Quest 2, Which WiFi6 Router?

FishPolice said:
@melmac & @koh thank you both :)

So downstairs I would plug a powerline adaptor into a wall socket near to the BT Homehub and then attach it to one of the lan ports on the Homehub using a patch cable.
Upstairs I would plug the 2nd powerline into a socket near my pc and attach this using another patch cable to the Archer AX1800 (presumably via the WAN port?), and then plug the AX1800 into the PC (presumably using a lan port on the AX1800?)?
Is the AX1800 now an "Access Point" in this scenario?

Is this how it should look?
BT Homehub - powerline - [....dodgy home wiring....] - powerline - AX1800 - PC

or

BT Homehub - powerline - [....dodgy home wiring....] - powerline - PC - AX1800


I guess this mean I can ditch my mobo's onboard wifi for my usual PC online stuff since my PC will be attached to the AX1800?


Is this how it works in n00b-speak?:
My BT Homehub sends both the 2.4Ghz & 5GHz wifi signal through the house but I password protect the 5Ghz band on the Homehub so rest of the household can only access the 2.4Ghz band. I also password protect the AX1800 to make sure no one else can access the 5Ghz band from there.

Will my PC use just 2.4Ghz for browsing/gaming etc, leaving the 5Ghz available on the AX1800 soley for Quest 2 Virtual Desktop usage, or should my PC be able to use the 5Ghz band too?

Sorry for all the questions :D
Click to expand...

Plug the 2nd powerline into an ethernet port on the AX1800 not the wan port.

and connect a network cable from the PC to the Ax1800 too. That way you won't be using wireless for Internet on your PC.

ON the Ax1800 setup the 5Ghz network with a password and only use that password on the Quest 2.
 
If you can I'd get the powerlines which still allow you to use power socket. I got the ones allow uk 3 pin to be used. Broadband buyer site has good selection. Never got anything from them myself so can't vouch for them.
 
I've actually got powerline adaptors, but haven't considered using them for Virtual Desktop because I thought the latency would be bad. I might have to give this a go, especially as I now have a spare Wifi 6 router I never used as its signal didn't reach as far as my current router.
 
Ravenger said:
I've actually got powerline adaptors, but haven't considered using them for Virtual Desktop because I thought the latency would be bad. I might have to give this a go, especially as I now have a spare Wifi 6 router I never used as its signal didn't reach as far as my current router.
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The latency to the outside world for multiplayer games using powerline adapters will be worse than connecting with a network cable. How good the latency is will depend on the quality of the powerline adapters and the wiring in your house.

It won't make any difference to the latency between your Quest 2 and your computer though. Skyrim VR, for example, won't have any better latency no matter if you are using powerline adapters or network cable to connect to the Access point. But, if you were playing Starwars Squadrons, you might have higher latency using the powerline adapters.
 
ok one more really stupid question. This is difficult to phrase (and embarrassing to ask) since I really am so extraordinarily useless at this networking sorcery. I have tried to google this but it's difficult since I don't really know what I'm asking.

Some powerline adapters have WIFI -presumably just so they can spread the existing WIFI signal further around the house from each adapter. So each adapter radiates this WIFI?
Some powerline adapters have a single 2.4GHz band. Some are dual band and have 2.4 & 5Ghz bands.
Some powerline adapters don't have WIFI at all.

I got it in my head that since I would be using 5Ghz WIFI upstairs from the AX1800 for the Quest 2, then I would need to get dual band Powerline adapters.
I could just order a pair of these dual band ones and get on with it but I wanted to try and understand a bit more, hence this confusing post...

In my case, do the powerline adapters themselves actually NEED to be WIFI capable? I mean the BT Homehub downstairs offers wired internet (ethernet) & WIFI. If I used non-WIFI capable adapters then would they only transmit the non-WIFI signal upstairs so I'd only have access to "wired" internet at the other end? Like the WIFI component of the signal would be left downstairs at the BT Homehub?

