Thousands of Gamers Face Downloading GTA 6 for a Week or More

Newport ranked as the worst-hit city. Over a third of speed tests there (35%) fell below 2.8Mbps, and 41% stayed under 9.8Mbps.

Ely (24%), Hereford (17%) and Bath (16%) also face two days of downloading. In Torquay and Bangor, 9% of gamers are expected to wait a week or more.

The download could squeeze the rest of the home network too. Working from home or streaming video may suffer while the console pulls the file.

Broadband Genie's advice

Alex Tofts, a strategist at Broadband Genie, said the pre-load system has limits. "The pre-load window is meant to guarantee day-one access, but it simply won't save everyone," he said.

He added that "no one wants to find themselves stranded a full week behind other players." Slow speeds, he said, can come from factors outside a provider's control.

Tofts offered several practical fixes:

• Log into the router and enable the faster 5 GHz frequency.
• Remove unrecognized devices from the router's connection list.
• Switch off or disconnect idle phones, smart TVs, laptops and tablets, so all bandwidth goes to the console.
• Swap the provider's default DNS server for a fast public one, such as Google Public DNS, in the console's network settings. He said the default server may be congested.
• Turn on the console's sleep or rest mode so downloads continue, and connect by Ethernet cable for steadier speeds.

Both Xbox and PS5 consoles have a rest mode that lets downloads continue. Players who have already started the pre-load can apply the router and console changes right now.