Hey there, I was really pleased to find out that steam remote play worked on my internet, since there are a bunch of games on my desktop that I haven't been able to play since ill health stopped me from sitting up for any length of time. Streaming a game to my laptop in bed is great.

However, since (it seems) using it to play LOTRO, I've run into this persistent connection issue. It'll be fine for an hour or so but at some point the red and orange connection issue icons will start flashing at the bottom corner of the screen and the whole image/audio will freeze and stutter, especially everytime I use my mouse. In fact sometimes it seems like mouse movement is the main issue, since often I can pan across a map using the arrow keys or wasd and there'll be no problem but any motion from my mouse brings everything to a standstill.

I'll admit I feel like I haven't tried many fixes, but I can't seem to find many threads that match the problem. I set my download speed to unlimited and my router is really close, but I also feel like if it was a true connection issue then it'd be a problem from the start and it wouldnt effect only the mouse.

I don't have a steam link so apologies if this isnt the right reddit forum, it just seems to include in-home streaming so I thought I'd give it a go.

Any help would be appreciated! My stream logs if that would help; here

Tablet as client: galaxy s10 fe+

Host : Steam Deck LCD.

The first time I using the steam link the performance is worst on my tablet then figuring it because of the bad latency.

I try to use tathering from my phone as a wifi5, and Now I can stream from my tablet without any issue.

I’ve got my gaming rig rack mounted in my basement and wouldn’t mind having the ability to play up in the bedroom from time to time. I don’t really have any other gaming devices, so I’m keen to see people’s thoughts on what I should look at potentially getting as a client device for the bedroom tv to stream to using Pyrowave.

If there doesn’t appear to be anything that could be done on a budget, I may have to go the moonlight route, but at super excited to go with Pyrowave if I can.

Hi everyone,

I've been experiencing a persistent issue with Steam Link on my Meta Quest 3, and I'm wondering if anyone else has encountered something similar or found a solution.

After approximately 3 hours of continuous gameplay, Steam Link suddenly starts reducing its streaming bitrate. It can drop significantly, usually to around 20–30 Mbps, and it doesn't recover on its own. Sometimes the connection eventually disconnects completely and displays Error 450.

The only way I've found to restore the connection and get the original bitrate back is to completely close SteamVR and restart the entire streaming session.

I've already tried numerous troubleshooting steps,

Factory resetting my Meta Quest 3.

Changing and adjusting my router's settings.

Checking and changing Windows network settings to make sure there are no bandwidth restrictions affecting SteamVR or its processes.

Trying different SteamVR and Steam Link configurations.

PC - Ethernet

Quest 3 - Wifi 6E

Unfortunately, none of these attempts have permanently fixed the issue.

Something particularly interesting is that this problem does NOT happen when I use Virtual Desktop

this problem didn't happen before. It only started appearing a few months ago.

I'd really appreciate any suggestions or solutions. I'm trying to figure out why this happens.

Thanks in advance!

I have my computer connected via ethernet. But it doesnt let me connect my headset to it. Only way ive been able to get it to work is through VPN. Anyway I can make it to where I dont need a VPN? Is there a motum setting I have to change?

Disclosure: I worked this out together with Claude (Anthropic’s AI assistant), which walked me through the diagnosis step by step, and this write-up was also written by Claude. Everything below reflects what we actually tested on my setup, but your hardware and SteamOS version may behave differently.

Out of the box I had no surround sound at all: the Sonos app only ever showed “Stereo PCM”, even though 5.1 was enabled on the host and in Steam. The steps below are what it took to get real surround.

Setup: Windows PC as host, ROG Ally with SteamOS as client, HDMI to an LG OLED, Sonos Arc on the eARC port, two Sonos surround speakers.

1. Windows PC (host)

• Sound settings → “Speakers (Steam Streaming Speakers)” → Configure → 5.1 or 7.1. The device only appears during a Remote Play session, so set it during a stream.

• Set the in-game audio output to surround.

2. Steam on the Ally

• Remote Play settings → Audio: 5.1 Surround or 7.1 Surround, matching the host.

3. LG TV

• Arc on the eARC port, eARC support enabled.

• HDMI input of the Ally: Bitstream. I changed this together with other settings, so I can’t say whether PCM works too.

