Show Owners of the Oculus Quest and Oculus Quest 2 know just how good the truly wireless experience is. What they may not know, however, is how their gaming PC could transform these devices into an Oculus Rift and enable even grander-scale VR experiences. Our step-by-step guide will show you the easiest path to using your Oculus Quest as a PC VR headset, as well as introduce a few ways to keep the experience truly wireless. The best part is that your PC will be storing all the games needed, so you can opt for the less expensive Oculus Quest 2 128GB. Let's get started with how to play SteamVR on Oculus Quest. With Virtual Desktop (wireless)(Image credit: Nick Sutrich / Android Central)Virtual Desktop is our method of choice for playing PC VR games on your Oculus Quest or Oculus Quest 2 because it offers the greatest number of options and a wide range of customizations. Virtual Desktop isn't a free application, but the $20 price point will get you the best wireless experience available. Alternatively, Oculus Air Link now offers a similar experience for free. When you connect an Oculus Quest 2 to a Wi-Fi 6 network, Virtual Desktop can provide even higher quality visuals with lower latency. Virtual Desktop now supports streaming directly from your PC to your Oculus Quest without the need for additional patches that were once required. That means all you'll need to do is install Virtual Desktop on your Quest, then get the streaming app installed on your computer. Whichever Oculus Quest you use, make sure to buy the correct Oculus Quest version of Virtual Desktop, which can be found on the Oculus Store and is linked above. The Steam and Oculus Rift versions of Virtual Desktop won't do the same thing. Once you've purchased that, put your Oculus Quest on and get Virtual Desktop installed:
Head over to your gaming PC now
Time to put the Oculus Quest on your head and get started
Enjoy wireless SteamVR on your Oculus Quest or Oculus Quest 2! With Oculus Air Link (wireless)(Image credit: Android Central) Oculus Air Link launched as part of the April v28 Oculus update and became available to all Oculus Quest and Oculus Quest 2 gamers on April 23, 2021. Oculus Air Link is a free addition to the Oculus ecosystem and enables players to play PC VR games completely wirelessly on their Oculus Quest or Quest 2 via their home's Wi-Fi network. Air Link works just fine on a Wi-Fi 5 network, but the best Wi-Fi 6 routers will give you the best experience since they'll allow for a higher bit rate and frame rate.
The option to enable Oculus Air Link should automatically appear if your Oculus Quest 2 is at least on software version 28. If you still don't see the option to enable Oculus Air link, here's how to enable Oculus Air Link an alternative way. Now, put your Quest or Quest 2 on and power it up With your PC powered up and the Oculus Rift software running, get your Quest powered on and put it on.
Adjusting Oculus Air Link settings and returning to Quest HomeWhen you're all done playing PC VR games, it's pretty easy to return to the world of Quest.
From here, you can adjust the bit rate of the wireless stream. Slower Wi-Fi networks will want to keep the dynamic bit rate on the lower side, as too high of a bit rate can create stutters and other visual problems that might make you sick. Faster wireless networks can bring the slider up to increase the visual quality of the stream. If you've got a high-speed wireless network, you can even opt for a fixed bit rate for a more consistent cable-like experience. (Image credit: Android Central)When you're ready to quit, just select the quit button from this menu. Enjoy wireless SteamVR on your Oculus Quest or Oculus Quest 2! With an Oculus Link cable (wired)(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)While wireless is the preferable solution, wiring up your Oculus Quest or Quest 2 with an Oculus Link cable might be the best solution if you don't have a strong Wi-Fi network at home. A dedicated cable can provide a consistently great experience because it's not going to be affected by network congestion in the way a wireless solution might. To get started, all you'll need is a USB Type-C cable to plug your Oculus Quest into your computer. The $80 Oculus Link cable will offer the highest quality experience and is officially recommended by Oculus. You can also opt for the best Oculus Link cable alternatives (opens in new tab) to save you money or connect via USB-A port, instead. Once you've got the cable, follow these instructions.
Now it's time for you to experience just how good PC VR can be! You're all set!No matter how you get there, whether it's by connecting a wire or setting up one of the excellent wireless experiences, it's now better than ever to turn your Oculus Quest into an Oculus Rift and play super-powered PC VR games. Nick started with DOS and NES and uses those fond memories of floppy disks and cartridges to fuel his opinions on modern tech. Whether it's VR, smart home gadgets, or something else that beeps and boops, he's been writing about it since 2011. Reach him on Twitter or Instagram @Gwanatu |