A Meta is developing the VR Air Bridge, a device to connect the goal quest 2 wirelessly to a PC. The virtual reality headset – launched as Oculus Quest 2 – works independently of other equipment, but through the Oculus Link it is possible to connect it to a PC via cable, or wirelessly via Wi-Fi by Air Link, to expand the possibilities of use – from accessing more game titles on platforms such as SteamVR even use a virtual desktop. 501b6q
O air bridge was discovered by a software engineer after an update to the Quest 2 drivers. She tweeted her discovery, showing that it is a USB device for wireless streaming:
In an update, she comments that the device is named D-Link DWA-F18 VR Air Bridge, uses the protocol Wi-Fi 6, has standard USB 3.x connection and is based on wifi adapter DWA-X1850, D-Link, which is for adding a Wi-Fi 6 connection to computers. In the case of Air Bridge, the objective will be to establish a direct Wi-Fi connection between the PC and the goal quest 2.
VR Air Bridge will improve Air Link 5c2c1v
The resource Air Link was launched in 2021 as a wireless alternative to Oculus Link, which uses a USB cable to connect the quest 2 to the PC. However, the quality of the wireless connection is determined by the router that will connect the devices – this is where the experience can become frustrating. Many homes use routers provided by internet operators, and because they are very basic equipment, they end up having little range, without Wi-Fi 6 and limitations in data traffic between connected devices.
With air bridge, the data traffic between the PC and the quest 2 will not be done through the home Wi-Fi network, but through a dedicated wireless connection, provided by the dongle. Although mention of the device was discovered in the Meta Quest drivers code, there is no mention of the company's development of the VR Air Bridge, which means that there may be just tests taking place with no guarantee that it will reach the market.
It is worth ing that the idea of a dedicated wireless transmitter has been around for a few years. In 2019, when the Oculus Link was announced, Oculus CTO John Carmack had suggested the idea of a dedicated USB device to wirelessly connect to the Oculus Quest. In 2021, when Air Link was launched, Carmack again took up the possibility of the wireless transmitter: “We can still in the future produce a Wi-Fi dongle or seek partnerships to achieve better performance in (network) congestion conditions.” It remains now to wait for Carmack's wish to come true with the VR AirBridge.
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Sources: Android Central, VR
