D-LINK VR Air Bridge Review - Does it actually work?

[@JetScreamer_YT]

I feel like there's something that already exists like this, or could be made from an old router. I just think that they're adding the term VR to charge more.

[@meejmuas8686]

I have it. Same latency as my ASUS AX RT-55. UPDATE: Ive since tested Virtual Desktop on 65mhz channel and this has by far surpassed the performance of Dlink VR Air. Asus router had zero lag spikes while Dlink still threw in 300+ms lag spikes. And Virtual Desktop plays Steam games flawlessly while VR Air has trouble playing some Steam games. Flr visual fidelity, Virtual Desktop seemed to have less issues with video compression and it looks much nicer. I did kick everyone off the 5ghz bandwidth of my router too.

[@meejmuas8686]

The thing is still the compression that happens through Air Link and Dlink VR Air. The image and color still feels more natural if games are run natively. When I feel I need visual fidelity, I still go PCVR with HP Reverb G2 instead of my Quest 2

[@DLeonard716]

@@meejmuas8686 this was extremely helpful to me, thank you!

[@Acrophobia2]

Wait why would you ever want the link over the ASUS? I figured it was cheaper, but the ASUS router you use is the same price! Edit: The ASUS page is wrong. It is 30 USD more for the router. Still seems like it would be worth it though.

[@meejmuas8686]

@@Acrophobia2 I had bought the router a few weeks prior and still got lag spikes. When I saw that Dlink VR Air had this offering, I also bought that. I fiddled with both and found out that it was actually the channel frequency that made all yhe difference for signal quality using the router. Dlink VR Air still had lag spikes whereas the router and channel setup had zero lag spikes

[@Acrophobia2]

@@meejmuas8686 oh okay. I’m trying to decide. you have been very helpful!

[@bigearsinc.7201]

I got mine this christmas and let me tell you, when it works, it works flawlessly. But when it doesn't it takes hours to troubleshoot. The only way I can get it to work is to uninstall the oculus app off my pc, re install it, factory reset the air bridge, and restart my quest. Then I get one playtime of playing, the next time I use it I have to do all this again. Id definetly recommend just getting a 40 dollar personal router instead of the dongle.

[@vigamortezadventures7972]

Honestly could be the oculus quest 2 itself I’ve gotten kicked of my regular wifi connection before ..

[@mainsource8030]

@@vigamortezadventures7972 nope its the air bridge

[@vigamortezadventures7972]

In my opinion this is better than router .router has higher chances to lag communicating between the PC and Oculus while competing with other devices whereas the D-LINK is connected directly to your PC.

[@LiamYager]

also the ability to transport it. I bring my headset to my buddies house frequently. Very easy to bring this along,

[@highwayheroes907]

5:24 at this part mine gets stuck at 2% and I don’t know why. It shows a pop up after saying: VR Air Bridge was disconnected during setup. Please re-connect your VR air bridge and try again. I don’t know why but it’s rlly annoying

[@maxwheatley4497]

Virtual desktop hasn't been running well for a while now. I used to love it but now I need the cable

[@Htimez2]

and of course a company like virtual desktop would not recommend using a device that makes them obsolete lol

[@Htimez2]

I bought one and then before opening was wondering if I really needed it and this video answered my question, its slightly faster, I don't want to reconfigure my router and I have 19 smart devices etc connected to the same router so his information quickly led me to the conclusion it was good that I bought this and heck ill open it and I still have a return window with amazon should I run into any issues or anything that suggests its not going to give me the connection I am looking for.

[@Jeka85]

hey, I wonder if you did some more testing since this. does it still work as it should? did you have any prolonged playing sessions? thanks

[@OptimisticMonkey]

Does it work with Quest Pro?

[@zackapril1135]

Nice video. How did you capture that graph of Network, i wanna test the stability of my router. Thanks

[@Smilxy.]

