D-Link dongle adds easier wifi VR streaming for Quest 2
UPDATEUpdate from October 4:
D-Link is now shipping VR Air Bridge in the US. The price is 99 US dollars.
Original article from September 5
D-Link announces Quest 2 wireless dongle with awkward marketing
D-Link's "VR Air Bridge" is supposed to enable high-quality VR streaming without router friction.
The VR Air Bridge fulfills a rumor from April that Meta is working on a Quest Wireless Dongle for easy PC VR streaming. The accessory is now announced by D-Link: VR Air Bridge connects directly to the Quest 2 via Wi-Fi 6, and the dongle connects to the PC via USB 3.2 Gen 1. D-Link promises a high data throughput with low latency.
Quest 2 wireless dongle should simplify VR streaming
In principle, you do not need the dongle because the Quest 2 can also be connected to the PC via a WLAN router and receive PC VR games wirelessly. However, the quality of VR streaming can vary depending on the quality of your home network, the number of devices on the network, the location of the router, the distance, and line of sight to the headset, and other factors. You can read how well Air Link works in our Air Link latency test.
The D-Link dongle is designed to take all of these variables out of the equation and provide the best possible wireless streaming quality by connecting directly to the VR headset.
D-Link does not mention a price or release date. Meta has yet to officially comment on the dongle, but may do so on Oct. 11 at its annual XR conference, Meta Connect.
D-Link mocks Virtual Desktop
Embarrassingly, a marketing image from D-Link targets the popular VR desktop software "Virtual Desktop". It offers - among many other features - high-quality wireless streaming via a router. VR Desktop has been available for years and enabled wireless streaming long before Meta's official Air-Link software.
Guy Godin, the developer of Virtual Desktop, firmly believes that he provided Meta with the software blueprint for wireless streaming. The company even forced him to remove wireless streaming from his app before Air Link was launched.
D-Link illustrates a promotional image with "Virtual Desktop," which is said to offer less wireless performance than the dongle solution. | Image: D-Link
On Twitter, Godin bluntly criticizes the D-Link ad: "The fact that Meta Quest and D-Link need to shit on the developer who showed them wireless PCVR was viable in the first place is just gold."
Instead, he advises buying a high-quality router (Netgear WAX202, TP-Link A6), which is probably cheaper than "this overpriced USB dongle."
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