I mean the internet comes into my house through a telephone socket, into the BT Homehub which separates my internet into wired internet & WIFI internet. Does this complete internet signal need to be passed through WIFI Powerline adapters if I'm going to use the WIFI from a router upstairs for the Quest 2? I'm wondering if I can use non-WIFI adapters to carry the internet signal and if so, will the AX1800 still be able to offer me the 5Ghz WIFI band. Does this 5Ghz need to have been sent through the powerlines in order to be used at AX1800? Or is it the powerline adapters that send & receive the WIFI components along with the ethernet?

Phrase it another way: The signal that passes up through the house wiring. Is it the router or adapter at each end that pulls the WIFI components out of this signal or would some kind of WIFI component need to be passed along the signal through the house wiring as well as the ethernet signal?

Hope this makes some kind of sense....[cringes inwardly as he hits 'Post Reply']
 
FishPolice said:
ok one more really stupid question. This is difficult to phrase (and embarrassing to ask) since I really am so extraordinarily useless at this networking sorcery. I have tried to google this but it's difficult since I don't really know what I'm asking.

Some powerline adapters have WIFI -presumably just so they can spread the existing WIFI signal further around the house from each adapter. So each adapter radiates this WIFI?
Some powerline adapters have a single 2.4GHz band. Some are dual band and have 2.4 & 5Ghz bands.
Some powerline adapters don't have WIFI at all.

I got it in my head that since I would be using 5Ghz WIFI upstairs from the AX1800 for the Quest 2, then I would need to get dual band Powerline adapters.
I could just order a pair of these dual band ones and get on with it but I wanted to try and understand a bit more, hence this confusing post...

In my case, do the powerline adapters themselves actually NEED to be WIFI capable? I mean the BT Homehub downstairs offers wired internet (ethernet) & WIFI. If I used non-WIFI capable adapters then would they only transmit the non-WIFI signal upstairs so I'd only have access to "wired" internet at the other end? Like the WIFI component of the signal would be left downstairs at the BT Homehub?

I mean the internet comes into my house through a telephone socket, into the BT Homehub which separates my internet into wired internet & WIFI internet. Does this complete internet signal need to be passed through WIFI Powerline adapters if I'm going to use the WIFI from a router upstairs for the Quest 2? I'm wondering if I can use non-WIFI adapters to carry the internet signal and if so, will the AX1800 still be able to offer me the 5Ghz WIFI band. Does this 5Ghz need to have been sent through the powerlines in order to be used at AX1800? Or is it the powerline adapters that send & receive the WIFI components along with the ethernet?

Phrase it another way: The signal that passes up through the house wiring. Is it the router or adapter at each end that pulls the WIFI components out of this signal or would some kind of WIFI component need to be passed along the signal through the house wiring as well as the ethernet signal?

Hope this makes some kind of sense....[cringes inwardly as he hits 'Post Reply']
Click to expand...

You don't need wifi from the powerline adapters for what you want. Just get ones that you plug a network cable into.

Try these

▷ TP-Link AV1300 3-Port Gigabit Passthrough Pow… | OcUK (overclockers.co.uk)

or this if you want something cheaper.

▷ TP-Link AV1000 Gigabit Powerline Starter Kit … | OcUK (overclockers.co.uk)

You are overthinking everything. The Internet is coming into your house Via your telephone line. The hub processes the information and sends it round the home. It's the same information whether it's sent by wireless(5ghz or 2.4Ghz) or wired.

All wireless is, is another method of moving data around.

As for why you don't need wifi on the powerline adapters. Imagine if you had a network cable and plugged it into the BT hub and into the Ax1800. That's all the powerline adapters are doing, replacing that cable.
 
FishPolice said:
ok one more really stupid question. This is difficult to phrase (and embarrassing to ask) since I really am so extraordinarily useless at this networking sorcery. I have tried to google this but it's difficult since I don't really know what I'm asking.

Some powerline adapters have WIFI -presumably just so they can spread the existing WIFI signal further around the house from each adapter. So each adapter radiates this WIFI?
Some powerline adapters have a single 2.4GHz band. Some are dual band and have 2.4 & 5Ghz bands.
Some powerline adapters don't have WIFI at all.