Does this require a good connection to work? Because I only get like 20 mbps Wi-Fi speed. SO i just want to know if this will work for me.

[@cbutters]

you could have NO internet connection and this would still work for non-multiplayer games, it lets you network your Headset to your Computer, the internet connection is its own thing.

[@Smilxy.]

@@cbutters so I cant play games like beat Saber with friend's while using it

[@cbutters]

@@Smilxy. You can. I'm just saying that your "20mbps Wi-Fi" speed is irrelevant when asking if the AIR bridge works because your "20 mbps Wifi Speed" is a separate connection not related to the air bridge connection that is streaming the image data between the computer and the quest 2. Your computer will get is 20mbps wifi from your access point and router and run the game on the computer; multiplayer or not, and then the air bridge will run a separate wifi connection sending the image data from the computer to the headset and the motion data from the headset to the computer. Or if you're still not understanding; Pretend you have the link cable connecting your headset and computer; that cable's data stream is independent of your internet connection right? That cable connects those two no matter if your internet is connected or not. Thats what the air bridge device essentially does, it acts like a cable for you. If you can play games like beat saber with friends right now over your 20mbps internet, you can continue to do so even if you were to be using the air bridge device.

[@marcodena4679]

@@cbutters Man thank you i see nobody seems to understand this point. They had me buying a wifi dongle i did not need, plus hours trying to set up something that did not make sense. However, i did learn something and now i am sure i will buy this device.

[@davidhawley9291]

Bought this product, and it was far from a plug-and-play situation, much more pain than your experience, and i havent even managed the "play" part. I don't know if your computer is connected to internet via Ethernet or not, but mine is not, and activating the D-Link air bridge (required for oculus to even recognize it) caused my PC's Network Interface Card to disable itself, automatically, causing the install on the Oculus app to hang at 2% and then fail. I only bypassed this by allowing shared network usage between the D-Link and my network card, but even once it was set up and read as active by Oculus, I was unable to connect via airlink with the connection provided. Not sure what I'm doing wrong here.

[@temmmmmmmp]

Supposedly if you’re using the air bridge, you can ONLY have you computer connected to the internet through Ethernet or else the dongle won’t work. (At least, that’s what the website seems to say)

[@someguywithamustache7235]

@@temmmmmmmp so this dongle is useless 🤣

[@DaveRoscoe]

My install of the device would NOT work unless I had admin privileges. I was never asked for elevated permissions, but it would just get stuck at 2% and then error out. Once I added my account to admin group, the install went fine.

[@VRNosy]

My internet cuts out every time I try to install, it gets to 20% and then errors out. It worked the first set up, and somehow randomly once sense then. What do you mean once you added your account to admin group? My account on my windows is an admin account btw.

[@thedirtydoom]

@@VRNosy Hey, if this problem still persists for you, i may have found a solution in another comment on this video. Is your computer connected Via Ethernet? Because if it's connected via WiFi, that might be the problem.

[@cyclone0001]

I’m wondering can I get this and be able to play in a different part of my house with a bigger play space? My idea is getting a usb 3.0 active cable and extend it out from my computer close enough to my split level basement that has a lot more room. Is this possible?

[@cbutters]

It may work but they recommend line of sight. Edit: oh you mean extend with USB cables.... could work... not too far though

[@Htimez2]

DId you try it lol, just curious after reading this comment. I would think it would work since the usb is plugged into your computer and you will be near the wifi dongle, but yeah too long of a cable coule theoretically slow the connection some. Overall I bet it worked though if you tried it.

[@cyclone0001]

@@Htimez2 No, never did and don’t need to now. I upgraded to the quest 3 and now have a mesh 6E network connected directly to my computer. I recently got an ASUS laptop with a 3050 TI that I could take to a bigger space and connect the vr bridge adapter if I so choose or if I took my headset somewhere else like a relatives house for a family gathering. Plus Steamlink effectively made the VR bridge irrelevant as it works pretty well even if the computer isn’t directly wired to the router but my computer is in the same room so that’s a factor. We shall see eventually.

