How well does Steam Link & In-Home streaming actually work?

[maximumzero]

Last week I had the urge to play some Team Fortress 2.

Unfortunately I no longer own a Xbox 360, which is a moot point anyway as that release as long since been abandoned to the ages.

I have a 2016 MacBook Pro, which is not a performance powerhouse by any means, but has more than enough available CPU & GPU grunt to get a good match of TF2 going. Unfortunately the move to macOS Catalina killed off all of Valve's macOS releases. So I can't play the game natively on the computer even if I want to.

I decided to give Boot Camp a spin, and thanks to a handy guide I found online I was able to set up a Windows 10 install on an external SSD. This worked well, but it makes the fan in the computer go crazy, and while I'm okay with this for short bursts, it running at full speed for an hour or two at a time is a bit concerning, especially since I believe TF2 is what killed my 2008 iMac in the past. (This is a whole 'other story.)

During this period I decided to give Steam Link a whirl, as I have an Apple TV and the Steam Link app was available for it. It worked, but not particularly well. The screen was practically all macro blocking all the time, and it wasn't a great experience.

This is likely down to two major things. First of all, the processor in my MacBook is only a dual core variant, and the Steam Link requirements involve a quad-core processor. The computer likely didn't have the real-time overhead to render out the video to display on the TV.

Another issue was the fact that the computer itself and the Apple TV are both wireless. While I'm using a 802.11ac wireless router on a 5Ghz band (AirPort Extreme) wireless-to-wireless isn't the best idea even in the greatest of environments.

Then I had the idea to build a PC. I haven't build a PC for myself since the days of the Radeon 9800, almost two decades ago. I've built multiple PCs for work and my parents in the interim, but nothing intended for personal use, as I've largely moved over to being a Mac guy since then.

So over the past few days I started parting out a fairly mid-range computer with the intent of shoving it into a closet, wiring it to my router, and using it strictly as a remote "server" of sorts for Steam games. I figure with this method I can steam PC games out to my Apple TV for couch-style games, steam PC games to my MacBook Pro for games that are better with a keyboard & mouse, and maybe I'll even look into one of those goofy mobile phone controller clips sometime in the future.

I have no interest in having a dedicated PC Gaming "station", and I figure I can just use TeamViewer or Remote Desktop for any sort of administrative needs, with only needing to plug it into a TV for any sort of BIOS/EFI changes, since that wouldn't be accessible remotely.

How valid is this strategy? Am I wasting money dumping that kind of money into a PC if I don't intend on using it natively with any sort of display? By no means do I intend on making PC Gaming my "main" platform, but it'd be a fun thing to thinker with from time to time. My biggest concern is that this limits me to Steam games, meaning anything on UPLay, Origin, Game Pass, or all of the other non-Steam services are unavailable to me.

Thoughts?

 

[LavaBadger]

I use it just about every day to play a slow paced game while I do cardio (Elliptical). It works great for that and had become an excellent way for me to distract myself while I work out for an hour. My elliptical is in the back of my house on the second floor, my PC connected to my TV at the front of the house. Using 5ghz wireless to do so. I stream to a Chromebook. 1080/60.

Does it work? For the most part, yeah, super well. But I'm not expecting twitch reaction times from my inputs (Usually turn based RPGs or other slow paced games). And while it doesn't happen every day, I do have times when the signal degrades for 30 seconds and it's pretty much unusable during that time (Don't know why it happens, but sometimes it happens). There are other moments too when Windows pops up a window that Steam streaming can't access for security reasons, and suddenly I'm walking downstairs and turning on my TV to deal with it.

Are any of these deal breakers? No, and it's amazing that it works as well as it does. But would I use it as the main way I game? Definitely not.

 

[Slackerchan]

I've been using my Steam link this past year (played through R3make and Terminator: Resistance for example) and I've never had any issues. Just be sure to keep your expectations in check: your PC will be doing extra work to broadcast a signal out to the Link on top of running the game. The Link will do a 1080p60 max signal (if there's a way to boost that to 1440p or 4k I haven't found one) and playing at that resolution has been fine for me.

 

[Megasoum]

Good news, this week's episode of the excellent "Brad & Will made a Tech Podcast" is about exactly that! Steam Link and other alternatives. You should give it a listen.

https://techpod.content.town/episodes/52-its-an-app-basket

 

[scurker]

I have some steam link hardware as well as a fully wired connection (1 Gb) from my PC to my TV.

