If you own an Oculus Quest, whether it’s the original or the Quest 2, you can use it for PC gaming with the Quest Link feature. Unfortunately, Quest Link requires a USB-C connection to work, at least on the headset. Despite the fact that USB-C has been around for a while, if a user’s motherboard is more than a year or two old, chances are it doesn’t have one of those ports available.
So, how does one use Quest Link with a motherboard that lacks a USB-C port? Many Oculus Quest owners got around this limitation by connecting their HMD directly to their GPUs. Most models of NVIDIA’s RTX lineup included one USB-C port that worked with the Quest Link feature. However, the new RTX 3080 and 3090 cards don’t carry a USB-C port, which may leave some Quest Link users hanging.
How to use Oculus Quest Link without a USB-C port
The lack of a USB-C port isn’t really an impediment to using Oculus Link. It does make things a bit less straightforward, if only because USB standards are a bit confusing. Where any USB-C port on a PC will work with Oculus Link, using an alternative requires a bit of research.
Use a USB-A to USB-C cable or adapter
There’s actually nothing preventing one from using a USB-A to USB-C cable or adapter with the Oculus Quest. However, this is where things get tricky. Oculus Link requires a USB 3.1 connection or better. USB 3.1 has gone under several different names. It may be listed as:
- USB 3.0
- USB 3.1
- USB 3.1 Gen 1
- USB Type-A SuperSpeed
Any motherboard manufactured in the last five years should have at least one USB 3.0 port. These are highlighted with a blue internal connector. Some motherboards may have USB ports with teal or red connectors, and those should work as well. The cord and adapter below both meet the minimum requirements needed for Quest Link.
- Buy Nimaso USB-C Female to USB-A Male Adapter at Amazon
- Buy Anker Powerline USB-A 3.0 to USB-C Charger Cable at Amazon
A May update added the ability to use USB 2.0 for Quest Link as well. However, we haven’t documented whether or not there are any detrimental effects from using the lower bandwidth connection.
Use Oculus Link wirelessly
Despite not being officially supported, players can also use Quest Link wirelessly. Users are recommended to have a robust Wi-Fi connection. A Wireless-AC router should be the minimum, though Wireless-N may work as well.
From personal testing, aside from the occasional hiccup, using Oculus Link wirelessly works just as well as using a cord. In fact, I’m shocked it isn’t an official feature. It does require users to purchase the Virtual Desktop app for $19.99 (keep in mind only the Oculus Store version will work), but the setup is relatively straightforward, with zero risks involved. For those interested in using their Oculus Quest wirelessly, our guide covers the whole process.
