Solved n00b questions

[justhereforthescenery]

Hi - I have a few questions if anyone can help?

I read a guide from 2021 that with a Quest I should use VD with a special .bat file that I create?
But I found it just worked out the box with SteamVR kicking in, I know performance is a challenge with VAM so is this the best way?

Do I need to set the resolution via the config.bat, or does the game have an automatic resolution it is set to for each headset?

Are there any major differences (mainly performance) between using WIFI or a USB cable?

Thanks

 

[Saint66]

If you use VD, make a batch file like this and place it on your desktop.
Start VD, and from there doubleclick the batch file, it'll bypass Steam.
Don't forget to alter the path to your VAM.exe:

"C:\Program Files\Virtual Desktop Streamer\VirtualDesktop.Streamer.exe" "F:\VR\Clean\VaM.exe"

 

[justhereforthescenery]

Ah thank you, hopefully that will solve the binding issue I was having too.

 

[capta134]

Hi - I have a few questions if anyone can help?

I read a guide from 2021 that with a Quest I should use VD with a special .bat file that I create?
But I found it just worked out the box with SteamVR kicking in, I know performance is a challenge with VAM so is this the best way?

Do I need to set the resolution via the config.bat, or does the game have an automatic resolution it is set to for each headset?

Are there any major differences (mainly performance) between using WIFI or a USB cable?

Thanks

"Are there any major differences (mainly performance) between using WIFI or a USB cable?"

At least in my case, the difference is minimal. I use AT&T Fiber 500. If you use the Virtual Desktop, Wifi should work well enough(and Yes even my Desktop is using Wifi , so zero cables)

The Airlink however gives poor performance. Also when running VAM make sure absolutely no other program runs on your computer.

 

[justhereforthescenery]

Thanks, you say Airlink gives poor performance, I thought Airlink and Wifi were the same?

Is there a difference?

--
So if someone confirm if I understand correctly.

When using Virtual Desktop it uses the Wifi
When using Oculus - it used Airlink or Link Cable (which is also WIFI correct?)

The fact steamVR appears just adds extra complexity which isnt needed (If you are using Quest?)

 

[atani]

@justhereforthescenery
I wouldn't take @capta134's review of Airlink's performance without trying it and reading more about it. I'm saying this not because of experience with Airlink, I don't have a Quest, but because there's confusion on networking understanding and setup. I don't mean to insult in any way, I just want to point out some common misunderstandings:

• AT&T Fiber 500 - this is a subscription with the ISP (Internet Service Provider), completely irrelevant regarding a local network use which is what is happening, unless you're using over the internet which is 99.999% not the typical case;
• Using wifi to connect the PC to the router - if you can connect your PC to a router by cable this is the best solution always, only do it by wifi if a cable connection is not possible or compromise usability considerably.

I'm talking about performance here, so here are some general points that are relevant to that purpose:

• Connect your PC to the router with a gigabit cable connection (cat >5e) if you can. Wifi is fine for doing normal online activities, but use cable for a stable connection, low latency and high speed;
• Ideally you want a close by dedicated router to connect wirelessly to your headset, not the house router that's in another room beaming youtube videos to other people in the house. A decent cheap router solely for this use will outperform a fancy expensive router that is behind a wall sending data to other users;
• See how it's like the wifi network congestion where you are and choose empty channels

These are just some pointers to consider for suitable performance comparisons. Each house and equipment will create a different scenario to test and optimise, but the points above are generally applicable. They also apply if you are comparing USB vs wifi performance (on headset use); here USB is expected to have better performance, but if you have decent conditions for wifi possibly you won't notice a difference.

Hope this helps and that I didn't say anything wrong or too misleading.

 

[SlimerJSpud]

You can check WiFi vs. wired with this:

Speedtest by Ookla - The Global Broadband Speed Test

Use Speedtest on all your devices with our free desktop and mobile apps.

www.speedtest.net

 

[atani]

You can check WiFi vs. wired with this:

Speedtest by Ookla - The Global Broadband Speed Test

Use Speedtest on all your devices with our free desktop and mobile apps.

www.speedtest.net

Hi, @SlimerJSpud
That's for testing the WAN connection, not the LAN that is the relevant part here. Here considering the LAN to be the house network with its subnet(s) and the WAN any network outside of it.

 

[justhereforthescenery]

@justhereforthescenery
I wouldn't take @capta134's review of Airlink's performance without trying it and reading more about it. I'm saying this not because of experience with Airlink, I don't have a Quest, but because there's confusion on networking understanding and setup. I don't mean to insult in any way, I just want to point out some common misunderstandings:

• AT&T Fiber 500 - this is a subscription with the ISP (Internet Service Provider), completely irrelevant regarding a local network use which is what is happening, unless you're using over the internet which is 99.999% not the typical case;
• Using wifi to connect the PC to the router - if you can connect your PC to a router by cable this is the best solution always, only do it by wifi if a cable connection is not possible or compromise usability considerably.

