Advice on new oculus quest , please

[northwest]

Ok folks . Please can someone help me with my teenage sons Christmas gift. He likes playing on his VR headset on PC ( cables for headset ).
Now he likes the oculus quest or meta quest as wireless and talks about virtual meets that is being developed. Has anyone got one and do they like it? Is it compatible with steam and is he correct about some new virtual studio meets with friends . I'm at work and on shift until Tuesday and my data limited to going online to see videos ect. We had planned on him getting a 3d printer ( my idea ). Ta

 

[big10p]

Not sure what he means by virtual meets. You can play any VR game on Steam as long as you have a PC powerful enough to run the game in question.

 

[northwest]

He was on about metaverse ? His PC has a gtx 1660 card, 16 GB ram and a pretty good CPU. Otherwise he can set on mine . He likes his windows virtual reality kit , but limited to the cable and obstacle room.

 

[big10p]

I confess I'm still not sure what metaverse means when Zuckerberg bangs on about it. However, there's plenty of games and apps where you can meet up with friends in VR. Maybe your son is referring to one such social app called Horizon Worlds.

 

[northwest]

Sounds good . He likes his HP windows mixed reality but the tether is a pain in arse and tangles with his excitement! I know there is a 128 and 256, thinking of the 256 . I will call wife in morning and ask if currys still have stock. Wanted info on if any real negatives .

 

[BrilliantBlue]

With a quest 2, untethered, I think you can only play games from the quest store.
You can also connect it to a suitable pc via usb-c cable but then acts like a rift / rift s and only uses the pc for processing.

 

[tronads]

I haven't used mine in probably a year, but you can definitely play games wirelessly from the PC, but you need a very good Wireless N connection. It behaves the same as cabled when doing so.
Mine is about 5 feet away from the router, as is the PC, so I have no idea about how distance effects it, but I believe its critical its near to a router.

 

[big10p]

With a quest 2, untethered, I think you can only play games from the quest store.
You can also connect it to a suitable pc via usb-c cable but then acts like a rift / rift s and only uses the pc for processing.

No, you can play PCVR games untethered over wifi, but you really need the PC connected to the router using an Ethernet cable, and 5ghz wifi (or even better, wifi6). My gaming PC is in my kitchen, and I can play PCVR games wirelessly in any room in the house.

 

[John Bennett]

I'm glad it's nice thoughts so-far, as I bought a 128MB Quest 2 yesterday for the kids for Christmas.
I need to get an alternative USB cable though as the £90 official cable is a piss-take.

 

[big10p]

I'm glad it's nice thoughts so-far, as I bought a 128MB Quest 2 yesterday for the kids for Christmas.
I need to get an alternative USB cable though as the £90 official cable is a piss-take.

There's certainly cheaper alternatives, but nothing beats playing untethered over wifi.

 

[northwest]

With a quest 2, untethered, I think you can only play games from the quest store.
You can also connect it to a suitable pc via usb-c cable but then acts like a rift / rift s and only uses the pc for processing.

No, you can play PCVR games untethered over wifi, but you really need the PC connected to the router using an Ethernet cable, and 5ghz wifi (or even better, wifi6). My gaming PC is in my kitchen, and I can play PCVR games wirelessly in any room in the house.

Our router (under stairs) is wifi 5ghz to my son PC upstairs , cant get an ethernet cable there due to floor joists and wall . Would this be a problem for him to use wireless downstairs? Would one of those wifi through electrical sockets be beneficial. Thanks for input
Edit: recon I can go under floor downstairs from router to outside and up through wall ( dormer bungalow ) needs must ! northwest2022-12-11 23:46:17

 

[big10p]

With a quest 2, untethered, I think you can only play games from the quest store.
You can also connect it to a suitable pc via usb-c cable but then acts like a rift / rift s and only uses the pc for processing.

No, you can play PCVR games untethered over wifi, but you really need the PC connected to the router using an Ethernet cable, and 5ghz wifi (or even better, wifi6). My gaming PC is in my kitchen, and I can play PCVR games wirelessly in any room in the house.