[@MekaniQ]

For someone having a laptop with no Ethernet port (can't use VD in my case). The price is questioning me tho.

[@cbutters]

I have great news for you, search for a usb-c to ethernet adapter on amazon; they are like 10 bucks and work great for this. I use one on my laptop all the time for doing virtual desktop.

[@MekaniQ]

@@cbutters Does this work with a Thunderbolt 4 port, cause this is the only port I do have I will look forward to it thanks 👍

[@serv3322]

Great review, what bitrate setting did you have Airlink set to?

[@cbutters]

200mbps

[@meejmuas8686]

Mine is set at 200 mbps constantly. Handles that fine without issue

[@dasfreakster]

Just got the D-Link. Is the blue light supposed to stay on all the time or just flash once in a while?

[@crapcakes100]

Any issues connecting with the internet? I want this for VRChat.

[@cbutters]

no issues. vrchat works fine.

[@abedahl4448]

Will this work okay if I only have USB 3.0 ?

[@TheGarondorf]

Hi can you tell me if this device will work if our computer is in my son's room and I want to play my quest 2 in my front room which is downstairs about fifteen feet away. Plus my router is in this same room?

[@dragonclawcreations4817]

Does anyone know what the range is on this, my pc is in my office with practically no space, but I have a room down the hall that is fully open but not sure if this will reach that far. It's around 90 feet away.

[@clintcordero]

I also want to know if this will work

[@unused0011]

Does anybody have a UK alternative? can't believe this is still only available in north america.

[@dankwedd_yt8197]

If I use air bridge can I still talk to my friends on discord as well?

[@HunterTinsley]

Do you NEED the dock, or can you plug the bridge directly into your PC?

[@cbutters]

the little dock comes with it, but you CAN plug it directly into your PC, but line of sight will improve the connection.

[@IrocZIV]

I wonder how picky it is about extension cables. Could be nice to be able to move it into another room.

[@jpawhees]

I'm fairly certain that an active usb 3.2 extention cable would work for 15 feet or more.

[@markrichards7452]

It works poorly thru walls sadly.

[@markrichards7452]

It works best with a line of sight or as close as you can get to that

[@Alejandro_Arellano]

Can't get it to work :/ connects to the wifi but the headset says it's offline

[@lightningplasma]

can you play steam VR games with the d-link wireless?

[@cbutters]

Yes

[@ViliusJ]

Does this work with VD?

[@coprice94]

No lol

[@crawdadio18]

@@coprice94 Yes it does. I have to say I almost never used link for anything until today. I got mine in and link is super smooth with alyx cranked all the way up to max on a 3090. Virtual desktop had a rare stutter here and there still and my framerates were a little bit less stable in alyx. I think in general the sharpening in link is better now and the colors seem slightly less muted to me. This may have converted me to link for the majority of my gaming.

[@arlequin241]

I mean I have a fiber connection with wifi mesh, but literally everything in my house is connected to it, I don't have issues using airlink, even though I'm not hardwired and my router is in the other room, but I much prefer a dedicated solution if it improves quality and latency.

[@GucciGamerTV]

We’re you able to play online games using it?

[@cbutters]

Yes

[@LukeBuzzard]

I am trying to setup and once I hit pair with vr airbridge in the headset nothing happens. Did you get a pairing code? That was not shown in the video. Thx

[@rav3n595]

Had similar issue. Disabled antivirus and the headset connected to the Air Bridge right away. We did get a pairing code, but it was auto-filled and didn't require any action from us. Took us two hours to figure out that the antivirus was the cause of all of our problems. Hope it works for you.

[@LukeBuzzard]

@@rav3n595 no matter what I try I do not get a pairing code. Meta support says they are aware of this problem and will need fixed in an update. Nice little paperweight for now 8 guess.