I got it in my head that since I would be using 5Ghz WIFI upstairs from the AX1800 for the Quest 2, then I would need to get dual band Powerline adapters.
I could just order a pair of these dual band ones and get on with it but I wanted to try and understand a bit more, hence this confusing post...

In my case, do the powerline adapters themselves actually NEED to be WIFI capable? I mean the BT Homehub downstairs offers wired internet (ethernet) & WIFI. If I used non-WIFI capable adapters then would they only transmit the non-WIFI signal upstairs so I'd only have access to "wired" internet at the other end? Like the WIFI component of the signal would be left downstairs at the BT Homehub?

I mean the internet comes into my house through a telephone socket, into the BT Homehub which separates my internet into wired internet & WIFI internet. Does this complete internet signal need to be passed through WIFI Powerline adapters if I'm going to use the WIFI from a router upstairs for the Quest 2? I'm wondering if I can use non-WIFI adapters to carry the internet signal and if so, will the AX1800 still be able to offer me the 5Ghz WIFI band. Does this 5Ghz need to have been sent through the powerlines in order to be used at AX1800? Or is it the powerline adapters that send & receive the WIFI components along with the ethernet?

Phrase it another way: The signal that passes up through the house wiring. Is it the router or adapter at each end that pulls the WIFI components out of this signal or would some kind of WIFI component need to be passed along the signal through the house wiring as well as the ethernet signal?

Hope this makes some kind of sense....[cringes inwardly as he hits 'Post Reply']
Click to expand...


The signal that passes through the house wiring is the same information you would get if you were to connect an ethernet cable, so if it helps just imagine the 2 powerlines being the ends of an ethernet cable.

So yes the wifi adaptors transmits the wifi signal.

Because you already bought the AX1800, you don't need wifi adaptors because they would do the same job.

I think comparing against wifi powerlines, using the AX1800 would still be theoretically quicker, because there's less movement of data especially through the house wiring.
So PC connects to AX1800, AX1800 transmits data to Quest.
Whereas via the powerlines: PC connects to powerline, through wiring to get to router, sends information back through wiring to powerline, powerline transmits data to Quest.
(Although I might be wrong on this, I'm not sure if data sent from a device HAS to go via the router before being passed onto other devices)

I've not looked them up, but unless the wifi signal from the router is too weak to reach different parts of the house where the powerline will be, or if it's the same price as non-wifi powerlines (which I assume they're not), then save your money and buy the non-wifi ones.
 
FishPolice said:
Some powerline adapters have WIFI -presumably just so they can spread the existing WIFI signal further around the house from each adapter. So each adapter radiates this WIFI?
Some powerline adapters have a single 2.4GHz band. Some are dual band and have 2.4 & 5Ghz bands.
Click to expand...

Sorry for the second post. Just wanted to answer this. It depends on the powerline adapter and what way you set it up. Some powerline adapters are Wifi Extenders. That means they take the Wifi signal and boost it. Others use the wiring in your house to bring the signal from one place to another(imagine running a network cable) and then radiate that signal via Wifi. Some have no Wifi, you need to plug a cable in. Some are all of the above.
 
Just thought I'd report back after setting up the Archer AX20 AX1800 along with the AV1300 3-PORT GIGABIT PASSTHROUGH POWERLINE STARTER KIT (TL-PA8033P KIT).

It works an absolute treat! I'm still tweaking things but it's finally working solidly.
I was pleasantly surprised how well the powerline adapters work with my house wiring. Big relief.

Thanks again for all the help :)
 
I need to get something for my parents to allow them to use the Quest 2 in their living room.

They live in a modest 3-bed semi and the main PC and Virgin Media modem/router are in the smallest bedroom/office upstairs at the rear of the house. The PC is wired to the router, so that's a Gigabit connection, then I think another port on the router is wired to a Powerline adapter, which carries the signal down to the living room at the front of the house, where the other Powerline adapter is wired to a Gigabit switch which has a couple of things connected (Bluray player, console).

