PICO4, whats needed?

[Dave317]

I'm thinking of getting a PICO4 as my reverb G1 is getting quite old now and the tracking keeps going haywire, they are also on offer at the minute in the UK.

I've read quite a few posts about the PICO4 recently but it's a bit confusing as to how to set them up and what is needed for DCS.  I understand I need to purchase and install virtual desktop but I've read about a dedicated router.  My router is in another room and my PC is connected to it using the motherboards wifi.  Do I need to buy a new router and how do I go about setting it all up.

I'm using an I7 11700K cpu with an AMD 6800XT GPU and 64 GB of RAM.  I assume this system will be capable of running it pretty well.

[SebastianR]

No, it is not necessary to use virtual desktop. It can be streamed with pico streaming assistant or with alvr.  both by wifi or usb and both for free. Alvr has more configuration options but is more complicated

[Dave317]

Ah, I thought virtual desktop gave better results than the streaming assistant. 

Edited April 27, 2023 by Dave317

[SebastianR]

Yes, but in the last update, the streaming assistant incorporated a sharpen option and now it's look better.  I personally use alvr because it has all the settings and I use it via usb.  It is more stable and being next to the PC I don't need Wi-Fi.  virtual desktop is very good, but it can't really be used over usb in a simple way

[Dave317]

I liked the idea of using it wireless.  How do I set up a dedicated router? 

[mrsylvestre]

You just wire the WAN port of your dedicated router to one of the LAN ports of your main router and the network port of your PC to one of the LAN ports of the dedicated router. Then you create a 5GHz WIFI network on the dedicated router (with a distinct SSID from your main router e.g. HOMEWIFIVR)  and connect the PICO 4 to that. In other words, you have two routers in cascade, your PC is connected by wire to the second one, which is also the one the PICO 4 connects to. For good performance, the dedicated router should be in the same room as the VR setup.

The dedicated router doesn't need to be WIFI 6, a $40 good ac one is enough, you only need ~ 150 Mbps. The wired connection between the dedicated and main router is not strictly necessary if you don't need internet access while you play. Virtual Desktop needs internet though, for its copy protection scheme.

Edited April 28, 2023 by mrsylvestre
Typo corrected

[Dave317]

Sorry for being a bit thick.  My main router is on the floor below and I connect my pc to the Internet via WiFi.  How can I use a dedicated router next to my pc and leave my main router in a different room?

[mrsylvestre]

Option 1 : If connecting the two routers without a cable is unpractical, you can have your PC connected to both your main router (via WIFI) and the dedicated router (wired) at the same time. The VR device is connected wirelessly to the dedicated router. It is important that the two routers are accessed through different SSIDs (e.g. MYHOMENETWORK and MYHOMENETWORKVR), so that the traffic between the PC and the internet goes through the main router (e.g. for streaming MSFS2020 scenery to the PC) and the dedicated router is used exclusively between your VR device and your PC (to stream the video). As the VR device is confined to the local network of the dedicated router, it cannot access the wider internet (not a problem if using Streaming Assistant but Virtual Desktop will not work).

Option 2 : Adapters exist that can provide WIFI connection to a device (e.g. a PC) that only has a wired network interface and no wifi card (look for "travel router", such as the TP-Link TL-WR902AC or "WIFI extenders" that have a port for a network cable and a feature called "client mode"). You can connect one of these to the WAN port of the dedicated router so that it can link through WIFI to the main router. Neat, but at the cost of an additional device.

Option 3: do not change anything to your network. Connect your Pico 4 via USB to your PC and use Streaming Assistant which is now much better than it was when the product was launched even though it is still lagging a bit behind Virtual Desktop in features. Additional benefit: the USB connection limits the battery discharge. But you will be tethered to your PC with a USB cable.

Option 3b (not for the faint hearted): Instead of Streaming Assistant, use ALVR through ethernet over USB. You need an ALVR nightly (the release version does not support the PICO 4 yet) and to install the Pico Setting apk on your device to make it appear as an hotspot to your PC (so that the VR device will appear to have an IP address, which is needed for the ALVR link) use the instructions and batch script found here.

