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Dewelius's avatar
Dewelius
Honored Guest
25 days ago

Quest 3 USB Ethernet broken after April 2026 update — IpClient DHCP never starts (RTL8153B)

Hi, before the latest Quest OS update (April 2026) I was using Virtual Desktop over Ethernet via a USB-C hub (Baseus CAHUB-CW0G, Realtek RTL8153B chipset) and it worked great. After the update it stopped working completely.

The interface (eth0) shows up and the hub is detected, but the Quest never gets an IP address — it just stays on IPv6 link-local and never connects. Virtual Desktop shows "Not in same local network".

I spent several hours digging into this with ADB and found two things:

  1. The firmware file rtl_nic/rtl8153b-2.fw for the Realtek chip is missing — the driver logs an error on every connection attempt
  2. The DHCP client never actually starts — eth0 comes up but the Quest never sends a DHCP request to get an IPv4 address

I tried everything I could without root: cmd ethernet set-ip-configuration eth0 dhcp, static IP, replugging the hub, different flag values — nothing works because the fix requires system-level access.

This is affecting everyone using Ethernet with Virtual Desktop after this update. The Realtek RTL8153 chipset is by far the most popular one for these hubs so it's a wide impact.

Please restore the missing firmware file and fix the DHCP provisioning for USB Ethernet interfaces. This worked perfectly before the update so it should be a straightforward fix.

Thanks

9 Replies

  • Maniguet's avatar
    Maniguet
    Honored Guest
    6 days ago

    Hi there, 

    Thanks to the OP for digging into this issue. 

    To use Virtual Desktop via USB cable I connect the quest 3 to an HP docking station that is connected to the local net. 

    It worked ok until some days ago. 

    I have checked and the docking station uses a similar Realtek chip from the 8153 family. 

    I hope that this is solved soon, but I wouldn't hold my breath...

     

  • duncangroberts's avatar
    duncangroberts
    Honored Guest
    16 days ago

    Yeah having exactly the same issue. Headset just updated, ethernet via the usb-c adapter works until you try and open VD or Steam link and then the connection goes down.

  • keven.ma's avatar
    keven.ma
    Explorer
    16 days ago

    Really appreciate the technical deep dive!

    I’m seeing the same issue with users of my app, especially for NDI workflows where a stable wired connection is essential. I’ve escalated this to Meta on X (Twitter) to help them see that this regression impacts a wide range of use cases. Thanks again for the research!

    Hopefully, we get a fix soon!

    Escalation thread: https://x.com/kevenma_x/status/2051341869536419850

    • SpeedAdrenaline's avatar
      SpeedAdrenaline
      Explorer
      19 days ago

      To all, if you still have this issue, just flip the cable that goes into the headset and it should work, it did it for me. dont know why but it works. 

      • SpeedAdrenaline's avatar
        SpeedAdrenaline
        Explorer
        16 days ago

        What I proposed before of flipping the cable worked but it did not solve the problem since after restart the connection failure comes back. What I finally did was a factory reset, I reinstalled the applications and now it is working correctly, I noticed that the Q3 updated itself to the April 22nd, 2026, version and since then it is working as it is supposed to. In addition, I also switched off the wireless connection which i will not update for the time being. I hope it helps to someone who is struggling with this. 

  • Mr_Sunnybones's avatar
    Mr_Sunnybones
    Explorer
    20 days ago

    Almost certainly the same issue here . Have a Quest 3 connected viab USB to a HP 

    E24d G4 monitor , which has a Network card built in , and had been working fine for the last 10 months or so .. (I connect via VD to a PC in another room) yesterday it just stopped working ..It seems to work for a few seconds when I reboot the quest , but then says no wifi connection (I have wifi switched off normally) and has no internet conection.  Its possible I'm seeing cached information here though as it breaks too quickly for me to test.

    I dont know the exact network chipset inside the monitor so cant confirm its exactly the same issue . Will try it with some other network devices and see 

    -edit- after a bit of testing it looks like the monitor uses a 

    Realtek RTL8153  

    Its annoying as hell when an update breaks something that was working fine .

    • wolfie_24's avatar
      wolfie_24
      Honored Guest
      20 days ago

      molesto para el usuario, sin apuro para el fabricante, total, ya tiene tu dinero. Esto es algo común en todos los sistemas, me pasó con FS2020, con FS2024, con Win en casi todas sus versiones y con lo que sea sucede igual. Hacen la prueba con un grupo reducido de usuarios, posiblemente con los equipos mas potentes que jamás tendrá el gamer común y si funciona allí "debe" funcionar para todos. Muy molesto y frustrante, como que la vida y el tiempo de los usuarios no tuviese valor alguno

       

  • SpeedAdrenaline's avatar
    SpeedAdrenaline
    Explorer
    20 days ago

    hello, I am having the same issue, virtual desktop streamer cannot connect via ethernet cable, has anyone found the solution