network taking a long time to connect since installing readycache

I’m not a ReadyCache expert, but:

Generally you want to implement caching asap in the boot process to cache as many of the startup hard disk reads as possible.

So, it might help Sandisk work on this to know:

your version of Windows

your disk setup (I assume you are booting and loading everything from one active Windows partition)

any other networking software, like router management software, that’s loading

your security software

anything else that at boot time looks at / works with your network connection.

I have a funny feeling that this is something that would be more easily fixed at the steam end.  Your loading steam after boot is probably the best solution.