Help needed with maximising speed between isolated router and PC

[Mbrown278]

Hi all,

 

I have an Oculus Quest 2, and am trying to run it wirelessly with my PC using an app called virtual desktop. My main router connected to my service provider is near where I use the Quest 2, however my PC is upstairs. I have run 2 ethernet cables (both cat 6 shielded/armoured, outdoor uv) from my study and accross the back wall of my house and back in downstairs to where I use the headset. I use one cable for transferring a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and sound and use Ibik Aster to use the PC as two seperate computers. The other ethernet cable connects between a 1gbps switch in the study to my main router. The switch then connects to various devices and the computer. The headset has poor latency and network spikes whilst going through the network switch.

 

I had already run a 15m usb 3.0 active cable from my pc, down through a wall to the room below so I could use the headset wired to the PC. I therefore decided to get a seperate router, and link it to the PC via ethernet -> usb adapter. I got a 1gbps adapter, and connected it to the pc through the USB 3.0 cable. I then shared the internet connection accross the two connections into the PC. When using virtual desktop, the maximum bitrate you can set is 150mbps. If I connect my headset to the 2nd router I get a bitrate option of around 80mbps - 130mbps. If I connect the headset to my main router I get upto around 130mbps, but the latency and spikes etc aren't ideal.

 

If a router is capable of higher speeds, how/why can't I connect to my PC through my 2nd router at a higher bitrate? For example, if I had a 300mbps internet connection or more, then a 5GHz connection to a router with no other devices linked would be likely to achieve over 150mbps constantly if in close range.

 

The router for the headset is a Huawei AX3 3000 Wifi 6. I am connected via the 5GHz band,and the headset can go up to 1200mbps, I use it at a distance of approximately 3 meters in clear line of sight. The Huawei AX3 goes Router (1gbps ethernet ports) -> 1gbps ethernet adapter -> USB 3.0 cable -> PC.

 

My main router is a Linksys Velop Whole Home system.

 

If it matters, my PC has the following spec:

Intel 10600k

Palit RTX 2080ti Gaming Pro OC

Asus TUF gaming Z490-Plus Wifi

16GB (2x8gb) 3600mhz RAM

M.2 SSD's as boot and storage

 

My internet is 100mbps Up/Down

 

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated,

 

Mark

 

[dj_ripcord]

Quote

If a router is capable of higher speeds, how/why can't I connect to my PC through my 2nd router at a higher bitrate?

Because the speed ratings and the connection rates you see in your connection details are both theoretical and assuming perfect, ideal conditions. For example, you say:

Quote

and the headset can go up to 1200mbps

This is theoretical and assumes you are in an absolutely silent RF environment. Something that really doesn't exist anywhere on earth unless you're 3 miles beneath the surface. Why companies always advertise these speeds instead of the actual speeds? Probably marketing reasons.

My guess is this: if VR Desktop works fine wirelessly, (which by the looks of their site - it does) then the problem likely lies in the number of connections you have. Each break in your signal will add latency - no matter what. Some devices add more latency than others, especially ones that convert data protocols (e.g. USB to Ethernet adapters). Every switch, router, or connection point you have in your data stream is going to add jitter and latency, so reducing the number of breaks in your signal flow will most definitely be beneficial to you. In fact, according to this research paper about detectable latency studies, humans can detect lag as low as 11ms. Therefore your goal should be to get your round trip latency below this number.

To help you determine network latency, I suggest using Iperf. It is some very powerful software that can help you test a lot of different networking issues. I suggest learning how to use it as it's immensely useful.

 

I think you have the right idea with the ethernet to USB adapter. Check online to see if you can find specs for it to see what kind of latency it introduces. Even though it follows a separate data path than the actual network connection, it will ADD to the total latency, not run parallel.

Another suggestion I can give you in helping eliminate connections is create a completely separate network to operate VR Desktop upon by getting a second ethernet card for your PC, and connecting it directly to the wireless router you use for VR - No switches or other connections in between.

Let me know if you have any other questions. I may be able to help get some ideas stirring since I've been considering a similar setup myself.

[Alex Atkin UK]

4 hours ago, dj_ripcord said:

I think you have the right idea with the ethernet to USB adapter. Check online to see if you can find specs for it to see what kind of latency it introduces. Even though it follows a separate data path than the actual network connection, it will ADD to the total latency, not run parallel.

I disagree, they are adding a long distance for the WiFi to travel and USB overheads, vs the router nearer the headset that is going wired and to the more efficient PCIe NIC in the PC.

 

@Mbrown278
What might work better is to have the second router near the headset also, but put it into Access Point mode.  Probably also wise to turn off 2.4Ghz on it.   Now make sure its 5Ghz is set to a completely different channel to the main router with a different SSID, so you effectively have a WiFi network dedicated to the headset only which is the best-case scenario you can get for latency.  That way you are still running wired as much as possible and not clashing with the WiFi traffic of the main router.

