Facing Steam Friends Network Unreachable? Is your friend not able to reach your network? If yes then this guide will help you to get rid of it. With the advancement in technology, things around us are changing at a rapid pace. The time of using CDs or DVDs to play games on our computers has nearly gone.
Every game that you want to play can be bought and sold online. These days special streaming services are available to let you buy and play games online. One such service is Steam which is popular among modern-day gamers and is used globally by millions of users.
Steam is a video game distribution service provided by Valve. Steam was launched as a standalone software client in 2003 as a way for Valve to provide automatic updates for their games but later included games from third-party publishers.
As the services present these days encounter errors from time to time, out of a few, one such error Steam comes across is the Steam Network Unreachable error. Everything that you want to know about this error is mentioned below.
Read: 5 Steps to Find Steam Purchase History in 2022
What is Steam Friends Network?
Steam Network is the network by Steam that allows you to connect with other players and friends so that you can interact and play games with them over this network. If you want to play games on Steam, then you have to play them on Steam Network.
How to Find Friend Network on Steam?
To join a friend’s network on steam you have to request that particular friend to let you enter in your server or otherwise if you join the network from your friend’s side, then he must send an invite to you so that you can join your friend’s network.
Reasons: Why is the steam friends network unreachable?
There is a list of reasons that do not allow you to join your friend’s network like any change in steam properties, Internet Connection problems, Cache and Cookies, Server problems, etc.
Recommended: Top 10 Games Like Skyrim You Must Try
How to Fix Steam Friends Network Unreachable in 2022?
Whenever there is an error, a fix is always there. The same is the case with Steam Friends Network Unreachable error. There are options or solutions available that can help you resolve this error like you can change steam properties, checking your internet connection, checking the server, etc.
| Methods to Fix Steam Friends Network Unreachable |
|---|
| Fix 1: Change Steam properties |
| Fix 2: Check your Internet Connection |
| Fix 3: Opt-Out of Beta Mode |
| Fix 4: Delete Steam Cache and Cookies |
| Fix 5: Restart System |
| Fix 6: Restart Steam |
| Fix 7: Recheck Server Name |
Fix 1: Change Steam properties
To do this, right-click on the Steam shortcut on your PC and select “Properties” from the context menu. Now add -nofriendsui on the target window and click “Apply & OK” to save it. If this does not work then, in the target field, add -nofriendsui-nochatui and click “Apply and OK” to save the changes. See if the error is resolved or not.
Fix 2: Check your Internet Connection
It is possible that if your Internet connection is not good, you won’t be able to reach your friend’s network and your connection will drop out in between or without starting the session. If you are using WiFi, switch it off first and then turn it On again to see that you have a stable connection now.
Fix 3: Opt-Out of Beta Mode
For this Launch the Steam app and log into your account. On the upper left corner select Steam and then click on Settings from the drop-down menu. Select Account and click on the change button under the Beta Participation heading. Then select NONE- Opt-out of all beta programs from the drop-down menu and click OK to save the changes.
Worth Read: Steam Disk Write Error in 2023 [100% Fix]
Fix 4: Delete Steam Cache and Cookies
Open the Steam app and log into your account. Now click on the Steam tab and go to Settings from the drop-down menu. Click on the web browser section and you will find two options here, “Delete Web Browser Cache” and “Delete All Browser Cookies”. Click on both options to delete cache and cookies.
Fix 5: Restart System
It might be possible that this error can be a one-time error and will just disappear after you restart your system. For this on the main screen of your computer, click on windows options and here you will find the “Restart” option. Click on it and the system will restart. Now see if the error is fixed or not.
Also Check: Dell S3220DGF 165Hz Gaming Monitor Review 2023
Fix 6: Restart Steam
Sometimes the problem arises because there is a fault in the application. For this log out of your account on steam and close the application. Now, wait for a few minutes and launch the Steam application and try connecting to your friends to see if the error still persists.
