(Not Resolved) Known Issue - Quest PCVR streaming micro lags and stutter esp. when moving head

[acreed11]

Hi team,

I'm getting micro lags and stutter in Airlink on my Quest 3 (EU/UK), esp. when moving my head. In the Oculus debug overlay this causes brief spikes in transmit/decode, fps drops and visible stuttering. The issue is not present on my Quest Pro with otherwise identical settings - see below screenshots to illustrate.

Few more details:
- Issue is not present on Quest Pro with same settings on HMD, router and PC (using same res)
- Issue is worse at higher bitrates, esp. >200mbps, but still present <200mbps
- Issue is unrelated to PC/game latencies (CPU, GPU, Queue each <5ms)
- Stutters/lags are intermittent (every 10-20 seconds) when not moving but happen immediately and reproducibly when moving the head to either side or especially looking downwards (i.e. on any bigger headset movements)
- Wifi 6E router (TP Link AXE75 EU/UK)
- EDIT: exact same issue with Asus RT-AXE7800 (EU/UK) wifi 6e router
- Connection shows as 2,400mbps
- Airlink codec H264 (but same on other codecs)
- I've attempted factory resetting, installing latest drivers
- Updated to v62 and latest Quest Link desktop version (I can see the 120hz option for my Q3)
- EDIT: Ordered a separate Quest 3 for testing: presents the exact same issue

-EDIT: Same issue on 5ghz 802.11ax 160mhz BUT switching to 802.11ac (!) completely fixed the issue. I cant test this on 6ghz but looks like 802.11ax or something related to how q3 implements it is the culprit

As the issue is worse the higher the bitrate and not present on Q Pro with otherwise same settings, I suspect it's related to the below known Wifi issues - but opening a new thread as instructed. 
https://communityforums.atmeta.com/t5/Get-Help/Known-Isssue-Unstable-wifi-coverage-with-Quest-3-on-s...

Best,
JensQ3QPro

Updates:
- Tried separate router: exact same issue with Asus RT-AXE7800 wifi 6e router
- Ordered a separate Quest 3: exact same issue on both routers

-Same issue on 5ghz 802.11ax 160mhz BUT switching to 802.11ac (!) completely fixed the issue. I cant test this on 6ghz but looks like 802.11ax or something related to how q3 implements it is the culprit

[twilight_sky]

Same issue. It has been happening since I purchase quest3 in May.

[Rolldabeatz]

Yep, upgraded GPU to a 4080 and AV1 encoding at 200mbps is king wireless with Virtual Desktop. About 30-50ms latency. Clarity is amazing, equal or better than h.264 at 960mbps.

[Zombieyoda]

Glad it's working for you. 👍

I am finding beatsaber so much more fun on pcvr with loads of mods on, all streaming at around 38ms latency, still very playable at my skill level, have played through arizona sunshine remake twice now & arizona sunshine 2 once, without issues, i still get an odd stutter in half life alyx, but i think that's a game issue rather than stream issue.

All through virtual desktop @ 120fps & av1 encoding at 200Mbps.

[rabbit88]

Just here to report back that V72 seems to have fixed it. I took a break from VR since the V69/71 disaster and now after updating to V72 everything is perfectly smooth again. 

Please just make sure to not break it again in a future update 🙂

[zetto75]

I gave up after trying a million of solutions so i bought the PrismXR and now in pcvr everything is going fine.

[rabbit88]

It seems it was a network issue for you then. I tried multiple 5&6ghz routers, including the PrismXR pre V72 and they all did not solve the stutter. I wish I had kept my AXE75 so I could test it now with the V72 but the PrismXR seems perfectly fine.

Obviously it was a firmware issue with the Quest, which seems to be solved for now. What I do now is to ensure that firmware auto-updates are disabled. At least that will buy me a couple weeks before a then-forced update potentially breaks it again 😞

[rabbit88]

I should have specified: I am using VD over Wifi and it works perfectly well

Airlink however ist still broken, especially with ASW kicking in. Total stutter fest with unbearable ghosting, event at lowest bitrate and resolution. I believe tethered link was fine. I would try but I just rage-uninstalled the Link Software. What a mess 😠

[Darth_Jaysin]

I think its Meta because all of a sudden SteamLink is better for me than VD and this only came about recently for me, think meta can throttle the bandwidth some how?

[RuneSR2]

Using the Index, I've never had any issues with Alyx - even in 144 Hz using Ultra settings the game is smooth as butter. But Index is using native SteamVR drivers - Meta users will be using two layers of drivers when running Alyx, which will cause a performance hit of about 30% and may cause other issues. 

That's basically why I've kept my Rift hmd for native Meta PCVR titles, and use Index for nearly everything on Steam (OpenXR games can be switched to Meta for optimal performance, but not the many games requiring native SteamVR drivers). 

[Babinok]

For a very long time (more than three or four months) everything worked perfectly and at the end of last week the problem came back, although I did not change any settings in the system and did not perform updates. Whatever I do now, I still get a lot of dropped frames while playing through airlink. The interesting thing is that VD has become much better, although not perfect, but much better than airlink. Why did they break airlink again?