Best Link Cable alternatives for Oculus Quest 2 in 2021

These days, Oculus Quest 2 owners who want to play PC VR games on their headsets have many options. Oculus Air Link is built into the headset and supports 120Hz refresh rates, while Virtual Desktop also lets you play PC VR games on Quest. But an Oculus Link Cable is the next best thing if you don’t have a fast Wi-Fi network or a PC that can’t keep up with the network speed needed for wireless PC VR. You can’t just hook any cable up, though. You need one that’s long enough to allow you to move freely and fast enough to handle all the streaming data that PC VR requires. Here are our favorites, the Oculus community’s top picks, and Oculus’s official Link alternatives.

What specs do you need in an Oculus Link Cable?

Finding the best Oculus Link Cable alternatives wasn’t easy because there is an uncomfortable number of imitation cables that range from defective to dangerous for your Oculus Quest 2. We’ve read horror stories about USB-C heads snapping off inside the Quest 2 port, rendering it unable to charge. More commonly and less drastically, you’ll find cables that work for a couple of weeks before they wear down and can no longer appropriately connect your headset to your PC.

That’s why we tried to consider the best options for those who can’t afford the official Oculus Link Cable. But if you want to look for your alternatives, or see if the USB-C cable you own now could work, here’s what you need to know:

• You want a cable-rated USB 3.0 or higher. This should mean it simultaneously supports 5 Gbps data transfer and 5V charging. The data transfer speed is necessary to stream the game on your PC to your headset without lag. The power transfer is required because your headset will use more power running PC VR games, and reliable voltage will keep your battery running longer.
• Most fast-charging USB cables with high wattage will have some semblance of data transfer, but you’ll often see 480Mbps. Unfortunately, this isn’t enough for Oculus Link.
• The other end of the Cable must be USB-C to connect to the headset’s charging port. We recommend one that sits at a 90-degree angle, making it less likely that head motions will put physical pressure on the cord and damage your headset port.
• You want a cable that is at least 10 feet long. Even if you only plan to play PC VR games seated, anything shorter than that could cause you to yank something and damage your PC port — or hurt your neck.
• If you have a 3- or 6-foot USB 3.0 to USB-C cable you like, you could use it along with an extension cable, which would solve the problem. Extension cables can cause a slight slowdown in the transfer, but there shouldn’t be an issue if it’s rated high enough.

What is the best Oculus Link Cable length?

Oculus’s official Cable is 16 feet, or 5 meters, giving you plenty of leeway for moving around a room. Remember that Oculus’s Cable is so expensive partly because it maintains a fast data transfer speed across 5 meters as a USB-C to USB-C cable when most USB 3.0 lines are maxed out at 10 feet. As a result, standalone lines longer than that may not satisfactorily transfer data from a powerful PC without some data loss.

The longer your line, the more it will extend across a room and dip downwards in the middle. This will create a tripping hazard for you and anyone else living. When that happens, you’d better hope the Cable comes out of one of the ports, your head, or the PC is getting yanked downwards. This is why we included extension cables on our list, although you might not want to build a massively long Oculus Link combo cable even if the data transfer works perfectly. That’s also why you should always velcro strap the Cable to the head strap, as it’ll help save your USB port from disaster.

Decide whether you plan on doing room-scale VR or not. If not, you can make do with a 10-foot cable like the Anker Powerline Cable (or even the 6-foot VR Cover cable). Otherwise, you can try your luck with a 16-foot cable like the PartyLink Cable or pair a short cable with the CableCreation Active USB 3.0 Extension Cable for an exceptionally long contraption. VR Cover’s 16-foot USB-C cable is likely your best bet, but it’ll still cost too much for some buyers.

How to use your Oculus Link Cable

We hope that our Oculus Link Cable alternatives will meet your needs, but be sure to test the Cable as soon as it arrives, so you can return it if the line (or your PC graphics card) does not live up to the task. Here’s what you must do to use Oculus Link on the Oculus Quest 2.

1. On your PC, go to www.oculus.com/setup and click “Download software” under “Oculus Link”.
2. Open the app and click “Install Now.”
3. Turn on your Oculus Quest 2.
4. Plug your USB cable head into a compatible PC port, then plug the USB-C end into the Quest 2’s charging port.
5. Put on your headset.
6. You should see a pop-up: “Allow access to data. The connected device will be able to access files on this headset.” Select Deny.
7. You’ll then see an option to Enable Oculus Link. Select Enable.

You should now be able to use Oculus Link. If you could not connect or your PC games struggled with performance issues, you may have a problem with your Cable or PC.

If you’re suffering from random disconnections, select Deny when the Allow access to data pop-up appears after connecting the Cable. Selecting Allow will cause connection inconsistencies. Our Oculus Link Cable troubleshooting guide can help you if you’re having other issues.

Consider going wireless instead.

Whether official or unofficial, Oculus Link Cables give you the best, most consistent visual performance, but even if ditching a physical cable causes a slight dip in optical quality, it’s much less restrictive. You don’t need to worry about yanking a cord and damaging something; that’s why people prefer the Quest 2 over the Rift S! You can use Air Link for free indefinitely, so maybe give it a test run before paying for a cable.

Air Link lets you wirelessly stream your PC games to your Oculus Quest 2 through your home’s Wi-Fi network. It arrived in the April v28 Quest update and was later upgraded in v29 to support a silky-smooth 120Hz refresh rate.

Setting up Oculus Air Link is a simple process, thankfully. But you’ll need the proper hardware for your games to perform well. Specifically, you’ll need a PC with graphical chops to handle hardcore PC VR games. If you’re having trouble in that area, check out our list of the best-prebuilt PCs for Oculus Link, which will tell you what kind of specs you may need and how much it’ll cost.

You’ll need a router that lives up to the task to go the wireless route. The best Wi-Fi 6 routers should deliver the performance you need, though they can be expensive for someone trying to save money. Also, remember that wired internet is generally more consistent because it connects directly to your router.

With the right computer and a fast router, you’ll be prepared to play Quest 2 games wirelessly. You can do so through Air Link for free or try out the Virtual Desktop app to get the whole PC-in-VR experience! These tools will make your Quest 2 wireless again, even when playing demanding VR games like Half-Life: Alyx. We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.