They generally have sufficient signal from the VM router to be able to use their phones in the living room, although sometimes the TP Link smartplugs in the corners of the room struggle. When I tested it, the Quest 2 did connect at 866Mbps but it kept losing signal, so they need a stronger 5Ghz signal in the living room. If I got them the TP-Link AC1750 and used it in AP mode and wired it to the Gigabit switch, which is wired to the Powerline adapter, which then goes to the VM router, which is wired to the PC, would that provide a solid 1000Mbps connection to/from the PC for PCVR stuff?

I understand that the Quest 2 is capable of connecting at a max of 1200Mbps and the AC1750 can do 1300Mbps on the 5Ghz channel but the other components are going to limit it to a max of 1000Mbps anyway.

I'm hoping that the Quest 3 will improve the WiFi speed, to the max possible with 4x4 MIMO and 1024-QAM of 2166Mbps, which is pretty close to the wired Link speed of 2400Mbps. Is there anything I could use to create a 2166Mbps wireless connection between the living room and the PC, bypassing the Powerline adapters and the VM router?
 
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doveman said:
I'm hoping that the Quest 3 will improve the WiFi speed, to the max possible with 4x4 MIMO and 1024-QAM of 2166Mbps, which is pretty close to the wired Link speed of 2400Mbps. Is there anything I could use to create a 2166Mbps wireless connection between the living room and the PC, bypassing the Powerline adapters and the VM router?
Click to expand...

The problem isn't just out and out speed. It's also latency and low latency is very important for a good VR experience. And in the scenario you mention above I think the power line adapters are going to introduce a lot of latency. In this situation the signal from the Quest is going go into the Access point, then into powerline adapter 1, then into powerline adapter 2, into the switch then into router, then into the PC. Whereas in the ideal situation, the signal goes from the Quest to the access point to the PC. And even in this ideal scenario the Latency can be anything from 20ms to 50ms depending on the game. I think all the extra steps could easily double that.

Have you considered moving the Main Router to the Sitting Room? I know this might not be possible.
 
melmac said:
The problem isn't just out and out speed. It's also latency and low latency is very important for a good VR experience. And in the scenario you mention above I think the power line adapters are going to introduce a lot of latency. In this situation the signal from the Quest is going go into the Access point, then into powerline adapter 1, then into powerline adapter 2, into the switch then into router, then into the PC. Whereas in the ideal situation, the signal goes from the Quest to the access point to the PC. And even in this ideal scenario the Latency can be anything from 20ms to 50ms depending on the game. I think all the extra steps could easily double that.

Have you considered moving the Main Router to the Sitting Room? I know this might not be possible.
Click to expand...

Yeah, unfortunately that's not possible as the VM broadband cable coming into the house goes upstairs and even if we could move the router downstairs, the signal would have to go upstairs via the Powerline adapter to another router to connect the PCs and the smart switches/lights up there, so there'd still be too many steps between the Quest and the PC.

I've just seen the Honor Router 3, which can do 2402Mbps on the 5Ghz band and it costs about the same as the TP-Link AC1750 so I'm wondering if there's a way to use that as an AP for the Quest downstairs and have it link directly to a PCI-e card or USB dongle in the PC upstairs (it might have to be a USB dongle, as I don't think there's any spare PCI-e slots) that can match that speed, thus bypassing the Powerline adapters and the VM router? Although apparently that router sends data about your devices and network to Huawei, so I probably wouldn't buy that.
 
doveman said:
Yeah, unfortunately that's not possible as the VM broadband cable coming into the house goes upstairs and even if we could move the router downstairs, the signal would have to go upstairs via the Powerline adapter to another router to connect the PCs and the smart switches/lights up there, so there'd still be too many steps between the Quest and the PC.

I've just seen the Honor Router 3, which can do 2402Mbps on the 5Ghz band and it costs about the same as the TP-Link AC1750 so I'm wondering if there's a way to use that as an AP for the Quest downstairs and have it link directly to a PCI-e card or USB dongle in the PC upstairs (it might have to be a USB dongle, as I don't think there's any spare PCI-e slots) that can match that speed, thus bypassing the Powerline adapters and the VM router? Although apparently that router sends data about your devices and network to Huawei, so I probably wouldn't buy that.
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You wouldn't need a Router upstairs, just a decent switch. Yes, it would have to go through some of the same steps, but, it would be a faster configuration for the Quest 2 than using an access point downstairs.