I'm talking about performance here, so here are some general points that are relevant to that purpose:

• Connect your PC to the router with a gigabit cable connection (cat >5e) if you can. Wifi is fine for doing normal online activities, but use cable for a stable connection, low latency and high speed;
• Ideally you want a close by dedicated router to connect wirelessly to your headset, not the house router that's in another room beaming youtube videos to other people in the house. A decent cheap router solely for this use will outperform a fancy expensive router that is behind a wall sending data to other users;
• See how it's like the wifi network congestion where you are and choose empty channels

These are just some pointers to consider for suitable performance comparisons. Each house and equipment will create a different scenario to test and optimise, but the points above are generally applicable. They also apply if you are comparing USB vs wifi performance (on headset use); here USB is expected to have better performance, but if you have decent conditions for wifi possibly you won't notice a difference.

Hope this helps and that I didn't say anything wrong or too misleading.

Thank you, thats really helpful.

I am wired to my Powerlink, which has a 802.11ac 5GHz, curious though, with my router downstairs, will the data first go down to the router, or will it just jump from the Wifi Powerlink to my headset? Any idea?

 

[atani]

I don't know what a Powerlink is.

 

[justhereforthescenery]

I don't know what a Powerlink is.

Ah sorry, its a ethernet over power adapter, it allows me to run ethernet over my power cables in my house.

AV1300 Gigabit Passthrough Powerline ac Wi-Fi Kit

Equipped with three gigabit Ethernet ports, the TL-WPA8631P KIT extends AC1200 dual-band WiFi and a stable gigabit network to every room via your home’s existing electrical wiring.

www.tp-link.com

Ive just done a ping test, and when I go from my desktop to the Oculus I get the following latency, anyone know how it compares?

 

[atani]

I guess the powerline device's wifi is working as a extender, so it would possibly be PC > powerline (cable I hope) > router > powerline (wifi) > headset. With more steps more variables exist to manage.
If the performance is uneven, problematic, slow, etc, and you want to try a simpler network setup, you could simplify all this by getting a new router, put it between your PC and the powerline, and have it as a dedicated wifi broadcaster. This reduces the variables and likely the router is much more capable than the powerline extender regarding wifi for performance.

I made a picture to make this clearer:

If you're happy with the current setup you obviously don't need to change anything, but if you want to have a smaller number of variables to try to improve performance that's my suggestion.

 

[justhereforthescenery]

Yeah you have nailed it, I will try a new router upstairs, as you say, that will help me remove the variables.

Seriously thank you for your help, what an awesome community this is!

Ill report back once I have results.

 

[Saint66]

 

[capta134]

@justhereforthescenery
I wouldn't take @capta134's review of Airlink's performance without trying it and reading more about it. I'm saying this not because of experience with Airlink, I don't have a Quest, but because there's confusion on networking understanding and setup. I don't mean to insult in any way, I just want to point out some common misunderstandings:

• AT&T Fiber 500 - this is a subscription with the ISP (Internet Service Provider), completely irrelevant regarding a local network use which is what is happening, unless you're using over the internet which is 99.999% not the typical case;
• Using wifi to connect the PC to the router - if you can connect your PC to a router by cable this is the best solution always, only do it by wifi if a cable connection is not possible or compromise usability considerably.

I'm talking about performance here, so here are some general points that are relevant to that purpose:

• Connect your PC to the router with a gigabit cable connection (cat >5e) if you can. Wifi is fine for doing normal online activities, but use cable for a stable connection, low latency and high speed;
• Ideally you want a close by dedicated router to connect wirelessly to your headset, not the house router that's in another room beaming youtube videos to other people in the house. A decent cheap router solely for this use will outperform a fancy expensive router that is behind a wall sending data to other users;
• See how it's like the wifi network congestion where you are and choose empty channels

These are just some pointers to consider for suitable performance comparisons. Each house and equipment will create a different scenario to test and optimise, but the points above are generally applicable. They also apply if you are comparing USB vs wifi performance (on headset use); here USB is expected to have better performance, but if you have decent conditions for wifi possibly you won't notice a difference.

Hope this helps and that I didn't say anything wrong or too misleading.

That's been my experience with AirLink versus Virtual Desktop on Quest 3. AirLink consistently yields lower FPS. This observation aligns with some others in this forum who use the Quest. Also in my experience, the Wi-Fi connection of the PC to the network provided results close to those of the wired connection from the PC to the router.

 

[SlimerJSpud]

Hi, @SlimerJSpud
That's for testing the WAN connection, not the LAN that is the relevant part here. Here considering the LAN to be the house network with its subnet(s) and the WAN any network outside of it.

The only reason I suggested this is that if you connect to the WAN by different means through a LAN and see a big difference, you've identified a bottleneck in the LAN. Also, if your ISP is claiming 500 Mbps, and you only see 100, something at the LAN end is choking the data.