Quest 3 PC VR: An Easy, Affordable, Lag-Free Wireless Setup

How I got smooth PC VR working with a mini WiFi router connected to my PC via ethernet - for £80.

Background

I’ve been wanting to try VR for ages and finally picked up a pre-owned Meta Quest 3 to have a go. While it’s genuinely fun as a standalone headset, my main objective was PC VR - I wanted to experience games like iRacing with proper immersion and finally play Half-Life Alyx. Since upgrading my PC last year I’ve been keen to push it to its limits, and VR seemed like the perfect excuse.

To get PC VR working, I initially tried a £15 third-party USB link cable from Amazon. There’s no way I was paying £90 for Meta’s official cable for what is essentially a fancy USB-C wire. It worked for about a day, albeit a little awkward with the wire, then started randomly downgrading from USB 3 to USB 2. The resulting bandwidth drop meant freezes and stutters - fatal in a racing sim where a single stutter sends you straight into a wall. I spent hours trying different USB ports, updating drivers, and fiddling with settings, but the problems persisted.

This isn’t just me being unlucky. Link cable issues on the Quest 3 are well documented online, even with the official cable. Much of this seems to be the Meta software as much as hardware. Meta don’t seem particularly invested in supporting PC VR these days. So rather than gamble £90 on the official cable and potentially have the same problems, I looked for alternatives.

The generally accepted gold standard for Quest 3 PC VR is an app called Virtual Desktop. It replaces Meta’s streaming software and lets you stream from your PC to the Quest via WiFi, often with better quality and lower latency than a cable. The question was: how to set up the WiFi connection?

Connection Options

There are a few ways to get Virtual Desktop working:

1. PC wired to main router: The most common recommendation is to wire your PC directly to your main router via ethernet, then connect the Quest to the same router via WiFi. This keeps the PC-to-Quest hop minimal. However, my PC is in a different room to my router and connects via WiFi itself. Streaming VR through two WiFi hops - PC to router, router to Quest - would introduce too much latency.

2. Mesh router in the room: Another option is adding a mesh router near your play space. But this can be unreliable and potentially requires upgrading your main router to something compatible. The cost adds up quickly.

3. Dedicated bridge router: Instead, I bought a small travel router to sit next to my PC. The PC connects to it via ethernet, and the Quest connects to its WiFi directly. This creates a dedicated, low-latency link between PC and headset, completely bypassing my main home network for VR traffic.

Option 3 seemed like the simplest and most affordable solution for my situation.

Setup

The Router

After some research I landed on the GL.iNet Beryl AX (GL-MT3000). It’s a compact travel router with WiFi 6 support, which is important for the bandwidth VR demands. I picked it up for £80 from Amazon.

Router Configuration

1. Connect your PC to the router’s WAN port using the ethernet cable included in the box.
2. Power on the router and connect to its WiFi network from any device (the password is printed on the bottom of the router).
3. Navigate to http://192.168.8.1 in a browser and complete the first-time setup wizard.
4. Go to Network > Network Mode and ensure it’s set to “Router” mode.

5. Give the network a distinct name (SSID) - you want this separate from your main home WiFi to avoid issues or accidentally having the Quest connect to the wrong place.

Windows Internet Connection Sharing

Since my PC connects to the internet via WiFi, I needed to share that connection with the router over ethernet. Windows has a built-in feature for this called Internet Connection Sharing (ICS).

1. Open Control Panel and go to Network and Sharing Centre.
2. Click “Change adapter settings” in the sidebar.
3. Right-click on your WiFi adapter and select Properties.
4. Go to the Sharing tab.
5. Tick both checkboxes and select your Ethernet adapter in the “Home networking connection” dropdown.
6. Click OK, then reboot the router if it’s still not working.

After a minute or two, the router’s admin page should confirm it has internet access.

Quest 3 Setup

1. On the Quest 3, connect to the Beryl’s WiFi network.
2. Verify internet access by opening the Meta store or browser.
3. Purchase and install Virtual Desktop from the Meta Quest store (~£15).
4. Download and install the Virtual Desktop Streamer on your PC.
5. Follow the in-app pairing instructions - it’s straightforward.
6. Go into WiFi settings and “Forget” your main home WiFi network. This prevents the Quest from ever falling back to it, which would cause lag and stuttering.

This YouTube video is an excellent guide for getting up and running with Virtual Desktop and understanding the settings.

Tips

• Forget your main home WiFi on the Quest: Be sure to do this! If the Quest ever switches networks mid-game, you’ll get horrible lag spikes. I learned from experience. :)
• Place the router near your play area: Line of sight to the headset helps and the Beryl is small enough to sit on a desk comfortably.
• Start with the recommended settings: The YouTube guide linked above covers good baseline settings. Tweak from there once you’ve confirmed things work.
• Check your stats: Virtual Desktop has an overlay showing latency, bitrate, and connection quality. Access it by clicking both thumbsticks. Use this to verify everything is working before diving into a game.

Impressions

It’s honestly been brilliant. The experience of just picking up the Quest, opening Virtual Desktop, and having it connect automatically is seamless. No cables to plug in, no USB issues to debug.

I’ve put over 10 hours into iRacing in VR so far without a single stutter or disconnect. The immersion is incredible - being able to look around the cockpit, glance at your mirrors naturally, and judge distances by depth perception rather than guessing from a flat screen. It’s much easier to race wheel to wheel with this expanded field of view compared to racing on a single monitor.

The other standout experience has been Half-Life Alyx. It’s a stunning showcase for VR and far surpasses the standalone Quest titles I’ve tried. The level of polish and interaction design sets a high bar.

I’ll probably write more about VR games in future - I’m having a lot of fun exploring what’s out there. Until then, if you’ve got a Quest 3 and a gaming PC, this setup is well worth the money. Good luck with your VR adventures!