[@AD-zc2ug]

Hi, from where you bought it ? because it's not available in Amazon or ebay. If from d-link website, how many days it took ?

[@cbutters]

dlink direct

[@Htimez2]

Amazon sell it now, thats were I got mine.

[@LuxxyOfficial]

0:16 wouldn't really say it's available to the common consumer yet considering it's locked to us and ca citizens only last time i checked.

[@cbutters]

Didn't realize it wasn't a worldwide launch, thanks for the additional information.

[@Layarion]

can you do a tutorial on how to connect a 1 ethernet port PC to two routers? one router is for internet, and the other is dedicated to VR. i'm thinking, the pc would have to use a switch, and connect to the dedicated router and the internet router at the same time...would like to see measured data like you did on here as well. i wanna know what problems you can run into, like if it makes non-vr play on the PC stuttery because of interfeance from the switch and so on.

[@dhkatz_]

I have done a setup that is probably what you want. You have your main router A which is hooked up to your modem, your second router B closer to your VR setup. Simply connect router B to router A. You can then configure router B to be in bridge mode, which essentially means that router B just passes through the connection of router A. This is important to avoid issues like dual NAT and multiple DHCP servers. Now you just plug your PC into router B.

[@Ballissle]

​@dhkatz_ what if router B is too far from Router A to connect directly to it? Is there any way to have pc connect to router A over WiFi while router B is dedicated to vr direct to PC wired?

[@mrkilljoy8290]

Help! My router is WiFi 5 my laptop said it's Wifi6 do I need a router to be WiFi 6 or does this connect to my router and create a dedicated Wifi6 signal sorry I ain't tech savvy

[@rav3n595]

Your router has nothing to do with the Air Bridge. The router connects your computer to your modem, so your computer has internet access. The Air Bridge is a means for your Quest 2 to connect wirelessly to your computer, as a replacement for the Link cable. Pay no attention to your router. Just install the Air Bridge as per the instructions. Antivirus software prevented me from being able to use the Air Bridge. If you have connection issues, try disabling the antivirus. If games get choppy at some point, try disabling auto updates in both Steam and Windows.

[@DaveRoscoe]

How did you bridge for Internet?

[@DaveRoscoe]

@@rav3n595 I'm sorry, but did you actually TRY? In order for it to work, you have to select it as your WIFI, which means you don't have internet unless you bridge it with the network on the PC. So, it doesn't only connect the headset to the computer. It takes up the WIFI interface so it can't be used for internet.

[@cbutters]

If you are using Air Bridge, the PC has Internet, the Quest Does not; however it doesn't matter because the games you play over air bridge are rendered on the PC which DOES have internet. Then when you want to play regular games on the quest, just switch it back to your normal wifi. (or yeah, just bridge it.... I can do a followup video on how to do this.)

[@Psy-ld3zc]

Does d link work without wifi adapter?

[@cbutters]

D-Link Is the brand of the wifi adapter. You can use a LINK cable instead of the D-LINK wifi adapter

[@lulufolds]

Cant connect to wifi vr air bridge , worked the first time, tryed later in the day and i couldnt connect to thevr bridge dongle, uninstalled the oculus app and reinstalled, worked, now it doesnt work again. in the headset where you click on the vr air bridge wifi, it says connnecting and than stops, does nothing, im so lost , someone please help

[@Radio_Shack_Paranormal]

i'm having the same, if not a very similar issue. I have reached out to D link support and Oculus support. Oculus support told me to do a fresh install of the desktop app but that didn't work. Still waiting on a response from D link.

[@lulufolds]

@@Radio_Shack_Paranormal the flash install worked for me when I delete the %appdata% files aswell well, I thought everything was good, got back on it not long ago and can't connect to the bridge wifi, says connecting for 1 second and stops. Let me know if u figure out a fix, would be highly appreciated

[@rav3n595]

@@Radio_Shack_Paranormal Make sure to turn off antivirus. Ours prevented the headset from connecting to the Air Bridge. After antivirus was off, the headset connected to the Air Bridge easily. Also, if a game starts to get choppy, make sure Windows or Steam does not have auto update enabled, as updating software while the Air Bridge is in use, appears to cause some chop.

