[GUIDE]Steam Link over Internet

[CleggorZ]

I can confirm streaming over the internet with the Steam Link after this latest build.

What I did:
To test this I created a hotspot using my 4g connection on my Android phone "Android AP"
On my laptop I connected to the WiFi hotspot "AndroidAP"
Connected my steam link to the laptop via an ethernet cable.
Open network and sharing center settings and selected "change adapter settings"
Select both ethernet and WiFi connections with CTRL + LMB
Right click and select "Bridge Connections"

Connect Steam Link to a tv and select add new computer.
Wait for scanning
Select advanced settings and enter ip address.
Here I put the public ip of the computer that I was using to stream
Example: xx.xxx.xxx.xx or 12.345.678.90.

Go toWhat Is My IP[www.whatismyip.com]To find your public ip address on your streaming pc.

You will also need to make sure the correct ports are forwarded on your router for steam and the PC you are using to stream. You can find this information at PortForward[portforward.com]

After doing this the steam link should find the connection after selecting the computer the stream should start as long as the Master streaming PC is up and running steam.

This can obviously be used in the same way, taking the Steam Link round a friends house but not needing the Android/Laptop step. I only did this to proove the concept while i was at home. As Imagined it lagged hard but worked.

It should be possible take anywhere enter the public ip of your streaming computer and as long as the ports are open it will connect.

[Chotato]

So I just want to be clear, you're talking about out-of-home streaming? I could leave my tower running and bring my Steam Link to my parents house and stream to their TV? I hastily bought a Steam Link because of the sale mistake where it's only $1.00 and have no use for the device in my tiny apartment. If it can stream out-of-home then I'll keep it, if not I'll resell it and make a profit.

[Chronon]

Originally posted by Chotato:

...I hastily bought a Steam Link because of the sale mistake where it's only $1.00...

Who said it was a mistake? They got like 10 bucks each with the game, didn't they?

[Chotato]

Originally posted by Chronon:

Originally posted by Chotato:

...I hastily bought a Steam Link because of the sale mistake where it's only $1.00...

Who said it was a mistake? They got like 10 bucks each with the game, didn't they?

I learned after I wrote that comment that it was an intentional sale. Thanks for commenting with the express purpose of pointing out my mistake without addressing any of the questions I had about the product. :)

[Chronon]

I'd presume it'd work. Don't own one though so can't confirm.

[szikra]

Hi

What build number was that worked for you?
I see this functionality was added in 617 from the Steam Link Build History:

Changes in build 617
Added the ability to stream from a specific computer, not on the local network (streaming over the Internet is not officially supported)

I tried it on steam link build 640.
On the 'add computer' screen after scanning there is only a 'Scan Other Computer' option next to 'Cancel', there is no advanced settings. After I enter my Steam host’s public IP and press enter the scanning popup appears and no host found in the list.
What ports did you forward?

(The Steam link was working on my local network but now that I’m trying to connect from outside.)

[Xjph]

UDP 27031 - 27036, TCP 27036 - 27037

[raubrey]

What kind of speeds are we talking? The Nvidia Shield (tablet) is especially desgned for such and wow it is terrible when used in this fashion.

Granted my ASDL is terrible also, though they upgraded the system (I have yet to do so). The place I would want to use it has better upload but worse download than me. Still I appreciate the information. For $5 I had to get it, if nothing else my monitor handle two connections and I'm interested in learning how to use a controller anyway.

[Xjph]

I wouldn't bother trying with less than 10Mbps upload. Less than that can work, but will look pretty bad. 10-30Mbps is probably tolerable. 30+ is ideal.

More important than that though is the latency of the connection. It's going to vary wildly depending on where you and the system your streaming from are located. Two different houses using the same ISP in the same city? Probably fine. Connecting to a machine in Maine from a Link in Nevada? Image quality might be okay, but latency will be completely unplayable for any game with fast action. Vacationing in the Maldives while your computer is home in Idaho? Yeah, that's not going to be usable at all.

[Xjph]

Originally posted by raubrey:

I'm interested in learning how to use a controller anyway.

You know you can just plug a controller into your PC, right?

[raubrey]

Originally posted by Vithigar:

Originally posted by raubrey:

I'm interested in learning how to use a controller anyway.

You know you can just plug a controller into your PC, right?

I do know that and have tried it before. I figured I'd probably have my normal set up and then fuss around with a controller on another. Also I wanted to put my new monitor (BenQ Zowie) to the test.

[raubrey]

Originally posted by Vithigar:

I wouldn't bother trying with less than 10Mbps upload. Less than that can work, but will look pretty bad. 10-30Mbps is probably tolerable. 30+ is ideal.

More important than that though is the latency of the connection. It's going to vary wildly depending on where you and the system your streaming from are located. Two different houses using the same ISP in the same city? Probably fine. Connecting to a machine in Maine from a Link in Nevada? Image quality might be okay, but latency will be completely unplayable for any game with fast action. Vacationing in the Maldives while your computer is home in Idaho? Yeah, that's not going to be usable at all.

That sounds about right, if not on the high side. I thought it would be a good thing to point out for peoples. These speeds are not available to a good chunk of rural America folk and a fair portion of the world, particularly the upload speed. I think 5 Mbps is doable myself, though for light(er)weight games.

[HugoPolo]

could not figure out how to play over the internet :(

[MassholeDrummer]

Originally posted by Vithigar:

I wouldn't bother trying with less than 10Mbps upload. Less than that can work, but will look pretty bad. 10-30Mbps is probably tolerable. 30+ is ideal.

More important than that though is the latency of the connection. It's going to vary wildly depending on where you and the system your streaming from are located. Two different houses using the same ISP in the same city? Probably fine. Connecting to a machine in Maine from a Link in Nevada? Image quality might be okay, but latency will be completely unplayable for any game with fast action. Vacationing in the Maldives while your computer is home in Idaho? Yeah, that's not going to be usable at all.

That's what I was worried about. Not sure how playstation does it but it works pretty well even from 1700 miles away. Of course, latency is too much for anything requiring a lot of precision like racing games, or Rocket League, but third person shooters, and some FPS games it's fine.

Also, only needs about 5 Mbps upload on the host side. The remote play side only needs about 5 Mbps down, 1 up.

[Malhavoc]

I made something similar using Moonlight. The technology is sligthly different, but the idea is the same. However keep in mind that leaving all those ports open is not nice at all from a security point of view.

Personally, I've tested it with a low-end tablet with very good results:

- Since I don't have a static IP, I just use a Dynamic DNS. You can go for no-ip, which is fine and free

- I used a VPN to connect to my home network from outside (since my router supports that, it was easy, but you can open your ports to the world, if you don't care).

- I even don't have to leave my pc turned on: from my router's http menu I can login and manually turn on the PC. Unfortunately I discovered that the Wake on LAN feature, which works perfectly in the same LAN, hardly works from outside or in VPN, so turning on the PC is just a bit harder

- I launch Moonlight and just connect to the PC (can even use the remote desktop to later turn it off)

- Noticed that using the mobile connection of my tablet made the game lag a LOT. Switching to WIFI made everything much smoother

- Of course your home connection is key, especially the upload bandwidth: with my 20mbits it works pretty nicely indeed

[Xjph]

The Steam Link has no functionality to connect to VPNs. That's why you need to forward ports for this.