Playing online with your PlayStation 4, do you feel like you are endlessly waiting for the update of your favorite game to finish? Or maybe that scarce hour that you think you can dedicate to a good game on PS4 every time skips often because yet another system update is required? Quiet, I understand you very well! When downloads from the PlayStation 4 go inexorably slow and you just want to play it is a very nerve-wracking situation. Not to mention when you need to download a full game!
What to do then? Is it possible that there is really nothing to be done to deal with this problem? Well, if your internet connection isn’t very fast, sadly you can’t work miracles. If, on the other hand, you have a good connection and are just looking for tips on speeding up downloads on PS4 to get faster into action when games or the operating system require updates, there are several things you can do.
From changing DNS servers to changing the connection method your PlayStation uses to using a proxy server, there are several tips and tricks you can try to put into practice. Try them now and you won’t regret it. Having said that, I just have to wish you a good reading and, above all, a good download!
Index
- Preliminary information
- How to speed up downloads on PS4
- Connect the PS4 via cable
- Boost the Wi-Fi signal
- Use a proxy server
- Use the download in sleep mode
- Change DNS on PS4
- More tips for speeding up downloads on PS4
Preliminary information
Understanding what is the problem that slows down the downloads of games and other content on PS4, is an operation that requires some patience, as you have to do several checks and proceed by trial and error.
First of all, it is very important to take into account the speed of your Internet connection, because if this is low or obviously unstable it means that all the devices in use, PS4 included, can understandably have problems with downloads.
First of all, therefore, I suggest you follow my guide on how to do a speed test , so that you can check the download and upload speeds and the values of other important parameters of your connection.
It is a good idea to make sure, throughout the tests, that the other devices connected to your router’s network are not carrying out intense download and upload activities, which could affect the results.
At the end of the test, if there are no particular problems on the network, you can try to put my tips into practice to increase the speed of downloads on PS4; otherwise you have to contact your operator and have the problems that obviously exist on the network resolved.
Another important thing that I advise you to do is to check the connection settings of the PS4 : only in this way will you always have a clear idea of the type of connection and the speed in downloading and uploading detected on your console.
From the PS4 main menu, then press the up arrow on the controller and move to the right, until you reach the Settings menu . Then go to Network> Check Internet Connection and wait for the check of the Internet connection and PlayStation Network servers to start .
By the way, always consider whether your download problems are occasional or constant. In case of occasional problems, always remember to check that it is not a PSN problem that is not dependent on your connection. For this purpose there is the status page of the PlayStation online services.
How to speed up downloads on PS4
After having done the preliminary checks of the case, it’s time to get to work by trying a series of operations aimed at speeding up downloads on PS4 : I sincerely hope they can be of help.
Connect the PS4 via cable
It may seem like the most trivial operation of the century but I assure you that connecting the PS4 via cable could be the end of your download problems. In fact, the Wi-Fi signal could arrive with a low power or disturbed to the PS4, this is because it encounters real physical obstacles, in addition to the fact that it is compromised by the same distance between router and console.
In many cases, although it is possible to connect the PS4 directly via cable to the router / modem, this choice is not preferred for the convenience of not using cables. Despite this, if you’re having trouble with your downloads and have the option to connect your PS4 to your home network via cable, I highly recommend you do this test.
Just use a normal Ethernet network cable . And if the PS4 is located far from the router, you could have a pair of Powerline adapters : if you’ve never heard of them, these are devices that plug into power outlets to carry the Internet signal from one room to another without speed losses (provided you have a good electrical system).
By connecting one adapter to the router (via Ethernet cable) and one to the PS4 (again via Ethernet cable) you may have the full power wired connection on the console even if it is far from the router. Convenient, right? You can find more information about this in my tutorial on how the Powerline works .
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Once you have connected the Ethernet cable to the appropriate input on the back of the PS4, from the main menu of the console, go to the Settings menu , then follow the path Network> Configure Internet connection> Use a network cable (LAN) .
At this point, select the Typical option and, within seconds, the console should be connected to the internet via Ethernet.
Boost the Wi-Fi signal
Is connecting by cable the PS4 not a viable option at all for you? No problem, fortunately modern Wi-Fi networks are able to have a fairly stable and powerful signal even in the presence of thick walls, distance from one floor to another or distance from the Wi-Fi antenna of the router / modem, provided that however use the right precautions.
What tools am I referring to? Simple, to the Wi-Fi signal repeaters , which, if connected to normal household power sockets, create new access points or extend the signal range of an existing access point. You can find out more about it in my buying guide dedicated to Wi-Fi repeaters .
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Clearly, you may not need the Wi-Fi repeater if you have the ability to bring the console closer to the router . In addition, you could try to change the channel to the Wi-Fi signal to change the radio channel used by the router / modem to transmit the connection signal: this procedure, in fact, in some cases greatly improves the performance of wireless networks.
For more details, read my guide on how to change channels to Wi-Fi . Also, if yours is a PS4 Slim or PS4 Pro and your router is a dual-band router with support for 5GHz networks, you could also try connecting to the 5GHz Wi-Fi network instead of the 2.4GHz one, which like known is more prone to interference.
If you have an unlimited data plan on your mobile or have a 4G modem , you might also want to think about connecting your PS4 to a hotspot and dealing with some urgent downloads in this way. But be careful, because PS4 games and system updates consume a lot of Giga and you could run into unwanted costs on the phone bill.
Use a proxy server
Using a proxy server is one that has had some popularity among PS4 users, which apparently manages to really speed up downloads on the Sony console (while not working miracles, this is always good to clarify).
A proxy server is a kind of “bridge”, also called a gateway, for accessing the Internet. Essentially, by creating a proxy server on a local computer, the request speed for packets to download from the PSN should increase, leading to an overall reduction in download times on the console.