Fix 7: Recheck Server Name
If you want to connect to your friend’s server, there is a small possibility that the server name you are entering to connect to your friend’s server might be wrong. To solve this issue, recheck the server name and enter it correctly.
Do Check: How to Clean a Mousepad in 2023
Fix 8: Update DNS
Change the default router DNS to Google DNS which is IPv4: 8.8. 8.8 and/or 8.8. 4.4. To update your router DNS follow the following steps.
- First Open Control Panel
- Second, Open “Change adapter settings” under Network and Internet
- Third, choose your internet type (wireless or ethernet), after that click on properties.
- Fourth, Now open Networking, and choose the IP type.
- Fifth, enter your Google DNS and then restart your system.
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ 1: Not able to see my friend’s steam network, is steam servers down?
Answer: For this, you can check on Steam’s official website whether the servers are down or not.
FAQ 2: While connecting to Steam Network it is taking a long time, how to fix it?
Answer: There are a few things that you can do here like correcting the date and time of the system, trying restarting your system, going in and out of beta mode, trying deleting cache and cookies, etc.
Don’t Miss: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4000 Series Release Date, Price & Specifications
This is it, now you will surely be able to fix Steam Friends Network Unreachable. If you are still not able to fix it, then share this article with your friend and tell him to follow the methods which are mentioned above. Also do subscribe to our newsletter which is given down below and does not forget to subscribe to us on our youtube channel.
I don’t normally post comments on sites, but just had to so I could back up John’s suggestion with the security certificates.
This worked first time after trying all these little shortcut workarounds to no avail. Cheers John! This has been bothering us for months!
Thank you John – Thats works on w10, too
Hi, i do not normally post into any online forums, but given that this issue of steam “friends not reachable” has caused considerable angst in our household for a number of weeks and I have trolled everywhere and tried all of the above offerings (do try these legit options first) without success – here is the solution that fixed it for us and it is not Steam! Note: This fixed two of our Windows 7 PC, not tried or tested on any other OS.
I am an x-PC tech but this fix is courtesy of my PhD computer scientist son.(I have tried to add to his cryptic instructions!)
Background: The CA root certificate expired on 1 October and while most of the time, it would automatically be updated, it seems on some Windows OS it didn’t happen. The process is quite simple but if you are a PC novice, please take advice and get help before proceeding with any of the following:
First, download a new ISRG Root X1 root certificate as a self-signed Der file (from “Let’s Encrypt” website)
1. open cmd as admin (right click cmd, run as administrator)
2. inetcpl.cpl (type it in and press enter – just a shortcut way to open “internet properties” in your IE)
3. content -> certificates -> trusted root certification authorities -> import (click each)
3a browse to where you stored the isrgrootx1.der file you downloaded (change selection to “all files” to see it), select and click open
4. click Next -> Next -> Finish
5, close Certificates
5. click clear ssl state/reboot
Enjoy your friends network again on Steam!
Regards John – Auckland, NZ (currently in government lockdown hell!!)
PS. If this worked for you, please feel free to post to other forums and help other gamers out please.
I didn’t have access to the steam store, also had some problems when patching or installing some other games (valorant) after trying it all didn’t succeed until I found your solution, fixed all my problems, ty ty! you’re a legend.
john i love you mate thank you so much <3
Thank you so much John, your advice is valuable to us and even to other gamers. Feel free to subscribe to our newsletter and stay tuned with us.
Dude, you helped me a lot, it worked!
Ayo did this exact same thing for my friend’s steam friends list issue.
Didn’t work.
hey john is steam working in Iran? cuz i have this problem and tried to update my steam bur there is error which says “”OOPS no servis in your region” something like that.
Auckland NZ here,
Tried the above,
Was not the SSL certs causing the issue for me,
Tried all other above solutions.
Still broken,
Had reinstalled,
Restarted router
Restarted PC
What did fix the issue is I changed my DNS servers on my network adaptor from being dynamic from my router which should be the ISP’s DNS servers by default.
I changed them to Googles public DNS servers,
Resolved the fault immediately.