OG HTC vive user out of a vr, need help about USB-C related to quest VR!

[Neko Yumi]

Current specs :

Mobo : ASUS ROG Strix B550-F gaming (wifi OG AM4 platform )

CPU : Ryzen 7 5800x cooled with noctua NHD15-S in a fractal torrent case

RAM : 32 gigs of corsair vengeance 3200MHz

GPU : Sapphire nitro + rx7800xt

Samsung 970 EVO + boot drive

Samsung 860 evo 1TB SSD for games the rest is HDD storage.

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The reason of switching VR's :

Recently, my HTC vive headset completely died on me.

The base station rotors are doing a lot of noise with jittery tracking

The headset upon running diagnostic tools revealed multiple sensors are out of order

And my valve index controllers present with battery issues.

So i am in the market for a completely new VR setup.

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The reason of making this post :

As i am currently in a budget, i was looking into all information regarding the quest-line products. Coming from a CV1 before the HTC vive, and the release of the quest 3, the quest 2 is currently very cheap in my area ( Belgium )

being between 150-200 € for a 128 gig on the 2nd hand market, it seemed like a no brainer but i have a big problem in my hands; the battery life.

As i will be using this headset 99% of the time in steamVR/PCVR mode, playing games like after the fall, contractors, population one, half life alyx...

With or without my friends, i will need longer battery life as we easily play for more than 2 hours at a time.

In my research, It is either you use external batteries and connect via air link ( which ISNT a solution for me, my internet being strictly DSL alongside ISP router will NOT allow airlink to work well if at all. EDIT : The router setup is NOT movable and it is far away from the PC used for VR multiple rooms and walls. )

OR you connect via USB-C but without the external batteries able to be connected as it uses the same USB-C port on the headset to connect the batteries.

As i am on a budget, i NEED help to select a high quality USB-C cable able to also power the headset for hours at a time as LONG as possible.

Then the issue becomes heat, but i will probably buy a BOBVR vented cover accessory to alleviate this issue as much as possible!

Once again, i was only able to research good cables for connectivity and data transfer but not able to fully power the headset...

Are there any other solutions in my use case or should i look towards another type of headset ?

The budget unfortunately would remain in the lowest possible price to performance matters.

I have tripods if need-be for outside base stations but i am starting to think inside out tracking would be a nice change of pace..

TL;DR.. :

Is it possible to find a good enough USB-C oculus link cable for quest 2 that also provides power when connected to a PC with my current motherboard ( listed above )

Or am i stuck with 2 hours of playtime and a bad air link experience because of my internet configuration?

Should i potentially look for another alternative in the HTC line like the cosmos? Or maybe a rift S for a longer sustainable battery life in PCVR..?

Thank you for reading my long-ass post, trying to be as detailed as possible here!

[Kilrah]

18 minutes ago, Neko Yumi said:

( which ISNT a solution for me, my internet being strictly DSL alongside ISP router will NOT allow airlink to work well if at all. )

Your internet connection has nothing to do with this, only how well the local WiFi link works. Even an ISP router could be good enough if it's close, try it before assuming it won't work. 

[Neko Yumi]

10 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

Your internet connection has nothing to do with this, only how well the local WiFi link works. Even an ISP router could be good enough if it's close, try it before assuming it won't work. 

But that's exactly what i am trying to communicate, the ISP router is currently FAR from my PC setup, two rooms and many walls away  and i have read the conditions of best suited application via the meta quest website

only having access to the ISP router ( do not have the budget for a dedicated router plus having to route ethernet through the house is out of the question )

said router has wifi 5 802.11AC unfortunately the positioning won't allow for a good experience from the videos i have looked into.

Unfortunately, i cannot simply "try it" while i am on a budget, it's very much all or nothing. ( return policies wouldn't really apply to 2nd hardware unless i sell it back at a good price somehow )

That being said, thank you very much for your reply Kilrah! I have edited this part of the post to mention this

[DreamCat04]

44 minutes ago, Neko Yumi said:

But that's exactly what i am trying to communicate, the ISP router is currently FAR from my PC setup, two rooms and many walls away  and i have read the conditions of best suited application via the meta quest website

only having access to the ISP router ( do not have the budget for a dedicated router plus having to route ethernet through the house is out of the question )

said router has wifi 5 802.11AC unfortunately the positioning won't allow for a good experience from the videos i have looked into.