It works well enough. I think the steam link hardware is limited to 1080p, but I think some of the built in "steam link apps" don't have that limitation. My wife and I played through the entirety of Overcooked 2, and I played a good bit of Witcher 3 on my tv as well and didn't notice any hitches.

It can work over a wireless connection, but you need a good wireless connection. I usually play Monster Train or Slay the Spire semi-nightly in bed on my iPad via the steam link app, and there's the occasional artifacting. This is probably my favorite use of it since it allows me to play games on iPad that aren't typically available.

 

[Last_colossi]

If you've got ethernet connected on either end; have a wireless keyboard and mouse handy and aren't playing competitive games, it's great.

 

[ss_lemonade]

If both server and client are on wireless, you'll probably still have a sub optimal experience.

 

[scurker]

If both server and client are on wireless, you'll probably still have a sub optimal experience.

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That would be my take as well. At minimum, whatever host you're streaming from should be wired.

 

[ascagnel]

I find it works exceedingly well for single-player games and slower-paced multiplayer games. Don't expect it to work well at fast-paced or twitchy MP games (CS:GO, CoD, Battlefield, etc).

 

[GaussianMultivariate]

Steam link app running on a Raspi 3 connected to my PC via power over ethernet adapters. Been using it for at least six months, more than 500 hours of gaming without a problem. Never failed, never had any big issue, graphics are okay and I don't know much about input lag bit I never felt any difference. Played games such as Stardew Valley, Minecraft, Skyrim, AoE, and GTA V among many others.

 

[maximumzero]

I've been using my Steam link this past year (played through R3make and Terminator: Resistance for example) and I've never had any issues. Just be sure to keep your expectations in check: your PC will be doing extra work to broadcast a signal out to the Link on top of running the game. The Link will do a 1080p60 max signal (if there's a way to boost that to 1440p or 4k I haven't found one) and playing at that resolution has been fine for me.

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No worries there. I only have a 1080p TV now and even if we upgrade to a 4k set in the future I was planning on playing my games at 1080p anyway (and let the TV to a 2x scale) since that's what the GPU I picked out (5600xt) is designed for anyway.

I have some steam link hardware as well as a fully wired connection (1 Gb) from my PC to my TV.

It works well enough. I think the steam link hardware is limited to 1080p, but I think some of the built in "steam link apps" don't have that limitation. My wife and I played through the entirety of Overcooked 2, and I played a good bit of Witcher 3 on my tv as well and didn't notice any hitches.

It can work over a wireless connection, but you need a good wireless connection. I usually play Monster Train or Slay the Spire semi-nightly in bed on my iPad via the steam link app, and there's the occasional artifacting. This is probably my favorite use of it since it allows me to play games on iPad that aren't typically available.

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The Gaming PC would be hard-wired to my router, but in our current apartment setup unfortunately the Apple TV is stuck on wireless, and my MacBook Pro will largely be wireless as well. There's a house purchase coming up in our future and depending on where the internet connection drop is and where the router ends up at I may opt for Powerline Ethernet to get the Apple TV (or PC) wired up if necessary.

 

[deimosmasque]

Have both PC and Steam ethernet connected and get some pretty good quality. Even like that doesn't expect to play on 4k 120fps. Probably closer to 1080p or 720p with somewhere between 30 and 60 fps depending on your computer strength.

 

[Fredrik]

It's not good enough for me, I just use it when I play with my kids since I can't have them beside me in the PC room. The framerate is mostly okay, some minor stutter here and there, but there are too much compression artifacts imo. Weirdly enough I think Geforce Now works better. Haven't tried using the Shield yet though, I hear it's better than Steam Link.

 

[Lump]

I find Steam Link to be a little glitchy a lot of the time, but on the other hand, Steam gives so much control over controller bindings that it allows some games work that have no right to work with a controller (like Guild Wars 2). It's just fussy.

I've had much more overall success with GameStream. Quality is overall better too.

Ethernet is essential though. The host PC absolutely must be connected to Ethernet for a good time. The client device should be on Ethernet as well, as Wireless sort of throws too many wrenches into it unless your Wi-Fi setup is exceptional and you're not in a place with a lot of interference from neighboring Wi-Fi signals.

