Remote Desktop Terrible? Just me?

[ArchV]

I was using Virtual Desktop with the Quest 2, running their PC streaming client. It's awesome, run games near 90 FPS and it's smoooooth. Feels like I'm using my real computer!

"Awesome", I thought... "I could do this with Bigscreen and have my friend join and watch!"

Boy was I wrong. I ran the Bigscreen Remote Client on the PC via Steam (which still oddly starts SteamVR, when its technically not needed?)

I put in the room code into Bigscreen running on the Quest 2.... it connects, shows me the desktop, but the performance is.... completely unusable... I can't even move the mouse properly. It even somehow got desynced from what was showing on the actual desktop.

I was sad. Is this just me? Or is this the current state of Remote Desktop for Bigscreen on the Quest 2?

[Peregrine]

User-created rooms are peer-to-peer, so all networking is done directly between the host system and everyone else in the room. It's heavily dependent on the connection quality, which includes factors such as the routers being used, home WiFi quality, Internet upload & download speed, PC specs, and number of people in that room.

With Remote Desktop in particular, how your home network is configured is extremely important. Try to ensure that your PC is using a wired ethernet connection if possible, and that the Quest is on a 5 Ghz Wifi network with a good signal with the router. You may want to check your router for additional settings and features that may help, such as beam forming, while also making sure you're using relatively clear channels, and any other settings that may help. All general advice for optimal gaming performance also apply here 

Unlike Virtual Desktop, which can assume you are always on a LAN with a stable connection and always dealing with just a single person, Bigscreen needs to be able to stream both audio and video to multiple people at any time, so the methods used to capture the desktop and stream it are different.

That said, we are working on on improvements to remote desktop in a future update later this year.

[ArchV]

Thanks for the reply. I do appreciate the advice, but my setup is pretty much optimal already. I have a 1 Gbps connection to the internet, the wired PC is running about 930 Mbps to the internet. I'm using a Ubiquiti AP that's probably 8 feet from the PC, 5 Ghz of course. One slight flaw is that it's not a Wifi 6 AP. I noticed VirtualDesktop was pointing that out basically saying 400 Mbps Wifi 5 is suboptimal, where as Wifi 6 would get into 800. I'm gonna remedy that, but they are out of stock :)

I totally get that Bigscreen is doing a lot more work than Virtual Desktop. It's certainly not easy; and throwing in headset like the Quest 2 trying to it all wireless just makes it more complicated. I could understand games doing poorly, but just moving around the mouse on the desktop being unusable basically renders that feature useless at least on the Quest wirelessly. I do have a Valve Index sitting right here and Bigscreen works muuuuch better when it's all on the same machine :)

Keep up the good work though, Bigscreen is definitely one my favorites... I'm passionate and frustrated only because I want it to succeed so badly! :)

[Nodiaque]

I tried myself with a quest 2 the remote desktop app and no problem. I watched a 3d movie that was playing on my computer and was wirelessly connected to it. I only have a RC-5300 from Asus. Which ubiquiti AP do you have? Might sound bad but upon looking to upgrade to ubiquiti, I found many spreadsheet and reviews on AP speed and they aren't the fastest, many consumer router offer better wifi speed.

[ArchV]

Originally posted by Nodiaque:

I tried myself with a quest 2 the remote desktop app and no problem. I watched a 3d movie that was playing on my computer and was wirelessly connected to it. I only have a RC-5300 from Asus. Which ubiquiti AP do you have? Might sound bad but upon looking to upgrade to ubiquiti, I found many spreadsheet and reviews on AP speed and they aren't the fastest, many consumer router offer better wifi speed.

At the time of that post I was using the UNIFI-AP-LITE one which is several years old, however, I just ordered the WIFI 6 AP LITE. It's suppose to be much better. Can't wait to try it out. The Ubiquiti system is pretty decent, but its not for the faint of heart because the configuration and software is fairly complicated since its USUALLY a business solution for bigger companies. I feel bad for only having two APs in the network, almost like it's laughing at me for not doing it justice :)