Steam Link VR stutters alot

[AJBats]

I'm getting alot of stuttering while playing steam link VR on my Quest 3. I normally use Airlink or Virtual Desktop, and I have a good wifi setup so playback is quite smooth.

My setup:
Wired ethernet from my PC to my Wifi 6 router.
Quest 3 on the wifi 6 router, with 2400mbps.

On this setup in airlink and virtual desktop at H.264 300mbps, my playback is very smooth. But using the default settings on steam link VR I am missing a lot of frames and seeing a lot of stutter.

Just providing feedback so I hope Valve sees this. Hope it gets better! :)

[Sergio]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Positive Possum:

I am noticing an average of around 30% less FPS when using Steam Link. Have confirmed this on multiple headsets and multiple systems. Looks like Valve needs to polish it up a bit more. Recommend switching back to VD or Airlink until Valve does.

I think the reason is described here:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/3/4036978698785218731/

In short: encoding time took away part of the application’s time budget for frame

VD had exactly the same problem before version 1.25.
Valve simply initially chose the wrong approach, yes, they got a lower App Motion-To-Photon latency, but what they got was that the user now has to play with a lower rendering resolution than he was used to doing on VD/Airlink/Link

[charlesl]

In general for people higher up on this thread - encode bandwidths between steam link and other streaming services are hard to make. We generally use the link much more aggressively than other services. If you are experiencing stuttering and you have the link bandwidth set high, it becomes reactionary instead of proactive, and will result in a much stutterier experience, verses using auto or setting your bandwidth artificially low.

[montyschneider1]

Respectfully why would we choose steamlink then if we have to choose a lower bitrate vs vd or airlink which can improve the image. Your essentially saying make the image look worse then the competitors to get a stable framerate...

Something is wrong with steamlink, to many are reporting issues. A brand new 4080, an asus wifi 6e router im within 2 feet (hardwired) and airlink and vd generally work fine at high bitrates which makes vr look better. The quest 3 has drastically improved lenses so bitrate becomes more important.

I want to use steamlink, I am hopeful this becomes the best solution to play steamvr games and im excited to see the development but right now unless I crank down the bitrate so it looks worse then vd or airlink, theres no point in using it. And even then I think I still get random stutters and very few tools to diagnose issues or even alter any settings.

A fixed bitrate option along with maybe being able to use other codecs might be helpful for some users among devs figuring out what is causing the stutter for quite a few of us. Reddit oculus has a huge user base and theres alot of these posts on there to. I have been using vertigo 2, pavlov, and half life to test mainly.

[Bacon]

Just adding that I have this exact issue. Stuttering when moving my head 6DOF in space, but rotating is fine. No problems with Virtual Desktop, it's quite smooth over that app.

I have a dedicated 6E access point, 5800X3D and a 3080. I've tested on the latest Steam Link beta build and SteamVR beta build.

[charlesl]

We have one other user who is reporting that QoS was their issue. We now have an option to disable it in the public Beta (needs client Beta on headset as well). You can read more about it here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/250820/view/3884982211424067312

Be sure to go under SteamVR Settings -> Enable Advanced Options (bottom left) -> SteamLink settings -> Enable QoS ->Enable.

This may cause a mild regression for some users, but for some users has fixed intermittent glitching.

[montyschneider1]

I think QOS solved the random stutter I see. Very unsure why this was needed though. VD and Airlink work fine at 500mbps h264 sliced encoding on. I am guessing this increases latency?

I have a asus AXE7800 wifi 6e router dedicated to just vr and I play within 4 feet of the router. Ideal conditions imo.

If I need to enable QOS im not sure who wouldnt need to?

Furthermore I did encounter massive stutter at points when I quickly tried it yet, it was a different stutter and almost a complete slowdown. I have a 4080 Nvidia proart.

On Virtual desktop I play at Ultra: 2688x2784 which is 100 percent in steamvr.

Airlink I have the render resolution maxed so I think its about 2896 in steam when steamvr is set to 100.

Steamlink however I have no idea why its different. 100% is far lower (I dont have the headset on but its barely over 2000 resolution if that). So I turn it up to 150% which I only have to do in steamlink. Then the resolution is about 2500X2500 or something around that.

Now I dont know if thats the problem (I doubt it, because its still lower resolution then airlink and VD). However in vertigo 2 demo I downloaded I got massive stuttering by a waterfall when I pulled down a bridge. This was like a full stop stutter.

I just went back to VD and its smooth, I would have to do more investigation but its either something with the resolution even though its still lower then VD and airlink even though it was set to 150%. Or the bitrate went to high for h265. I thought the quest 3 decoder could not decode at bitrates higher then 250mbps without latency and stuttering? I am not sure. I would have to do some debugging.

But I just went back to virtual desktop and it looked a bit better at h264 500mbps and no massive stutter in that scene.

I only report this because I would love to see steamlink become the best, but right now I am just encountering more issues on good hardware with poorer picture.

[montyschneider1]

Its the resolution when I set it to 150% in steamlink it shows 2528X2704, it looks comparable to vd or airlink since its a similar resolution as those two as described above when I have steam set to 100%. But then its massive stutter at times.

When I leave steamlink like those programs at 100% its smooth but then the resoltion looks bad at 2064vs2208....

[Scan_X]

For my case I can't use anymore SteamLink because few second after start steamlink my pc ethernet connection down to switich side. I have to restart my switch to reconnect my pc.
I have no issue with Virtual Desktop or Oculus Air Link...

[Grid0127]

Steam Link is garbage for me, stuttering all the time, VD doesn't miss a frame.
This is poorly done work, not a problem with our computers or networks.