How to Fix Valorant's Download Speed Stuck at 0.1KB/s on Windows

If Valorant's download speed has become unbearably slow, there are some ways you can get it back up to speed on Windows.

Valorant is a popular first-person hero shooter developed by Riot Games, so there are always new people downloading the game for the first time. However, for many users, the Valorant download gets stuck on an excruciatingly slow download rate of 0.1KB/s.

If you also encounter the same problem, consider trying the below solutions to resolve the issue for good.

Why Does Valorant's Download Get Stuck on 0.1KB/s?

A weak internet connection is one of the primary reasons why Valorant downloading gets stuck on 0.1KB/s. However, it's not the only potential cause. There are many more culprits that can be responsible for the problem:

1. If there's an ongoing issue with the DNS server, it can affect your Valorant download speed.
2. Windows Defender Firewall can block some necessary Riot Client services and cause this slow download problem.
3. The problem can also appear due to outdated or corrupt network drivers.

Thankfully, you can quickly resolve the problem with a few simple fixes.

1. Restart the Download

Let's start with the basic but most effective solution—restarting the download. As it turns out, the problem can result from a temporary glitch in the Riot Client. In this situation, just give the download a restart and check if it solves the issue.

2. Check Your Internet Connection

The Riot Client will fail to download or update Valorant if you are connected to a weak and unstable internet connection. You can check internet stability and speed by visiting an internet speed checking website. If you notice that you are getting a comparatively lower speed, try rebooting the router.

If power cycling the router didn't improve your download speeds, contact your ISP and ask that they resolve the problem.

3. Close Any Applications That Use a Lot of Bandwidth

Valorant's download speed may reduce to a crawl if you are running too many bandwidth-consuming applications in the background. Such applications will constantly consume the internet, directly affecting the download speed. As a solution, close all such applications from the background using the Task Manager.

Here's how to do it.

1. OpenTask Manager using the Ctrl + Shift + Esc hotkey.
2. In the Processes tab, click on the Network category's name. This will automatically sort all of your applications in order of their bandwidth usage.
3. Right-click on all the unneccessary bandwidth-consuming applications and choose End Task from the context menu.
   

Launch the Riot Client, start the downloading process, and check if the problem continues.

4. Switch to Google's DNS Server

The Riot Client will struggle to initiate the downloading process if your current DNS server is unstable. You can try switching to a different DNS server to eliminate the problem.

While there are plenty of public DNS servers you can swap to, Google's servers are one of the most popular choices. As such, our guide will cover connecting to Google's DNS. If you want a different one, be sure to check out the best DNS servers for improved online safety and replace the IP addresses in the guide below with your chosen server.

1. Open Settings using Win + I hotkeys.
2. Choose Network & internet from the left pane.
3. Click on Wi-Fi > Hardware Properties.
4. Click on Edit next to DNS server assignment.
   
5. Click on the drop-down icon under Edit DNS settings, and choose Manual from the context menu.
6. As per your DNS provider, choose IPv4 or IPv6.
7. If you choose IPv4, enter 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 in Preferred and Alternate DNS servers, respectively.
8. If you choose IPv6, enter 2001:4860:4860::8888 and 2001:4860:4860::8844 in Preferred and Alternate DNS servers, respectively.
   
9. Click on Save.

Check if you are still facing the problem.

5. Allow the Riot Client to Communicate Through the Windows Defender Firewall

The issue can pop up if the Riot Client is blocked under Windows Defender's settings. As such, you can try whitelisting the Riot Client in the firewall settings to get rid of the issue. Here's how to do it:

1. Open the Start Menu, type Firewall and Network protection, and press Enter.
2. Click on Allow an app through the firewall.
3. Checkmark both Private and Public boxes next to Riot Client.
   
4. Click on OK to save the changes.

Try to download Valorant and check if the problem continues. If yes, try the next solution on the list.

6. Flush the DNS Cache

The DNS cache stores data of all your computer's DNS queries for future use. However, if the DNS cache gets corrupt for some reason, it can cause connection issues.

As a solution, you will have to clear the DNS cache data. Clearing the DNS cache will flush all the IP addresses and the DNS records. Here's how to flush the DNS cache on Windows 11.

1. Open Command Prompt.
2. Type ipconfig /flushdns and press Enter.
   

Wait until you see the message "Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache." After that, reboot the system and check for the problem.

7. Update Your Network Drivers

An outdated or corrupt network driver can also cause connection issues. When you experience a network-related issue, updating your network driver sometimes fixes the problem.

Here are the steps for downloading the latest network drivers:

1. Open Device Manager using one of the many ways to open the Device Manager.
2. Double-click on Network adapters.
3. Right-click on the installed network driver, and choose the Update driver option.
   
4. Click on Search automatically for drivers.

Windows will now look for and install the best available network driver for the system. Once the update process is complete, reboot the system and check if the problem is fixed or not.

8. Change Riot Client Priority

The next solution on the list is to change the priority of Riot Client. After changing the priority to high, Windows will give more importance to Riot Client, automatically fixing the problem at hand.

Here are the steps you need to follow.

1. Open the Task Manager.
2. Switch to the Details tab.
3. Right-click on RiotClientServices.exe, hover the cursor to Set priority, and choose High from the context menu.
   

Relaunch the client, and you will notice that you are no longer facing the problem.

Valorant Downloading Issue Fixed

It's a very straightforward process to download or update Valorant using the Riot Client. But the client can run into issues from time to time as well.

If the Valorant download or update gets stuck on 0.1KB/s, feel free to use the above solutions. But in the worst-case scenario, if nothing worked, consider connecting with the Riot Games support team.