[@Radio_Shack_Paranormal]

@@lulufolds After doing the factory reset on the dongle, connecting & playing for a while, i put the headset down and came back several hours later and the VR bridge was still saved as the default wifi connection after waking up the headset. The only thing I did on my end was make sure my desktop had wifi turned along side my ethernet connection. Could be a fluke.

[@lulufolds]

@@rav3n595 I just fully uninstalled the antivirus, no luck, dam

[@JayDeeTrinity]

what did you mean that you couldn't play online games with this solution? Did you mean you don't get internet on the headset or no internet on the PC?

[@cbutters]

If you were connected to the Air Bridge Wifi; the headset would not have internet for the quest 2 native games; but since the point of connecting to the Air Bridge Wifi is to play PC games, (the PC DOES have internet, and those games stream to the headset.)

[@MarioSanchez-os3fv]

anyone get the dlink to work with virtual desktop?

[@cbutters]

With Quest 2, my VD would work.

[@MarioSanchez-os3fv]

@@cbutters cool. I was having various issues B4. My airlink was lagged out for some reason my encoding bitrate in ODT was at 500. Also i couldn't set up connection because my PC is connected by a virtual Ethernet connection to my phone with simply tether. I had to share the connection thru advance settings to get it to work. Everything's cool now with air link but i might still try VD

[@Lokielan]

Just get a router with dual band or even better, tri band, and have a dedicatged 5ghz for VR streaming only. Problem solved

[@cbutters]

That's a valid option as well. I like the D-link option as it is discrete, small and seems to just work.

[@Dylan_0130]

I have eero which doesn’t let you split bands

[@BionicFreakOfficial]

So, just to be sure, this is for people who can't use a wired (ethernet) connection, correct? This is used to wirelessly connect the Quest 2 DIRECTLY to your computer, instead of your WiFi modem? If this isn't for a completely wireless wifi situation, then it seems pretty useless.

[@callmidell]

I dont even have a pc, I was just on the oculus website and remembered this was a product i never tried 😂

[@nonyabizness8692]

not sure how your setup was so smooth but Reddit is full of upset folks who are mostly stuck when connecting to the bridge witht his error: obtaining ip address. many people can't get past this error despite trying many suggested troubleshooting steps.

[@cbutters]

You're right... I think I was pretty lucky actually... also I spent 5 hours trying to make it work with Quest Pro before realizing it just wasn't compatible.

[@stevenk1872]

great for low intensity. just drop the extra 30 and get the nighthawk. YW!

[@digitaldoom3593]

Does it work if you have shitty internet?

[@cbutters]

Shitty internet doesn't mean the dlinks wifi signal will be shitty, it might look smooth and great, but if the internet is still bad, it won't make multiplayer games better for server latency

[@DoomSly82]

I want this so bad!! But I live in EU and have to wait for it until q1 in 2023 😔

[@Schleff]

Is it confirmed for q1?

[@DoomSly82]

@@Schleff Nope, only for quest 2

[@Schleff]

@@DoomSly82 bruh I mean Q1 of 2023, but thansk nonetheless c:

[@DoomSly82]

@@Schleff LOL!!! Sorry 🤣🤣🤣 Im not sure. But rumors says q1. But I have emailed both d-link and meta, and no one can say a release date for EU 😔

[@GRNKRBY]

Did not run well for me.

[@brunofporto]

I use my onboard Wifi 6 with great results :)

[@cbutters]

That's interesting... I might give that a shot myself sometime.