How do you say? Would you like to try this solution? So first you have to download the CCProxy program on your PC: to do this, connect to the download page of the latter and click on the word Download corresponding to the CCProxy v [number.version] (release-date) entry . When the download is complete, open the .exe file obtained and, in the window that opens, click first on Next four times and then on Install and Finish , to complete the setup.
At this point, start the program, click on the Allow access button and open the Options menu (represented by a gray gear icon) to take note of the Local IP value . A second data that you must memorize, as it is required later by the procedure for configuring the connection from PS4, is that of the port , which you can find next to the HTTP / RTSP item .
With these values at hand, feel free to click the OK button to return to the main menu and make sure the Start button in the top left is non-clickable and grayed out. Well, remember to leave the program open and move on to the PS4 setup.
On the PlayStation 4 , go to the Settings menu and choose the Network item . Now select the items Configure Internet connection> Wi-Fi network / connection via LAN> Custom and proceed by choosing Automatic for the IP address settings , then Do not specify for DHCP and set again to Automatic both for the DNS values and for those of MTU .
The next setting is the one concerning the Proxy Server then choose the Use option and enter the information you have kept from the CCProxy program so as to conclude the procedure by pressing the X button on the controller on the Next and Verify Internet connection items .
However, I remind you that by changing the IP address of your proxy server, the PS4 will no longer be able to connect to the Internet and you will have to repeat the procedure again. In this regard, my suggestion is to use the proxy server only if you notice improvements and only when you need to make important downloads (in terms of weight and need for use).
Use the download in sleep mode
Did you know that you can take advantage of the time you don’t use your PS4 to continue downloads? That’s right: this is the download in sleep mode (or automatic downloads ). This preference must be selected from the menu Settings> Power Saving Settings> Set Functions Available in Sleep Mode .
The box to be checked, by pressing the X key of the pad, is the one corresponding to the wording Stay connected to the Internet . By doing so, whenever you put your PS4 into sleep mode, the download will not stop. A solution that applies to both downloading content and app and firmware updates. In case you still don’t know how to put your PS4 to rest mode, I’ll explain in this tutorial how to use it.
I am sure you will find great benefit from this solution as it is an alternative way to speed up downloads from the PS4 by taking advantage of the time of non-use of the console so as to have everything ready for the resumption of your leisure sessions!
Change DNS on PS4
An operation that does not speed up downloads, but can help speed up contact with the servers on which the files to be downloaded are located, is to change the DNS servers . I understand that this acronym might scare you, but the Domain Name System is practically the system that assigns names to the nodes of the Network, a sort of translator of IP addresses.
It follows that when you connect to a remote resource, such as content to be downloaded from a site, the faster the DNS “translates” the address, the faster the connection to the node can be.
If you want to try to change the DNS of the PS4, from the main menu press the up arrow and scroll to the Settings menu , then access it and select the Network menu . From here, go to Configure Internet Connection , choose whether to connect to a Wi-Fi network or to use Connection via LAN and choose the Custom option .
At this point, enter the IP address of the router and the one to assign to the PS4: you have to choose one “close” to that of your router. For example, if the router has the address 192.168.1.1 , you must assign an address such as 192.168.1.xx to the console , where instead of xx you must enter two numbers of your choice.
Then proceed by entering the value 255.255.255.0 in Subnet mask and in Default gateway set the DNS values by choosing one of those from Google , Cloudflare or OpenDNS , as they are among the fastest available. The remaining settings to select are MTU in automatic and do not use proxy server .
This is essentially the method of changing DNS from the PS4. Nonetheless, if you wish, it is possible to deepen the subject with my guide on the best PS4 DNS , in which I deal with the subject in a more specific way.
More tips for speeding up downloads on PS4
In this chapter I want to give you some more practical tips to perform directly from your PS4 and which can prove useful in speeding up the download of content. Take them as “tricks” that with little effort could give you the desired result.
The first tip is to keep your PS4 updated to the latest version of the system released by Sony. To update the firmware, just keep the console connected to the Internet, which automatically alerts you when an update is available for download and installation.
If you are having difficulty updating your PS4, please refer to my guide dedicated to the topic. If your console is not updated it means that you are not getting the most out of the user and gaming experience!
A second piece of advice I give you is to close running apps . And by app, I also mean games. In general, what you need to do is not to play online titles while downloading content, nor to use applications such as Netflix and the like. Why this? Because playing games or using apps consumes bandwidth, so it can reduce overall download and upload performance.
If you are in the game or inside an app and want to stop it, use the PlayStation button on the controller in the center, holding it down until the context menu opens, then select Close applications and press the X button to confirm. Always remember to save the game though!
If you notice any quirks or difficulties in closing apps with this method, an alternative is to turn off the PS4 completely, as I explained to you in my tutorial on the subject .
One last tip concerns the correct management of downloads. In particular, if you want content to download faster, then you should make sure you only download this and don’t start other downloads at the same time.
What if you’ve already started multiple downloads? Don’t worry, the solution in this case is to manage the download queue . After starting the download of a content from the PSN, return to the PS4 main menu and press the Options button on the controller on the icon of the content to be deleted , then select the delete item from the context menu.
The order of the content you see in the PlayStation 4 main menu is where the downloads occur, so it’s really easy to cancel the download of the content you prefer to postpone.
Finally, another method you can use is to pause and restart the download by going to the Notifications menu from the main menu and selecting the Download item . At this point, to stop the download, just press the X button on the controller. To restart it, press the same button again over the same content.
Finally, if you are still having connection problems, you can also try to practice my guide on how to improve the connection on PS4 and, in case of lag problems, also my tutorial on how to lower the ping on PS4 .
