I've got a Meta Quest 3 that is Wifi 6E capable. My existing wireless network equipment is fine for our needs but is older Wifi5/6 (not 6E) and is semi-crowded with devices (all Sophos based with wired 10Gb throughout the house, haven't had any issues). I don't need or want any routing or firewall capabilities and would prefer something that is an access point, or at least can be put in access point mode. I use VLANs to separate our guest/kids network from other house hold traffic but that is not a requirement for this VR use case, although bonus points if it can support that. I am specifically looking for the best relatively inexpensive option with the following in mind:
1. Provide good range - obviously limited to the room in which the Quest 3 is being used (not expecting 1 AP to provide Wifi7 beyond the room it is in), but being able to get full strength signal 20 feet away versus 10 ft would be nice (it's a decent size dedicated VR room)
2. While the Quest is Wifi 6E limited but 6Ghz capable, I'd prefer a Wifi 7 device with 6Ghz support just in case a Quest 4 (or other similar device) comes out in the next year or two, hoping that it will also benefit from this configuration
3. The PC (dedicated for VR) has 2.5Gb NIC and I would prefer to connect it directly to the access point on a 2.5Gb (or higher) LAN port
4. I have no intention of running 2.5Ghz or 5Ghz wireless for the VR use case - this device should support 6Ghz and excel at it
I purchased the Tp-Link BE9300 and Asus RT-BE92U and have been testing both over the last few weeks, one unit at a time. The Quest 3 connects to either AP/router at 2501Mbit send/receive (max for Quest 3 I believe) but I've experienced a few random wifi signal drops from both devices during long gaming sessions with the kids. Each are configured in access point only mode, using the 2.5Gb port for the PC, and they are dedicated for the single Quest 3 headset. I only have a single network advertised using the 6Ghz radio exclusively, which I kept the options default except for limiting the spectrum to 160Mhz (disabled 320Mhz). There are no other wireless networks configured on the Quest 3 so it's not like the Quest is moving to some other network causing the drop. I believe both wireless devices, at least for the 6Ghz radio might have a bit buggy firmware which leads to the instability. I could be wrong - it could be something in my configuration or house, but I've read quite a bit of guidance on this forum and also various Quest related forums specifically around Wireless. I'm a former CCNA that now works in different tech fields, but much less experience with wireless. Obviously doesn't eliminate the possibility of a user error, but I am not a complete idiot or newbie when it comes to networking. I'm probably averaging about 1 wireless drop/glitch a day, with heavy playing spread across the family (i.e., 6-7 hours a day of use across several family members).
So here is my question - is there a better option than either of these 2 Wifi products? Without costing 2x more than the Quest 3 itself? Has anyone else built a dedicated wireless setup for VR and if so, what did you go with? End-to-end delivery of each frame to the Quest 3 is somewhere around 35-45ms, so a couple of milliseconds improvement on the wireless side won't make a huge difference, but would be nice.. Especially keen on latency consistency. Are there any Wifi 7 6Ghz options that support custom firmware like Merlin that folks might recommend? Would that be a potentially more viable path to have a device with a better wireless software stack that is potentially less glitchy or higher performing?
Any help from experts on here is much appreciated - thanks!!
1. Provide good range - obviously limited to the room in which the Quest 3 is being used (not expecting 1 AP to provide Wifi7 beyond the room it is in), but being able to get full strength signal 20 feet away versus 10 ft would be nice (it's a decent size dedicated VR room)
2. While the Quest is Wifi 6E limited but 6Ghz capable, I'd prefer a Wifi 7 device with 6Ghz support just in case a Quest 4 (or other similar device) comes out in the next year or two, hoping that it will also benefit from this configuration
3. The PC (dedicated for VR) has 2.5Gb NIC and I would prefer to connect it directly to the access point on a 2.5Gb (or higher) LAN port
4. I have no intention of running 2.5Ghz or 5Ghz wireless for the VR use case - this device should support 6Ghz and excel at it
I purchased the Tp-Link BE9300 and Asus RT-BE92U and have been testing both over the last few weeks, one unit at a time. The Quest 3 connects to either AP/router at 2501Mbit send/receive (max for Quest 3 I believe) but I've experienced a few random wifi signal drops from both devices during long gaming sessions with the kids. Each are configured in access point only mode, using the 2.5Gb port for the PC, and they are dedicated for the single Quest 3 headset. I only have a single network advertised using the 6Ghz radio exclusively, which I kept the options default except for limiting the spectrum to 160Mhz (disabled 320Mhz). There are no other wireless networks configured on the Quest 3 so it's not like the Quest is moving to some other network causing the drop. I believe both wireless devices, at least for the 6Ghz radio might have a bit buggy firmware which leads to the instability. I could be wrong - it could be something in my configuration or house, but I've read quite a bit of guidance on this forum and also various Quest related forums specifically around Wireless. I'm a former CCNA that now works in different tech fields, but much less experience with wireless. Obviously doesn't eliminate the possibility of a user error, but I am not a complete idiot or newbie when it comes to networking. I'm probably averaging about 1 wireless drop/glitch a day, with heavy playing spread across the family (i.e., 6-7 hours a day of use across several family members).
So here is my question - is there a better option than either of these 2 Wifi products? Without costing 2x more than the Quest 3 itself? Has anyone else built a dedicated wireless setup for VR and if so, what did you go with? End-to-end delivery of each frame to the Quest 3 is somewhere around 35-45ms, so a couple of milliseconds improvement on the wireless side won't make a huge difference, but would be nice.. Especially keen on latency consistency. Are there any Wifi 7 6Ghz options that support custom firmware like Merlin that folks might recommend? Would that be a potentially more viable path to have a device with a better wireless software stack that is potentially less glitchy or higher performing?
Any help from experts on here is much appreciated - thanks!!