The honor 6 solution won't work. Too much latency again. I think your only solution might be a mesh network,
 
melmac said:
You wouldn't need a Router upstairs, just a decent switch. Yes, it would have to go through some of the same steps, but, it would be a faster configuration for the Quest 2 than using an access point downstairs.

The honor 6 solution won't work. Too much latency again. I think your only solution might be a mesh network,
Click to expand...

I think I'd need a router upstairs to provide a WiFi signal for the smart devices and mobiles to connect to if the VM router was down in the living room.

Why would there be too much latency if the Quest was connected to the Honor router and that was connected directly to a WiFi card/dongle in the PC? It may be difficult to make the connection, as the Honor router would be downstairs behind the TV and the VM router is currently right next to the PC upstairs, so just having another WiFi device in the same position is unlikely to work and I'd probably have to use a USB WiFi dongle on a 2-3m USB cable so that it could be stuck to the wall at the top of the stairs but that's a separate issue to latency.
 
doveman said:
I think I'd need a router upstairs to provide a WiFi signal for the smart devices and mobiles to connect to if the VM router was down in the living room.
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You could plug a wireless access point into a switch and that could cater for the other devices upstairs. And run a separate cable from the switch to the PC. The Switch downstairs wouldn't be needed as the devices would plug directly into the router instead.


doveman said:
Why would there be too much latency if the Quest was connected to the Honor router and that was connected directly to a WiFi card/dongle in the PC? It may be difficult to make the connection, as the Honor router would be downstairs behind the TV and the VM router is currently right next to the PC upstairs, so just having another WiFi device in the same position is unlikely to work and I'd probably have to use a USB WiFi dongle on a 2-3m USB cable so that it could be stuck to the wall at the top of the stairs but that's a separate issue to latency.
Click to expand...

Wireless connections add latency. It's as simple as that. You want to reduce the number of wireless hops. Unless the wiring in your house is terrible and the powerline adapters are really bad, the connection via the powerline adapters to upstairs will have lower latency than a wireless one.

What make and model of powerline adapters are they? Forgot to ask before.

I think if they are decent, then you should try your initial idea. Access point downstairs connected to the powerline adapters. Make sure to set it up so that only the Quest 2 has access to the 5Ghz network on the access point. It might not be best way of connecting, but it might not be terrible either, as long as it's comfortable for your parents to use then it should be ok.
 
melmac said:
You could plug a wireless access point into a switch and that could cater for the other devices upstairs. And run a separate cable from the switch to the PC. The Switch downstairs wouldn't be needed as the devices would plug directly into the router instead.
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Ah yes, that makes sense. Although it's a moot point as its not really an option to move the VM router into the living room, at least not without getting them to come and relay the cable outside and drill a hole through the outside wall into the living room.

Wireless connections add latency. It's as simple as that. You want to reduce the number of wireless hops. Unless the wiring in your house is terrible and the powerline adapters are really bad, the connection via the powerline adapters to upstairs will have lower latency than a wireless one.

What make and model of powerline adapters are they? Forgot to ask before.

I think if they are decent, then you should try your initial idea. Access point downstairs connected to the powerline adapters. Make sure to set it up so that only the Quest 2 has access to the 5Ghz network on the access point. It might not be best way of connecting, but it might not be terrible either, as long as it's comfortable for your parents to use then it should be ok.
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I'll have to check what powerline adapters they are, as my Dad bought them himself. He was thinking about running an ethernet cable up the corner of the living room, into the bedroom above (the corner is hidden by a fitted wardrobe) and into the loft and then down into the office where the VM router is but he decided he didn't want to damage the coving he'd recently fitted in the living room. I think you're right that, assuming the powerline adapters are OK, I'll just have to try using the TP-Link AC1750 as an access point, as that does 1300Mbps at 5Ghz so it's fine for the Quest 2 and then if the Quest 3 does support faster speeds and they do improve the PCVR streaming, I can consider then how I can create a 2000Mbps+ connection from the PC to the Quest.
 
