you currently have Steam running, close it for the next part

Now, browse to you Steam directory, and delete the file called ClientRegistry.blob

Start Steam up and go to File > Settings > Download > Download Region and change it to your region.

Restart Steam and enjoy unmetered downloads!

There is also an automatic shutdown/sleep/stop service etc.. option that you can configure so when your download finishes, it will perform whatever you have selected (I would recommend settings the minutes in this option to 10)

This program has worked brilliantly for me. I have downloaded about 50GB worth of new games/updates and it has all gone to my unmetered downloads.
I have had no latency/connection issues connecting to non-Internode servers in games either while SteamWatch is running.

The program compatibility is Windows XP/Vista (32-bit/64-bit), but I am currently running it on Windows 7 RC 7100 64-bit with no problems at all.

SteamWatch website: link
Direct download: link
Internode unmetered IP Address list: link

Here's an image of when I last download some Steam games.. (wish it worked for everything and not just Steam!)

Hope this helps someone!