How to use oculus link without usb c

Quest 2 owners looking to play PC VR games on their headsets have loads of options. Virtual Desktop lets you play PC VR games on Quest using a link cable, while Oculus Air Link is built into the headset and supports smooth 120Hz refresh rates. Unfortunately, those options require high network speeds and the right PC to keep up with the WiFi capabilities needed for wireless PC VR. If your internet isn't very fast, we recommend you try a Link Cable.

You can't just hook any old USB cable up, though. It needs to be long enough to allow you to move freely, and it has to support sufficiently high data transfer speeds to handle all the streaming data that PC VR requires. We've gathered our favorite options, some favorites among the PC VR community, and Oculus's recommended and tested Link alternatives for the Oculus Quest 2 (opens in new tab).

These are the best Oculus Link cables you can buy

VOKOO 16-foot Oculus Link cable

View at Amazon (opens in new tab)

Staff pick

VOKOO makes a great Link cable alternative for PCs that don't have a USB Type-C port. This 16-foot cable is long enough to reach across an entire play space, making it convenient to play room-scale games without worrying about unplugging your headset.

Anker USB C Cable (10ft)

View at Amazon (opens in new tab)

View at anker (opens in new tab)

Meta-tested and approved

On the official Oculus Link support page, Meta says it tested Anker's cable "internally with good results." If that isn't endorsement enough, it hits the USB 3.0 5Gbps standard for fast data transfer and supports 15W fast charging, so your Quest 2 should remain fully powered despite PC VR's heavy power draw. The only real downside is that it's missing a 90-degree USB-C cable head, making motion-intensive games more difficult to play.

Amavasion Oculus Quest Link Cable

View at Amazon (opens in new tab)

Built for roomscale PC VR

It's another 16-foot cable, but the Amavasion also has a 5Gbps maximum and a limited charging capacity to extend play sessions, but won't keep your Quest 2 fully charged. Compared to the PartyLink Cable, this is rated USB 3.2 but doesn't take full advantage of the higher standard and costs more. That said, it's also a thinner cable, which will feel lighter and more freeing in VR.

Amazon Basics USB Type-C to Type-A 3.1 Gen 1 Charger Cable

View at Amazon (opens in new tab)

View at Amazon (opens in new tab)

View at Amazon (opens in new tab)

Anker backup

This is Meta's officially-endorsed Oculus Link backup. Anker's 10-foot cable sells out somewhat regularly, so act fast! This is the closest alternative in price, features, and quality that you can rely on without buying Meta's official Link Cable. It supports 5Gbps data transfer and 5V charging. Its sturdy, double-braided nylon exterior should be able to handle just about anything you throw at it.

CableCreation Active USB 3.0 Extension Cable

View at Amazon (opens in new tab)

Add 16 feet to any Link Cable

USB 3.0 cables are typically maxed out at three meters (or around nine feet) to preserve their fast speeds, but this won't be enough for games where you want to stand up and move far away from your PC. This 16-foot extender will preserve the power transfer and 5Gbps data speeds. This cable only works when paired up with a USB 3.0 to USB-C cable (like Anker's or Amazon's), but it'll also add some decent length to any Link Cable you pick up.

KIWI Design USB-C Cable for Oculus Quest 2

View at Amazon (opens in new tab)

View at Amazon (opens in new tab)

Coverage and quality

KIWI Design makes some of our favorite affordable accessories for the Quest 2. This cable is USB-C to USB 3.0 with a 90-degree head to plug into the headset. It's only capable of 5Gbps, but this should be plenty for Oculus Link. It's incredibly affordable, too. This is a great, cheap alternative with minimal compromises.

AFUNTA 90 Degree USB C Type C Male to Female Adapter

View at Amazon (opens in new tab)

Make your cable Quest-friendly

Some of the best USB-C cables have straight heads that won't stand up well to jerking left and right. With an adapter attached, your Link Cable will sit perpendicular to the headset, making it less likely to get bent when it inevitably gets jostled around. These tiny adapters are USB 3.1-compatible with transfer speeds up to 10Gbps, so they will have no trouble passing through all your data and power.

Oculus Virtual Desktop

View at Meta Quest (opens in new tab)

Skip the cable altogether

Before Air Link, Virtual Desktop gave Oculus Quest superusers a way to sideload PC VR games without any cable. Now, Oculus offers wireless streaming for free with similar performance levels, making the paid Virtual Desktop less desirable. But it's still one of the best Quest 2 Link Cable alternatives to have, in our opinion. It not only lets you play games but also watch movies or use your PC in-headset while surrounded by cool virtual environments. It also offers you much more customizable control over your PC's settings than Air Link does. Loads of users claim VD still runs PC VR games better than Air Link in some areas, such as latency.

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What specs do you need in an Oculus Link Cable?

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Finding a dependable, solid Quest Link Cable alternative can be difficult. Many imitation Link Cables out there are simply faulty, and run the risk of harming your Quest 2. We've plenty of cautionary tales about USB-C heads snapping off inside the Quest 2 port, making it impossible to connect your headset to a PC, let alone charge it. Believe us, you don't want that. More commonly and less drastically, you're likely to find cables that only work for a few weeks before they stop connecting your headset to your PC.