Hi all - I’m intending to buy the 2 pack RT-AX92U wifi6 routers and connect them in the house via an Ethernet backhaul, ensuring the WiFi 6 band is free and can be used by the oculus.

I read a review suggesting that the wifi6 will only work at 1.2gps and not 2.4gps. Is this an issue?

Thanks.
 
melmac said:
What make and model of powerline adapters are they? Forgot to ask before.

I think if they are decent, then you should try your initial idea. Access point downstairs connected to the powerline adapters. Make sure to set it up so that only the Quest 2 has access to the 5Ghz network on the access point. It might not be best way of connecting, but it might not be terrible either, as long as it's comfortable for your parents to use then it should be ok.
Click to expand...

I had a chance to try out the TP-Link AC1750/RE450 access point at my parent's house yesterday. The powerline adapters are Netgear PL1000 https://www.netgear.co.uk/home/products/networking/powerline/PL1000.aspx and the one in the living room is wired to a Tenda G1005D 5-port Gigabit Switch. I've got the same switch and I recall I had some issues using it with a Raspberry Pi running Moonlight to stream from my PC to my TV which I fixed by replacing it with a Trendnet TEG S50g https://www.trendnet.com/products/product-detail?prod=510_TEG-S50G . So I may need to replace my parent's one too but there seems to be another problem that's unrelated to that.

I had the AP set up with only the 5Ghz band on and wired to the switch and the Quest 2 connected to that fine but in Alcove I tried to play some of the travel videos from Paris and Amsterdam and they just kept freezing for about 10 seconds every 5 seconds. It was the data stream that was freezing, as I could still rotate the view to look around the still image, so the app wasn't crashing. I had no such problems playing these videos with the Quest 2 connected to the AP in my house, with it wired directly to my BT Smarthub.

So I tried using the AC1750 as a WiFi repeater instead of an AP, extending just the 5Ghz signal. That reduced the speed to 150Mps (which doesn't really matter for this test, as my Dad's broadband is only 100Mbps) but it took the Tenda switch and the powerline adapters out of the equation and I still had the same problem with the video playback freezing in Alcove.

I also tried connecting the Quest 2 directly to the Wifi on the Virgin Media hub upstairs, on the 5Ghz band. The signal's not great downstairs, which is why I bought the AC1750 but by the living room door its OK and I still had the same problem with the Alcove videos freezing.

So I'm wondering if there's an issue with the Virgin Media router/modem causing this. If so, it won't make any difference what other equipment I use. What diagnostics could I do to find out if there is a problem with the router? My parents haven't had any problems streaming online video from Amazon and iPlayer to their WiFi connected TV in the bedroom upstairs, nor with offline video stored on the PC streamed via Plex and the powerline adapters to the TV downstairs, so I don't really see how there could be a problem with the VM router that would only cause problems with Quest apps playing online videos but equally I don't see what else it could be, in light of the things that I tried.
 
Nitefly said:
Hi all - I’m intending to buy the 2 pack RT-AX92U wifi6 routers and connect them in the house via an Ethernet backhaul, ensuring the WiFi 6 band is free and can be used by the oculus.

I read a review suggesting that the wifi6 will only work at 1.2gps and not 2.4gps. Is this an issue?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

A WiFi 5/802.11ac router can do 1200Mbps, so it would be strange if a WiFi 6/802.11ax router wasn't able to provide faster speeds. From a quick look, it seems that this router supports 4x4 11ax on 5GHz 160MHz bandwidth with 1024QAM modulation whereas a WiFi 5 router only supports 4x4 11ac on 5GHz 80MHz with 256QAM modulation, so in theory the router should support 2.4Gbps but the Qualcomm FastConnect 6800 SoC in the Quest 2 has a peak speed of approx. 1.7Gbps, so that will be the limiting factor https://www.qualcomm.com/products/fastconnect-6800

My TP-Link AC1750 supports 1200Mbps on Wifi 5/802.11ac but my Quest 2 still only connects at 866Mbps, so I'm not sure if it can connect any faster, even if you have a WiFi 6 router.
 
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