Hey just a helpful tip for those looking for a Oculus Link Cable option that doesn’t cost $70-$90

[wazzujor]

Note: with this solution, my link cable test outputs 3.6 Gbps on oculus pc software test. 

Hey all. Just wanted to share a recent discovery. I really didn’t want to drop all that cash for a link cable. I have tons of cables and adapters already. I tried experimenting one day. And idea came to me... I know active cables usually include a onboard controller but I mean power over Ethernet works simply by injecting literally power into the line to boost the travel of data and increase the throughput. Could the same be done for usb? I don’t know why not?

so here is the solution. I wanted a very long cable as I do most of my gaming related stuff in my bedroom as my 65 in 4K display is in there (awesome for pc gaming). But my cpu is a dual system rig I built and heats stuff up quick under load. My room gets too hot. So it’s outside my door in the living room. I figured I need about 20-25 ft. 

I tried using any long usb 3 cable I had and joined them using various usb 3 compliant couplers and adapters (be careful. I’d say 75% of couplers and adapters on Amazon that say they are rated for full data rate of usb 3 are not at all. Most are just 480 mbps) and then I had to convert my usb 3 cable (type a for all the long ones) into a type c to plug in quest 2. 

so final cable consisted of all parts I already had which were 

-15 ft cable creation usb 3 male type a to male type A cord (Amazon $18-$20)

-some random usb 3 coupler from Amazon. Doesn’t have brand on the actual product. Some bs company out of China most likely in some guys basement. But I read reviews. Most said it provided full speed data rate. And it does. And it stays really cool and it’s metal. Cost like $7 for a pack of 4. 

-Amazon Basics Thunderbolt 3 Type A to Type C 5 ft cord ($22 Amazon) *used this as it was the only type a to type c cable I had that was spec at usb or above. The rest are “fake usb 3” cables that just power devices and run at 480 mbps usb 2 speed. 

-another coupler

-Second usb 3.0 10 ft type a to type A cable made my some random fake Amazon store called “nimaso” it was on sale for like $10 at the time so I figured I’d try. And yea. It’s legit

alright I had my jimmy rigged cable with plenty of legnth. I figured it most likely would read as usb 2 but I tried the test anyway. and sure enough, usb 2. It rated at like 720 mbps I believe. Makes sense. We are talking about like 35 ft of cable and pieces together adapters and hardware. I wasn’t even sure if everything even was actually operating at 3.0 speed or not as most of these supplies I just used for various tinkering and never actually tested speeds. 

alright so I failed. I mean I can do it but wireless was much faster (I have a ASUS Rog Rapture AX11000 tri band router and my performance pc includes a Ax mu-mimo 2x2 network card adapter so I can transmit around 2Gbps data speeds. But latency still is there. 

So anyways I had an idea about injecting actual power into the line. I had two Amazon Basics USB 3 powered hubs laying around I used to use for usb asic mining back in the day. Both are rated at 80 W and can provide up to 20W power per port. They cost $28 at the time but you can most likely usb any powered usb hub. Anyways I plugged the hub into my type a usb 3.2 gen 2 port on my mobo (tried others like usb 3.1, usb 3.2 gen 1 and usb 3.2 gen 2 type c but only this one worked. Not sure exactly. Prob because I used a thunderbolt three type a to c cord to connect the quest 2 as if I use a type c to c cord or any of my usb 2 type c to type a cords, it works in other ports. 

anyways, I had my hub powered up and plugged the first usb 3 extension cable into the first powered slot. Then came coupler, then next extension cable, then coupler, then thunderbolt 3 cable. 

booted up oculus in windows. Ran test. BOOM! Profit!!! 3.6 Gbps data transmission rate. I haven’t seen many state higher results yet. 

have fun!!!

[lensmandave]

Great stuff!

Don't you love it when a plan comes together!