We scoured the online stores, forums, and our own supply of hardware to find the best options for those who can't afford Meta's pricey Link Cable, but if you want to look for your own alternatives, or see if the USB-C cable you own now could work, here's what you need to know:

• You want a cable rated USB 3.0 or higher. This means that it simultaneously supports 5 Gbps data transfer and 5V charging. You need this data transfer speed to stream the game from your PC to your headset without lag. The power transfer is necessary to keep your headset charged while running more power-intensive PC VR games.
• Most fast-charging USB cables with high wattage will have some semblance of data transfer, but you'll often see the number 480Mbps. Unfortunately, this isn't enough for Oculus Link.
• The other end of the cable must be USB-C to connect to the headset's charging port. We recommend one that sits at a 90-degree angle, which should make it less likely that head motions will put physical pressure on the cord and damage your headset port.
• You want a cable that is at least 10 feet long. Even if you only plan to play PC VR games seated, anything shorter than that could cause you to yank something and damage your PC port — or hurt your neck.
• If you have a three or six-foot USB 3.0 to USB-C cable you like, you could use it along with an extension cable, which would solve the problem. Extension cables can cause a slight slowdown in the transfer, but there shouldn't be an issue if it's rated high enough.

What is the best Oculus Link Cable length?

Oculus' official cable is 16 feet (or five meters), which allows for plenty of space to move around in roomscale VR. Oculus' cable is expensive partially because it manages to maintain the required high data transfer speed across five meters as a USB-C to USB-C cable. By comparison, most other USB 3.0 cables can't keep up beyond 10 feet. With that in mind, standalone cables longer than 10 feet probably won't be able to transfer enough data from a powerful PC without losing some data.

This is why we included extension cables on our list. Even if you don't want to build a massively long Oculus Link cable daisy chain, the data transfer should work perfectly. Don't get too carried away, though; the longer the cable gets, the more it will extend across a room and dip downwards in the middle. This will create a tripping hazard for both you and anyone else who lives with you or even get caught on furniture and risk seriously harming your headset or neck. When that happens, you'd better hope the cable comes out of one of the ports because if they don't, your head or your PC is getting yanked downwards. That's also why you should always velcro strap the cable to the head strap, which can help prevent your USB-C port from being damaged.

Before buying anything, make sure you know whether you plan on doing room-scale VR or not. If not, you'll probably be able to make do with a 10-foot cable like the Anker Powerline Cable. Otherwise, you can try your luck with a 16-foot cable like the VOKOO cable or pair a short cable with the CableCreation Active USB 3.0 Extension Cable for an exceptionally long daisy chain of link cables.

How to use your Oculus Link Cable

We hope that our Oculus Link Cable alternatives can meet your needs, but be sure to test the cable as soon as it arrives, so you can return it if the cable (or your PC graphics card) turns out not to live up to the task. Here's how to use Oculus Link on the Oculus Quest 2:

1. On your PC, go to www.oculus.com/setup (opens in new tab) and click "Download software" under "Oculus Link".
2. Open the app and click "Install Now."
3. Turn on your Oculus Quest 2.
4. Plug your USB cable head into a compatible PC port, then plug the USB-C end into the Quest 2's charging port.
5. Put on your headset.
6. You should see a pop-up to access to data. Select Deny. Selecting Allow will cause the cable to disconnect from time to time because Windows is trying to find files, which will interrupt Oculus Link.
7. You'll then see an option to Enable Oculus Link. Select Enable.

Oculus Link should be all set up and ready to use. If you were unable to connect or your PC games struggled with performance issues, you probably need to update your PC or replace your cable.

If you're encountering random disconnections, make sure to select Deny when the "Allow access to data" pop-up appears after connecting the cable. Selecting "Allow" will cause connection inconsistencies. If you're having other issues, this Oculus Link Cable troubleshooting guide (opens in new tab) can help you out.

Consider going wireless instead

A hard-wired connection through an Oculus Link Cable will almost always deliver the most reliable visual performance. Ditching a physical cable might cause a slight dip in visual quality, but it's so much less restrictive. 

It eliminates the potential to yank a cable and damage your headset or PC; Air Link is one of the main reasons the Quest 2 is the most popular headset being used for PC VR! Plus, Air Link is completely free and doesn't suffer from wear and tear like a physical cable would, so there's no harm in doing a test run before shelling out the cash for a new chord since you might end up not needing one.

Air Link lets you wirelessly stream your PC games to your Oculus Quest 2 through your home's Wi-Fi network. It was first introduced in the v28 Quest 2 update (opens in new tab) in April 2021 and got upgraded in v29 (opens in new tab) to support a silky-smooth 120Hz refresh rate.

Setting up Oculus Air Link (opens in new tab) is pretty painless, but for your games to perform well, you'll still need the right hardware for the job: a PC with enough processing and graphical power to handle hardcore PC VR games is a must. If you're having trouble in that area, feel free to check out our list of the best-prebuilt PCs for Oculus Link (opens in new tab), which can help you find the right machine and specs to play PC VR.

To go the wireless route through Air Link or Virtual Desktop, you'll also need a router that hits the necessary network speeds and signal strength. A powerful Wi-Fi 6 routers (opens in new tab) should deliver the performance you need.

With the right computer and a fast router, playing Quest 2 games wirelessly is a breeze. You can do so through Air Link for free, or you can try out the Virtual Desktop app to get the full PC-in-VR experience! Either way, these tools will make your Quest 2 truly wireless again, even when playing demanding VR games like Half-Life: Alyx.

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