 

[maximumzero]

I might try to borrow a PC from my workplace one weekend and set it up to see how things go.

Really kind of worried that I'm gonna drop $800+ on a PC that doesn't work in the manner I want it to. Bleh.

 

[Buttonbasher]

I've completed games on the mobile app, using a controller, both within the home, and at work. It's totally capable, assuming you have decent to good internet connection, and it baffles me why people don't talk about it more.

 

[HylianSeven]

I played most of Persona 4 Golden from my Steam Link. For the most part, it was just like being at my actual PC. It did hiccup sometimes, but that may have just been my wifi.

 

[Jaded Alyx]

My biggest concern is that this limits me to Steam games, meaning anything on UPLay, Origin, Game Pass, or all of the other non-Steam services are unavailable to me.

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Can't you just add these to Steam as non-steam games?

 

[eZipsis]

Can't you just add these to Steam as non-steam games?

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Yes you can. I testing it out the other day with RetroArch. I added it as a non-steam game and was easily able to use it on my TV in the bedroom. It worked pretty well considering that TV is connected via Wifi. My PC is ethernet to the Router though, so that helps.

 

[farmwood]

If I could just add in one thing to the mix... it would be https://parsecgaming.com. As great as steam gaming can be it's very limited to just steam games (Adding others works, but don't expect a controller to work.. really at all).

Parsec on the other hand is literally bonkers good. I've regularly tried out twitch FPS games on it and felt comfortable playing them on my MBP - streamed over 5ghz wifi. It's better than Steam, but there is no AppleTV app for it just yet... or any iOS for that matter.. :/

 

[Rodney McKay]

I had a pain setting up Steam Link in my house, but the one setting that made it work was the Bandwidth Limit.

For some reason on all devices I installed the app on, and the physical Steam Link I own, all had it set really low. That caused the connection to be super lagging with terrible video quality.

Once I upped it to like 50MBit/s it works great.

I still find the app Moonlight works a little better (bit better picture quality and control lag, if you have an Nvidia graphics card), but I've been using both and it's the only way I play PC games these days (streaming to my iPad while watching TV, or streaming it to my downstairs TV).
Im able to play ever genre without noticing input lag unless the internet itself gets a bit slow.

 

[daninthemix]

We were playing Witcher 3 yesterday and it was great. We had the game at 4K, even though Steam Link only runs at 1080p it looked really good. When I tried dropping the game to 1080p it looked much worse, and I'm wondering why that it. Maybe just because there's much more information for the compression to work on before sending the image?

 

[blueredandgold]

A powerline adapter wouldn't help the process would it, I think I might have to re-configure when I next have a second try at this.

I think I know what I did wrong, I think I know what I did wrong.....

 

[ss_lemonade]

Can't you just add these to Steam as non-steam games?

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I believe he'll run into controller issues with certain games like Gamepass ones, unless he uses something like glosc (which is kind of janky from my experience). What I ended up doing myself is just install moonlight on my Steam Link (actual Steam Link hardware) and stream through that. The nvidia streaming protocol has several benefits:

- works better and quality seems to be better too.
- automatically sets windows resolution automatically for me
- controller support is more straightforward. Your controller appears as an xbox 360 controller and works just like native, so apps like those through gamepass work like normal

I think the only negative is I lose Steam Controller support. Haven't tested that yet though

 

[John Caboose]

I tried using it for Fall Guys a few weeks ago. That was unbearable. I was on a wired network and using Apple TV to connect to steam.

 

[Pipyakas]

I never got Steam to use any hardware accelerated encoder or decoder, so latency suffered greatly. Parsec though worked really well, if you're using something that have a client for it

 

[Sprat]

It's dependent on your home network. Flawless for me.

Do much that I don't actually play on my PC anymore.

I just steam it to the oled at the other end of the house as I don't want to sit in my studio especially now that it's also my place of work full time.

 

[furfoot]

Best option especially with tvOs is to use moonlight with an Nvidia graohics card. Connect a DS4 or Xbox controller and use controller companion.

 

[maximumzero]

I had a pain setting up Steam Link in my house, but the one setting that made it work was the Bandwidth Limit.