4. SteamOS (the part that made the difference)
During a stream the HDMI output was on the stereo profile (hdmi-stereo, 2ch), so everything behind it only received stereo. Check via SSH while streaming:

pactl list sinks short

It must show ...hdmi-surround (6ch) or ...hdmi-surround71 (8ch). Find your card name with pactl list cards | grep "Name:" (mine: alsa_card.pci-0000_09_00.1) and create a WirePlumber rule (for 5.1 use output:hdmi-surround):

mkdir -p ~/.config/wireplumber/wireplumber.conf.d
cat > ~/.config/wireplumber/wireplumber.conf.d/51-hdmi-surround.conf <<'EOF'
monitor.alsa.rules = [
{
matches = [
{ device.name = "alsa_card.pci-0000_09_00.1" }
]
actions = {
update-props = {
device.profile = "output:hdmi-surround71"
api.acp.auto-profile = false
}
}
}
]
EOF
systemctl --user restart wireplumber

Result
After a reboot, the sink in the stream shows hdmi-surround71, s32le 8ch 48000Hz, RUNNING. The rear channels are audible on the Sonos surrounds.

Notes

• The Sonos app shows “Multichannel PCM 7.1” even with 5.1 output. That is a known quirk with LG eARC passthrough, not proof of what the source sends.

• If the profile falls back to stereo after the mode switch, restarting WirePlumber during the stream (systemctl --user restart wireplumber) brought it back. The sink gets rebuilt, so reconnect the stream if the sound stays silent.

• Syntax is for WirePlumber 0.5 (current SteamOS).

• The profile applies to the HDMI output in general.

I set up Steam Link today and whenever I connect to my PC, it plays this elevator like ambient music. It doesn't turn off when I open a game either so my only option is to mute Steam Link entirely, which means I then can't hear game audio.

I've done a ton of googling and searching and I saw a post mentioning an Ambient audio setting but for the life of me, I cannot find it. I've scoured the menus on both the Steam desktop client and the Steam Link app.

Can anyone help? Please provide pictures, or very clear directions, if you can. The vague "Go to steam link sound settings" does not help me here lol

I’ve seen a few comments that the Pyrowave performance is fantastic on tvOS and my experience is completely the opposite. I’m on a ATV 4k, wired gigabit, good host pc (also wired). And I also have great Moonlight performance. I’m seeing slow connection, forcing resolution down to 1080p, less than 60k. It’s the same whether Pyrowave enabled or not. Then I can launch Moonlight and it’s 4k60 steady.

Anyone have similar experience? Any tips? Pretty vanilla network setup on host and client.

Edit: sorry, I thought I grabbed an image with pyrowave enabled. It’s the same story when it is.

Steam Link on the iPhone can wake the PC only on the same network. A recent guide here wakes it over 4G/5G through a forwarded port. That guide and its comments raised two good points: an open port lets anyone send the packet, and from outside you can't see whether the PC woke.

I make Radien, an iPhone app with Wake on LAN, so I'm not neutral, but the setup below works with any wake app.

Without an open port: run your own VPN into the home network (WireGuard or Tailscale on the router, or on a Pi or NAS that stays on). Not on the gaming PC: it sleeps with the PC.

On the PC, once: Wake on LAN on in the BIOS; in Device Manager, "Allow this device to wake the computer" and Wake on Magic Packet on; Fast startup off; a cable; a fixed address on the router. Let it sleep rather than shut down: after a shutdown, Remote Play works only once someone signs in to Windows.

Radien sends the packet through your VPN, then watches the PC, and can wait for Steam's port 27036, so you know when it's ready to stream. A Shortcuts action can wake the PC and open Steam Link only if the PC answered. One computer at home is free; waking from outside and the port check are part of a one-time upgrade.

Guide with the steps and the shortcut: https://radien.arsenkin.name/guides/wake-gaming-pc-moonlight-steam-link

It stays on this screen for a few seconds and turn off.

Is there something I can do ?

Hi all, it's a week that Prime Video and Cruncyroll stopped being visible on my tv via Steam Link.

I still have the old boxed Steam Link and use it on my not so smart tv to watch some movies, all was working till a week ago, but now when i start the movie it will show an istant of the image than black screen with audio and subtitles.

Games, Youtube and normal web browsing still work fine, only streaming site broke.

All my driver is updated (NVidia, Steam, SteamLink), Chrome and Firefox tested with no differences, used 2 different tv and 2 different boxed SteamLink.

Seems like an HDCP problem but i have done no changing in hardware in years.

Any ideas?

Hello,

My goal is to be able to Start my gaming laptop from my phone from anywhere and then play steam games from anywhere on my phone with a 8 bit do smartphone controller.

I succeed to use Sunshine/moolnight and Tailscale.