If it doesn't have Access Point mode you can likely make it work by turning off its DHCP server then plug one of its LAN ports into one of the main routers LAN ports.  Do note, if you do not configure the second router with a manual static IP address you will lose UI access once DHCP is disabled.

[Mbrown278]

Thank you for the responses.

 

So both routers are setup where I use my headset, with one connected to the internet with ethernet, through a switch then to the pc and the other not connected to the internet and connected to the pc by the usb cable and ethernet adapter.

 

I haven't checked whether each router is on separate channels, however each router has the 2.4 and 5ghz split, with different names for each. That way I know only the headset is connected to my 5ghz band on the router which goes to the pc by usb. Latency wise, both are roughly the same with around 5-8ms network latency, but the one through the switch can spike to 20ms which makes it uncomfortable in addition to other latencies.

 

I ran WiFi sweet spots which indicates a speed above 300mbps WiFi from my phone to/from the router. I'm guessing it's the connections from there that then slow it down, but I still don't understand that fully, I know I wouldn't expect 1200mbps on a 1gbps Lan/wan port, but would have expected closer to the speed between device and router - ill look at each aspect and maybe test the router direct to my pc with a short ethernet cable to see best case in my house with other signals etc. 

 

Thank you for the ideas

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Alex Atkin UK]

2 hours ago, Mbrown278 said:

I ran WiFi sweet spots which indicates a speed above 300mbps WiFi from my phone to/from the router.

The problem with WiFi speeds is its both related to the number of MIMO streams the device/router can handle and the channel width.

 

Phone type devices (such as the headset) usually support around 2x2 MIMO and 40Mhz channel width, possibly 80Mhz. For example I get around 625Mbit peak on my Galaxy S10 at 2x2 MIMO 80Mhz.  However, latency is potentially better on a lower channel width (as there is less interference to cause packet loss/delays).

So it might also be worth setting the router you are using for the headset into 20Mhz channel width to see if that reduces the latency spikes.

Although I will be honest, even using Steam in-home streaming over WiFi its not 100% stable, there will always be spikes.  Its why I do not believe WiFi will ever be useful for VR, it generally needs its own more efficient protocol designed specifically for that purpose.  For example in comparison, I never saw a single glitch on the Wii U Gamepad video feed unless I maxed out my WiFi at the same time on the same channel, because its a custom implementation for that purpose.

[Mbrown278]

Thank you - So the headset is capable of 80Mhz, but I'll try it on 40/20 and see what happens. I'll also try my routers on different channels.

 

In terms of VR, I find that Virtual Desktop (when I don't have one fault or another) can work. I have played hours where the spikes have been a couple of ms and unnoticeable (especially with my latest setup which has a very stable latency), where I have had a constant FPS, and where the picture is comparible to the link cable, however I do agree that another wireless solution may be better. If you were to go onto the Virtual Desktop discord, you can see that users have regular and repeat issues. This is difficult for the developer as there can be a number of elements/settings impacting someones wifi. The setup I have does work, I probably just need to stop messing with it! A few more things to check first though

[Mbrown278]

I posted the below, however edit: I spoke too soon, and in the typical way it was fine, and then I posted saying it was fine, then I could only go up to 140mbps - not 150mbps. Its weird as my phone, on 5GHz and testing wifi speed shows in excess of 300mbps wifi speed, then the Quest 2 which actually has wifi 6, theoretical speed of up to 1200mbps (whereas my phones theoretical speed is lower) varies and this evening could only get 140mbps in the app virtual desktop. This was more than enough - and the game was still stable, but I just can't understand it. Also there are no apps and no way I can figure out to test the wifi speed on the Quest 2. I am almost convinced it is something to do with the app Virtual desktop, rather than my setup. I forgot to mention when I use the same cables and test speed with the PC plugged directly into my headset, it can do 2.2gbps. So only cable difference trying wirelessly is the 1gbps port and 1gbps adapter. I would think these wouldn't cause the reduction down to 140mbps. Ah well

 

 

Thanks all for your help - I disabled the 2.4ghz on my wifi 6 router, I did a channel search on both routers and it has optimised the channels so less clashing. I've ensured that I am on the AC/AX bands on my wifi 6 (which I already was). I have left it on 80MHz for the moment. 

 

For the moment that seems to have shown on the application that I can now reach the 150mbps maximum for the app, and it hasn't shown any dips in this availability yet. I haven't gone up to that, but I have now increased it to 100mbps, and am monitoring it to see whether my available speed drops below that and so far it hasn't (before it would dip down to near 80mbps which is why I left it there). I'm getting 1ms additional latency from going from 80 to 100mbps, it is incredibly smooth using the quest 2 now with my PC wirelessly. Have graphics settings high and its all stable.

 

Thanks all!