For some reason on all devices I installed the app on, and the physical Steam Link I own, all had it set really low. That caused the connection to be super lagging with terrible video quality.

Once I upped it to like 50MBit/s it works great.

I still find the app Moonlight works a little better (bit better picture quality and control lag, if you have an Nvidia graphics card), but I've been using both and it's the only way I play PC games these days (streaming to my iPad while watching TV, or streaming it to my downstairs TV).
Im able to play ever genre without noticing input lag unless the internet itself gets a bit slow.

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Unfortunately Moonlight is out of the question as I plan on dropping in an AMD GPU. Noticed that there's an Apple TV app though, which is certainly neat.

 

[Deleted member 20155]

Have always had time with Steam Link but since switching to Moonlight streaming works flawlessly, even to wireless stuff like my laptop which was completely out of the question before. PC is on Ethernet through a Powerline adapter

 

[MrKlaw]

Unfortunately Moonlight is out of the question as I plan on dropping in an AMD GPU. Noticed that there's an Apple TV app though, which is certainly neat.

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Well if you haven't built it yet, is a similarly priced nvidia card an option?

Are you able to put the PC anywhere near your TV? Even in a closet if you could run HDMI to your TV that removes any issues on that front, and then stream to your macbook separately. wifi to one of the devices should be ok but try and look into ethernet whereever possible.

 

[SquirrelSaysNuts]

If you wire it to the router, you might as well wire it to the tv as well.

 

[myojinsoga]

I just spent the weekend ethernetting both the office and the living room for exactly this reason. Haven't had a chance to test yet. When I tried wirelessly (just using Steam Link hardware / firmware) it was too choppy to enjoy. I'm really excited to give it a go ... but first I gotta tidy up all the mess I made ...

 

[Paganmoon]

Wired at least it seems to work like charm for me, running wired from PC-router-steamlink. Played the batman Arkham series via in-home streaming, and also Jedi: Fallen Order as a non-steam game through Origin.
I can actually see part of my computer when sitting in my living room, and I could notice a tiny bit of lag if I really tried paying attention, but it was minuscule and didn't affect gameplay at all.
I could see about setting up a response time tester from lagom.nl later today and post, but need to take into account that my display devices might also be adding lag themselves.

 

[Filipus]

Steam didn't work for me to play Gamepass games so I started using Moonlight and it works REALLY well. I just bought a powerline adapter so I can be connected to the ethernet on my Host computer and it's working great. Was able to help my dad play Flight Simulator across the world on his sucky PC from 2010.

I know you are thinking of going with an AMD GPU maximumzero but honestly... the way Nvidia is rocking the market with it's AI tech I would say it's a smarter investment to buy a Nvidia GPU. DLSS is a game changer and would enable you to actually play some of the hottest games at good 60fps (which is almost a most for good streaming experience).

Either way, best of luck with this!

 

[Uhyve]

I've never seen a huge difference between Steam Link and Moonlight, though I do prefer Moonlight. I'm not sure if it's still the case but it was alot easier to set up streaming Windows Explorer on Moonlight, which comes in handy sometimes.

If you do end up considering nVidia, I'd suggest taking a look at used cards. People are selling off their cards for pretty cheap right now due to the 3000 series coming out soon.

 

[ArtemisLunar]

For me PC Game Streaming, the original Steam Link (The small box that sell some time ago) and now both the app and the Nvidia Shield has been a godsend and a great step forward on playing games on almost every part of your house (Including the original Remote Play from the PS4, I really hope that the next gen have some king of game stream.function baked on the console)
I mostly use it wired from my PC to the TV downstairs and it really work wonders, I've completed games, played fast paced games and fighting games with my friends when they come home, and some Destiny without any major issue or stutter, sometimes I have issues trying to connect a.controller or some not working buttons, but that's problem with Steam itself, and it can be fixed with a simple restart.
Recently I started using mi iPad for some quick Destiny fix, and works mostly great using the Wi Fi, but take in mind that Wi Fi 5 it's a must, and even with that there could be packages loss or some lag if there's some interference.

 

[Gelf]

I suspect my home network needs work as using it has been sub optimal for me. To the point where I ending up just having a long HDMI cable going into the next room which is luckily still just about in range for my controller to still be picked up too. Main PC is wired to the router and I've tried connecting via WiFi and a powerline adapter on the other end. In both cases the picture would offen get very low res and blocky or freeze entirely. It's probably something that could be improved with better settings or equipment but I don't know where to start.

