Valve Working On "SteamVR Link Dongle" For Reliable Wireless PC VR

Valve is working on a "SteamVR Link Dongle", datamining reveals, and it could improve the reliability of wireless PC VR.

VR enthusiast Brad Lynch's Discord datamining group have discovered multiple references to the device and its drivers in SteamVR code, including a vendor and device ID which Lynch claims suggests the device is "being finalized internally".

Currently the Steam Link app for Quest, which datamining suggests will also come to Pico and HTC standalone headsets, leverages your existing home Wi-Fi network for wireless PC VR, as does the built-in Air Link and third-party tools like Virtual Desktop and ALVR.

Using your home Wi-Fi network rather than a dedicated dongle can present several issues, however. The signal can be degraded by the distance to the router and obstacles like solid walls, and frames can be dropped or delivered late if too many other devices are congesting the network.

A dedicated dongle can offer a short range point-to-point connection directly from your PC to your headset, avoiding any network congestion and signal propagation issues. Some VR enthusiasts create this setup themselves with a dedicated extra router, but the network setup process here can be somewhat complex.

Dongles also work well with laptops and where no viable network is available, particularly useful for trade shows and ad-hoc wireless PC VR demo situations.

D-Link VR Air Bridge No Longer Works In Windows 11 24H2

D-Link’s VR Air Bridge wireless PC VR dongle, made in partnership with Meta, no longer works after Windows 11’s 24H2 update, the same update that made Windows MR headsets no longer function.

UploadVRDavid Heaney

In 2022 Meta partnered with D-Link to release such a device, the VR Air Bridge for Quest 2. But limited to 5GHz Wi-Fi 6, it quickly became outdated as Quest Pro and Quest 3 launched with support for 6GHz Wi-Fi 6E. Further, it only worked with Meta's own Air Link by default, requiring extra steps to use with Virtual Desktop.

(UPDATE: D-Link's VR Air Bridge no longer works with the latest major version of Windows 11)

Valve's SteamVR Link Dongle has the potential to truly deliver on the promise of VR Air Bridge, with a future-proof 6GHz Wi-Fi 6E (or perhaps even Wi-Fi 7?) connection directly from your headset to SteamVR, building on the ease of use of Steam Link while boosting its reliability for non-ideal network setups.

Leaker Claims Valve Deckard Set To Launch This Year At $1200

A Valve leaker claims the Valve Deckard headset is set to launch by the end of this year at $1200, including first-party “games or demos”.

UploadVRDavid Heaney

Lynch suggests Valve could include the SteamVR Link Dongle in the box of Deckard, the company's upcoming headset now rumored to be launching this year, and this seems highly likely. But I suspect it could support other standalone headsets too, improving the experience of using SteamVR wirelessly no matter which standalone VR headset you own.