Unfortunately, i cannot simply "try it" while i am on a budget, it's very much all or nothing. ( return policies wouldn't really apply to 2nd hardware unless i sell it back at a good price somehow )

That being said, thank you very much for your reply Kilrah! I have edited this part of the post to mention this

I've had a Quest 2 for a few weeks now and I can say that wireless link does introduce quite some stuttering with a WiFi 5 network. I can get 200Mbit/s but there's quite some compression and stutters that ruin the flow in Beat Saber. There are many cables on AliExpress for VR headsets, mine carries some power but not enough to fully power the quest, so it slowly drains the battery (Though my stamina runs out way before the battery does, I'd say with my cable I can get around 3h20-3.5h compared to around 2h wirelessly). There are cables that have a separate plug for power, though these usually have the power plug on the PC end, so there are still gonna be losses. I've spent around 40h in VR now and the controllers are now starting out at 50% battery but drop to 20% within 30min, so I'd say the single AA battery in each controller will last for around 40-50h of playtime

[Neko Yumi]

9 minutes ago, DreamCat04 said:

I've had a Quest 2 for a few weeks now and I can say that wireless link does introduce quite some stuttering with a WiFi 5 network. I can get 200Mbit/s but there's quite some compression and stutters that ruin the flow in Beat Saber. There are many cables on AliExpress for VR headsets, mine carries some power but not enough to fully power the quest, so it slowly drains the battery (Though my stamina runs out way before the battery does, I'd say with my cable I can get around 3h20-3.5h compared to around 2h wirelessly). There are cables that have a separate plug for power, though these usually have the power plug on the PC end, so there are still gonna be losses. I've spent around 40h in VR now and the controllers are now starting out at 50% battery but drop to 20% within 30min, so I'd say the single AA battery in each controller will last for around 40-50h of playtime

Thank you for your reply! This was insightful especially on the wireless part.

I did expect the experience to be as you described especially in a very fast paced game like beatsaber.

My main concern is being able to find the cable that offers length, durability and gives the longest duration while plugged in PCVR. But it seems like my conditions might be a bit too rough on the quest.

I've started looking into the rift S as a potential alternative.

To touch on the controller battery subject, i will be buying a rechargeable AA battery pack to alleviate these concerns but i am glad to be aware of a 40-50h playtime per battery so thank you very much!

If you so happen to come across an angled USB-C to USB-C or even USB-A providing power AND data, please come back to this post it will be a great life savior!

During some more research, i saw a youtube comment mentionning them using a motherboard's wifi + antenna and using it as a hotspot connected to their phone for airlink and that gave me hope!

Considering i have such a motherboard, i might be able to do the same!

[DreamCat04]

28 minutes ago, Neko Yumi said:

If you so happen to come across an angled USB-C to USB-C or even USB-A providing power AND data, please come back to this post it will be a great life savior!

AliExpress has a lot of cables, I'm not sure whether in my case it's the port on my motherboard not providing enough power or the cable losing too much of the power along the way that makes the quest unable to draw enough power to not have to also pull from its battery. I'm gonna verify that later by just plugging it into a power bank and playing a game locally on the Quest. AliExpress is always really cheap and everything seems to be on sale all the time lol. I got my cable for ~8 USD converted from my currency and it's 5m and supports USB 3.0 or 3.1, gonna check that when I'm back home

[Neko Yumi]

3 minutes ago, DreamCat04 said:

AliExpress has a lot of cables, I'm not sure whether in my case it's the port on my motherboard not providing enough power or the cable losing too much of the power along the way that makes the quest unable to draw enough power to not have to also pull from its battery. I'm gonna verify that later by just plugging it into a power bank and playing a game locally on the Quest. AliExpress is always really cheap and everything seems to be on sale all the time lol. I got my cable for ~8 USD converted from my currency and it's 5m and supports USB 3.0 or 3.1, gonna check that when I'm back home

I appreciate the will of giving the test a shot during your time Dreamcat, it won't be particularly useful in my use case as i will be using the USB-C port for PCVR connectivity, but i will still take the data in case i'll be able to somehow make airlink work decently well in my current setup.

FYI : I do not own ANY vr headset ATM, this is purely me trying to inform myself as much as possible before pulling the trigger on something new.

Right now i am looking at the oculus rift S and the quest 2 as they have a nice price sweet spot.