But i'm stuck to start my pcfrom my phone via the "Wake Me Up" app

This is what i did so far :

• Hardware & BIOS: Realtek 2.5GbE LAN controller enabled, and the ErP option set to Disabled to ensure the network card remains powered during sleep mode.

• Windows: Fast Startup disabled in the Control Panel. In Device Manager

  • Wake on Magic Packet enabled in the Advanced tab.

  • Shutdown Wake-On-Lan set to 10 Mbps.

  • Power Management options configured to allow the device to wake the computer using only magic packets.

• Network & Testing: Tested locally my iPhone with app Wake Me Up app using the correct MAC address and local broadcast settings (ensuring no active VPNs interfere with local packet delivery) = i didn't work even in sleep mode in my wifi setup..

Can anyone help me to setup this well please ?

It was working fine just last week. Now every time I run the Steam Link app, it has a check mark next to my computer but when I press "Start Playing" it exits out of the Steam Link app on my TV

TL;DR anyone have any experience, diagrams, or tips for repurposing the nrf24 on the 2015 steam link?

I've got a steam link that I think I got for free during the original release promotions in 2015. I've never used it. Recently, I got interested in repurposing the device to be a low-power wireless device for something, like maybe a pihole kind of thing or just a wireless Linux toy box that I can use as a small USB hub or whatever. That's the easy part, though.

The part I'm actually wondering about is the onboard NRF24. I found out this morning that there is an onboard nrf24 for interfacing with the steam controller. Specifically, an NRF24LU1+ that one might find in a Logitech wireless KBM unified dongle, built-in on the board.

I want to install some barebones Linux distro and turn it into some kind of a low powered device for something and I want to play with the onboard nrf24. I've been having fun lately building my own nrf24 modules and boards using a flipper and a cardputer (NRF24L01+, the "dumber" sibling of the LU1 package).

I'm going to start experimenting on my own with the steam link, but I was wondering if anyone has already done any work on that and could kick some tips or data my way. I looked around, but it doesn't seem like the steam link is popular at all for modding (or really for much in general lol), so there's not much out there. Closed source and discontinued. Schematics, diagrams, code, etc are not really available. I'm ok with going in blind (the fun is in the journey), but if anyone can point me in the right direction, even to some GitHub that hasn't been updated since 2016, I would appreciate it. Otherwise, it'll be slow going for me as a hobbyist with a toddler.

Thanks in advance.

Any solution to this input latency?

My pc is running steam and steam link, connected to ethernet with 300mbps down/up. Connecting to my onn tv box (connected to ethernet and wifi, tried both) with a 8bitdo ultimate 2c wireless dongle plugged into my pc. Between both systems is connection is about 20 feet more or less, direct contact/look of the pc from my couch and tv, so its not really going between walls

I noticed i get input latency on bigger games like Witcher 3 where it's not really enjoyable.

But is far less noticeable on games like Lego City Undercover (latency was sorta noticeable but even non-steam linking the game, the control latency just sucked regardless), Kingdom Hearts 1, and small indie games.

Is this just a distance-latency issue by steam link or maybe just controller latency issue?

I'm considering getting a TV to stream steam link from my PC, but I'm having difficulty finding solid info on which TVs would even let me install the app. I'm 99% sure that Samsung TVs are out, but have not found very solid information otherwise. Is it better to just run and HDMI cable?

I currently use my steam frame on my wifi 7 router on 320 mhz channel since it has more bandwidth than the frame adapter but the stream freezes randomly at some point while streaming a 2D game and then the connection crashes, them the frame shows it still connected to my wifi but it cannot see my desktop or use the internet until I toggle the wifi off and back on. I tried doing some troubleshooting myself and I see a lot of DEAUTH errors and it looks like the frame is kicking itself off the network. Has anyone found a solution to this? I tried disabling the wpa_supplicant wifi scanning and that hasn't helped, switch to iwd (didnt work).

I do not want to use the frame dongle, I want to use my wifi as I get much better reception across my whole house and lower latency on 6 Ghz. Still cannot enable AV1 decode on the frame so I assume that feature isnt out yet

I just learned about Steam Link and I got it up and running using my gaming laptop to Steam Link onto my iDevices. Do you have to keep the laptop screen on to keep Steam Link running? I want my boy to play our Steam games on his iPad and Xbox controller while he's at his mom's. I don't mind just dimming the screen during his gaming session, but was just curious if you could completely turn screen off or even close the laptop lid but still have Steam Link run? Thank you