[@brunofporto]

@@cbutters there is a catch. Not sure if it is a windows or quest bug. But after you create the hotspot you need to connect some device (like your phone) or it will be limited to 286mbits. But after that it will have full wifi6 bandwidth. Not sure if it will be better than the Air Bridge. But in my case it made a lot of difference as using the router I had issues when the family was using a lot the router. Now the connection is exclusive. :)

[@dm9656]

@@brunofporto The bug is well known and documented : Windows only creates 20Mhz hotspot by default. It will expand to 80Mhz if you have a device that uses it connect to your hotspot. Very annoying.

[@brunofporto]

@@dm9656 Yes but is a bug from windows not detecting the correct band for Quest or that the Quest does not send the correct handshake for that? :) That is why I am not sure from who's side is the issue :)

[@liusonda]

nice review,thx

[@markgardner6315]

not being funny, but what a frustrating video... takes him almost a year just to make his point. didnt really get much info on the dongles performance. grrrrrr

[@steffendetrick]

Thanks it works and easy set up I’m sold.

[@vgamedude12]

Seems like a pointless waste of money when you can just take the 100 and put it towards a nice router than can actually be used for many more purposes. Maybe if it was like 30 bucks or something but otherwise seems pointless.

[@alanhonlunli]

It works, but u can achieve the same results by buying any $30 wifi router and creating a separate dedicated network for VR use. It's traffic with your other devices that causes streaming problems, with a dedicated connection, everything will work perfectly. This product is probably just a shitty wifi adapter set up to create an adhoc network to your computer.

[@mitsevox]

dude if you're going to run a tech channel, GET TO THE POINT. I am 8:30 into the video and all i've heard is you talk in circles and watch you set it up with basic on screen prompts that I can figure out myself. I've learned nothing about the latency or gaming experience yet. what a waste of time

[@cbutters]

Setup is part of the process, and many people want to see the entire setup process, This product and its positioning is pretty nuanced, which requires explanation. And the second you DON'T mention some detail, other users complain you didn't cover it. I definitely get long winded and some people like it, and I'm sure most don't which is why its taken me 17 years to get 17k viewers LOL. I'll take your comment as constructive criticism; I've just checked out your channel, and I can see you are a really smart guy, and I would be wise to listen to you, as even with only one video you've amassed quite a few subs and your only video is quite good. I know I need to work on condensing information and even work on my speaking skills. but unlike real tech channels who get paid and sent these types of products, This isn't my job, I'm just some dude who likes to share what he's doing in his basement and doesn't have all the time in the world to get the perfect angle shot or do a million takes to get things phrased 100% perfectly. Luckily you didn't have to pay to be disappointed by me, but I accept the criticism and will work to do better in future.

[@lulufolds]

if u more than 6 feet away, this thing is garbage, wasted my money

[@talking2388]

I wish you were up front and honest on your review of the D-LINK VR Air Bridge. It's Trash and you know it. Its clear they paid you to give your fanboy option .

[@DLeonard716]

Are you braindead?

[@talking2388]

@@rav3n595 I didn't have a problem with the set up or getting it to work. Cbutters is a "Tech" guy with a Tech channel. All I'm saying is, if he knew it was not worth it . (Then Say So) Go to his video and start at 10:35. Thank you for your reply and I am glad you got it working and maybe your information will help someone in the future.

[@cbutters]

LOL, I only wish that someone would have paid me for this, not enough subs to be bought out by the man yet. I bought and purchased this dlink with my own money my friend. I agree that if you already have a dedicated router solution there is no reason to purchase this, which I mentioned several times in the video (and even showed clips of carmack saying). Not everything is a conspiracy theory. The D-Link device is a great option for people who want to easily get going with wireless link; and in my case, having it on a dedicated wifi device made it much smoother than my regular router. Its a valid product and I'm glad it exists.

[@camogsxr1745]

This guys talking high end blah blah with maybe a 2500.00 setup lol my stuffs high end 23k full simulator with a 4k pc 😅 thats hi end

[@carlmckinnon107]

Will it work with windows 11?

[@cbutters]

I was using windows 11.