Sorry if all of this sounds a bit convoluted, because it is. Life would have been much easier if the creator of VD had allowed an USB connection to the Pico 4, but his choice of copy protection scheme unfortunately prevents that.

Edited May 2, 2023 by mrsylvestre
Corrected: make the pico appear as an hotspot doesn't work with ALVR, use batch script as per ALVR's github (thanks to SebastianR).

[shagrat]

Really easy would be to have a Head Mounted Display with a Display-Port, using a cable to display content on the screens, instead of hoops & loops to jump through, to get it to work.

The Pico 4 had me on the fence myself, to try VR, again (First try was an Oculus Rift, but motion sickness on top of screen door effect and sh... resolution and FOV made me go back).

Reading about the setup with Steam, SteamVR maybe OpenXR, oh and composite or a toolkit, gives me the creeps. Add the confusion about the connection options with Streaming Assistant, VR Desktop and now ALVR, I am reconsidering to NOT go through all this laboratory setup and experimentation phase.

I read DCS now supports OpenXR native, the Pico 4 now supports OpenXR, as well. Is there at least a way to get rid of Steam (I do not want Steam/Valve Store, Origin Rootkit, EA tracker, UbiSoft spy etc. on my PC) and install something similar to a good old "driver" (VR composer) and connect the Pico 4 headset through a cable?

Edited April 29, 2023 by shagrat

[Qcumber]

1 hour ago, shagrat said:

I am reconsidering to NOT go through all this laboratory setup and experimentation phase.

Unfortunately, PCVR is very much like this, whatever headset you use. It takes a lot of research, patience and perseverance to optimise any setup. This is also an area which is being developed constantly so needs frequent retuning. If you like that sort of thing, it's great. If you just want to "plug and play", then PCVR is not really there yet; at least for flight sims.

The good news is that there is a lot of support out there. If you are willing to accept that it will take some time and effort you can get some really good results. 

[SebastianR]

8 hours ago, mrsylvestre said:

Option 3b (not for the faint hearted): Instead of Streaming Assistant, use ALVR through ethernet over USB. You need an ALVR nightly (the release version does not support the PICO 4 yet) and to install the Pico Setting apk on your device to make it appear as an hotspot to your PC (so that the VR device will appear to have an IP address, which is needed for the ALVR link).

https://github.com/alvr-org/ALVR/wiki/ALVR-wired-setup-(ALVR-over-USB)

Usb tethering does not work with ALVR. With the batch script is 100% stable

[Dave317]

I've gone and bought one now.  Price was too good not to. 

 

[Dave317]

Got it running and set up.  Over usb and streaming assistant the quality is great and it's really smooth. 

Over wifi it's unplayable.  I'm assuming that is due to my router being downstairs. 

[SebastianR]

Great choice! 

[kerlcat]

6 hours ago, Dave317 said:

Got it running and set up.  Over usb and streaming assistant the quality is great and it's really smooth. 

Over wifi it's unplayable.  I'm assuming that is due to my router being downstairs. 

If you have both PC and Headset connected to Wifi as I did, then a tri-band router seems a must-have. Because both devices are competing the most bandwidth from same frequancy channel which shared also by other devices you have at your home e.g. your cellphone. With popular dual band one, it's playable while expecting frequent stutters

You may want to changed to tri-band router and assign one of 5GHz to headset only. Or you have to consider to connect both tethering which is a bit tricky. 

Overall, Pico4 w/ VD is pleasant experince for PCVR to me until Quest 3 released later this year, or even Crystal proven solid. 

[mrsylvestre]

On 4/29/2023 at 5:31 PM, SebastianR said:

https://github.com/alvr-org/ALVR/wiki/ALVR-wired-setup-(ALVR-over-USB)

Usb tethering does not work with ALVR. With the batch script is 100% stable

I stand corrected. Thanks for the link.