Our router (under stairs) is wifi 5ghz to my son PC upstairs , cant get an ethernet cable there due to floor joists and wall . Would this be a problem for him to use wireless downstairs? Would one of those wifi through electrical sockets be beneficial. Thanks for input

Hmm, that will probably make playing PCVR games a bit choppy/laggy, but I don't know how bad it would be as I've never tried that kind of setup. You could improve things by getting a gigabit ethernet-over-mains adapter to plug the PC into. It's also recommended to split your 2.4ghz and 5ghz wifi into 2 separate connections on your router (if you haven't already), and only have the Quest connected to 5ghz.

 

[northwest]

Our router is duel 2.4 and 5 , can run both at same time . His PC is the only thing on 5ghz .
Edited last post with idea of ethernet cable going under downstairs floor up outside to his bedroom as dormer bungalow and timber with cladding wall. ( insulation is kingspan) under 18 metres cable imo.

 

[big10p]

BTW, if he's going to be playing PCVR games as well as some native Quest games, I'd get the cheaper 128gb version. Spend the £100 saving on a decent head strap and some games.

 

[northwest]

Thanks for input, will certainly look at a better head strap , not over bothered about extra battery though as over 2 hours is enough on VR anyway with no break, but a better head fitting a must.
This weekend looks like I'm drilling through a downstairs floor and getting a suitable outdoor ethernet cable to his room . Never get a break !

 

[Brettster]

I've had Oculus Rift, Quest1 and now a Quest 2. I play mostly Steam games on it, and you can get away with WiFi 5. so long as you have a good clear line of sight and no interference, if its not ideal then the image quality struggles, just like youtube reduces its resolution. if its really poor then you'll also get latency which will end up ruining the fun or making you throw up!

The official Quest 2 USB C cable is 5m long and very light as it using fiber optics for the signals and can charge the headset at the same time, you can absoltely use a decent 3rd party one but they will be heavier and may struggle to charge the headset while using it, my 3rd party one, can just about supply enough voltage to keep the headset at the battery level it started with, it also has the benefit of the lowest latency and best image quality.

there are quite a few options for head straps now, the basic one is not comfortable for long pla, for me anyway. I use a ViVe head strap, and very happy with it.

Finally you'll need to install the oculus software onto the PC with steam on it. I've heard about a 3rd party software hack that does away with the meta / facebook / quest signin and allows you to direct connect it to Steam. but not tried it yet.

If you can add a wifi 6 access point into the room it will be used, thats your best option!

 

[tronads]

This is the cable I bought....just before they made it wireless compatible.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08FY28Z8F/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It was £16 when I got it, now £20.

 

[northwest]

I've had Oculus Rift, Quest1 and now a Quest 2. I play mostly Steam games on it, and you can get away with WiFi 5. so long as you have a good clear line of sight and no interference, if its not ideal then the image quality struggles, just like youtube reduces its resolution. if its really poor then you'll also get latency which will end up ruining the fun or making you throw up!

The official Quest 2 USB C cable is 5m long and very light as it using fiber optics for the signals and can charge the headset at the same time, you can absoltely use a decent 3rd party one but they will be heavier and may struggle to charge the headset while using it, my 3rd party one, can just about supply enough voltage to keep the headset at the battery level it started with, it also has the benefit of the lowest latency and best image quality.

there are quite a few options for head straps now, the basic one is not comfortable for long pla, for me anyway. I use a  ViVe head strap, and very happy with it.

Finally you'll need to install the oculus software onto the PC with steam on it. I've heard about a 3rd party software hack that does away with the meta / facebook / quest signin and allows you to direct connect it to Steam. but not tried it yet.

If you can add a wifi 6 access point into the room it will be used, thats your best option!

?

 

When you say clear line of site do you mean practicality in the same room as modem / router. This is my issue, as its in the next room. I can get an ethernet to the room so if an ethernet based booster exists then I can adapt, my son really wants wireless on this.