I certainly would advise against buying a PC just to use Steam link without any other way to play games on on it unless you really know how to get it working optimally.

 

[BeI]

At least for me, it's always been pretty bad whether connected or not. I tried Geforce now and that seemed like a more responsive experience despite thst being streaming over the Internet, rather than over a local wire connection.

 

[deadfolk]

Has worked well for me historically, but there are some games that flat out refuse to play ball. Might be better now.

If you don't mind shelling out for a Nvidia Shield TV, that can work even better, imo.

 

[Shadow]

If I were you I'd aim for a Nvidia card and use the Moonlight client to stream from GeForce experience. I found it the best and most responsive setup streaming on anything. I even found it to play fine on a MBA from 2011 on wireless (PC is wired).

While Steam Streaming is cool with controller setups and such, it has the big downside of being only able to work with Steam. I found that very very cumbersome especially with gamepass games, it's just too much hassle over time to add every game you play, especially when they're hard to add.

With Moonlight you can just stream the desktop and launch anything you want to as the computer sees the controller you connect as an Xbox 360 controller. You can't use a Steam controller nor use gyro because of this, but I find that worth the trade off.

 

[Tygre]

Good news, this week's episode of the excellent "Brad & Will made a Tech Podcast" is about exactly that! Steam Link and other alternatives. You should give it a listen.

https://techpod.content.town/episodes/52-its-an-app-basket

Click to shrink...

Wanted to second this, and mention that it seems like Moonlight is the way to go... as long as you have an Nvidia card.

Nvidia are really the best game in town if you want to stream your gameplay.

 

[MJForum Poster]

Over a wired connection it works well enough that my problems are more with the user experience. Launchers still mess it up sometimes and I have to constantly switch my resolution in-game to 1080p since I play on an ultrawide at my desk.

 

[JackOfSomeTrades]

Over a wired connection it works well enough that my problems are more with the user experience. Launchers still mess it up sometimes and I have to constantly switch my resolution in-game to 1080p since I play on an ultrawide at my desk.

Click to shrink...

This, I play on a 16 inch Macbook at 1200p and swapping resolutions can be a bit annoying. There's still a bit of friction when launchers are involved and I had to buy that VirtualLink software to get Game Pass games working, but they still don't work on iOS Steam Link. It's still neat but not as pick up and play as say PS4s Remote Play

 

[sirap]

It's good, but Nvidia's local streaming is a lot better.

 

[GSG]

Playing the PC version of Master Chief Collection on my TV through Steam in-home streaming over wifi at 1080p with surround sound. It actually works great and I rarely get stutters. Wish I had a way to get a wired connection to my HTPC since that would eliminate virtually all stutters.

 

[JimNastics]

I had a pi 3b+ knocking about so I set it up as a Steam Link client box at the start of lockdown. I have my gaming PC connected via powerline upstairs, with the pi Steam Link client attached via ethernet to the router in the lounge where I play. It works fantastically well I must say, never any connection problems and very responsive.

The biggest issues are, as others have said, compression artefacts pop up pretty regularly (but to me it's never off-putting), and you will get UI pop ups, launchers, and what not that just screw things up meaning you need to remote access the machine (or, god forbid, go to the machine itself) to sort it out.

 

[TitanicFall]

Steam Link is alright. On the hardware side, you're probably better off with a Nvidia card though than an AMD one for streaming because of NVENC, which outperforms AMD and Intel's video encode implementations. Since you have an Apple TV, you can also install Moonlight Streaming app which is better than Steam Link if you have a Nvidia card. You're probably fine on the client side if you're wireless and have a solid wireless connection to your router. Definitely hard wire the server to your router for best performance. If you don't have the PC connected to a monitor at all, then you'll need a headless HDMI plug to trick your PC into thinking it's connected to a display. I think the biggest inconvenience is if the computer goes to sleep or automatically locks itself, then you'll have to manually login either remotely or physically.

 

[h0mebas3]

Used the Steam Link app to play Praey for the Gods last night and it worked well, no hitches. Backbone is a wired LAN fo reference.

 

[Buff DrinkLots]

I moonlight to play games on my phone and am always floored with how perfect it works