 

[big10p]

I've had Oculus Rift, Quest1 and now a Quest 2. I play mostly Steam games on it, and you can get away with WiFi 5. so long as you have a good clear line of sight and no interference, if its not ideal then the image quality struggles, just like youtube reduces its resolution. if its really poor then you'll also get latency which will end up ruining the fun or making you throw up!

The official Quest 2 USB C cable is 5m long and very light as it using fiber optics for the signals and can charge the headset at the same time, you can absoltely use a decent 3rd party one but they will be heavier and may struggle to charge the headset while using it, my 3rd party one, can just about supply enough voltage to keep the headset at the battery level it started with, it also has the benefit of the lowest latency and best image quality.

there are quite a few options for head straps now, the basic one is not comfortable for long pla, for me anyway. I use a ViVe head strap, and very happy with it.

Finally you'll need to install the oculus software onto the PC with steam on it. I've heard about a 3rd party software hack that does away with the meta / facebook / quest signin and allows you to direct connect it to Steam. but not tried it yet.

If you can add a wifi 6 access point into the room it will be used, thats your best option!

When you say clear line of site do you mean practicality in the same room as modem / router. This is my issue, as its in the next room. I can get an ethernet to the room so if an ethernet based booster exists then I can adapt, my son really wants wireless on this.

If wifi signal quality in a certain room is an issue, you should be able to fix it using a wifi extender/booster. I use these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08QSK84JL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Brettster]

I've had Oculus Rift, Quest1 and now a Quest 2. I play mostly Steam games on it, and you can get away with WiFi 5. so long as you have a good clear line of sight and no interference, if its not ideal then the image quality struggles, just like youtube reduces its resolution. if its really poor then you'll also get latency which will end up ruining the fun or making you throw up!

The official Quest 2 USB C cable is 5m long and very light as it using fiber optics for the signals and can charge the headset at the same time, you can absoltely use a decent 3rd party one but they will be heavier and may struggle to charge the headset while using it, my 3rd party one, can just about supply enough voltage to keep the headset at the battery level it started with, it also has the benefit of the lowest latency and best image quality.

there are quite a few options for head straps now, the basic one is not comfortable for long pla, for me anyway. I use a ViVe head strap, and very happy with it.

Finally you'll need to install the oculus software onto the PC with steam on it. I've heard about a 3rd party software hack that does away with the meta / facebook / quest signin and allows you to direct connect it to Steam. but not tried it yet.

If you can add a wifi 6 access point into the room it will be used, thats your best option!

When you say clear line of site do you mean practicality in the same room as modem / router. This is my issue, as its in the next room. I can get an ethernet to the room so if an ethernet based booster exists then I can adapt, my son really wants wireless on this.

Yes clear line of sight, 5Ghz / WI-FI 6 uses higher freqnencies than 2.4Ghz this gives it much better speed but the range is impacted by things in the way, old houses have thick walls, new houses tend to have metal in the walls, foil on the insulation. so for optimum bandwidth, range etc clear line of sight is always best.

If you can get an ethernet cable to the room, then a Wi-Fi 6 access point will be ideal

i use one of these, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ubiquiti-UniFi-Lite-Access-Point/dp/B08T6CKG5B

but you can get cheaper ones. be aware that you will need a poe injector (Power Over Ethernet power supply) for that type of access point. unless you have a POE switch. which ever you decide to buy, set up the AP with its own SSID and password so that iits used only for the Quest to get the best possible speeds from it.

Also you want to make sure the PC is wired too, at the point you might as well install a small switch, New Ethernet cable to the new switch (with POE) a cable to the PC and another one to the access point (using one of the POE ports) something like this would do the job https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-SG1005P-Ethernet-Configuration-Required/dp/B0769C24T1/ref=sr_1_4?crid=3BOX91EZS6L4O&keywords=poe+switch+4+port&qid=1670856219&sprefix=poe+switch%2Caps%2C755&sr=8-4

Brettster2022-12-12 14:45:24