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How to enable Air Link for Oculus Quest 1 in 5 steps – It’s EASY!

How to use Air Link on Oculus Quest 1

Yes you can play wireless PC VR on your original Oculus Quest with Air Link – you don’t need Quest 2.  It’s easy and you can do it in just 5 steps.

 Last week, Oculus officially rolled out Air Link, which lets you play wireless PC VR games on your Oculus Quest 2.  But they had only enabled Air Link for Quest 2 and never mentioned the original Quest, leading people to assume that Air Link could not run on the original Quest.  However, developers in the Quest community discovered that you can enable Air Link on the original Quest after all.  I tried it out and it was fairly easy to enable it, as long as you know how to sideload apps.  And I would say the performance is almost the same as Quest 2.

Step 1: Install Oculus desktop app version 28 or higher. 

If you haven’t installed Oculus desktop app yet, you can download it here.  Scroll down to “Rift S” and click on “Download Software.”  You can check the version number under Settings, in the General tab.  Scroll to the bottom, where you’ll see your version number.  Make sure it is version 28 or higher.

How to check if your Oculus desktop app is version 28 or higher
How to check if your Oculus desktop app is version 28 or higher

Step 2: Update your Quest 1 software to version 28 or higher.

Update the software on your Quest to version 28 or higher.  Click the Oculus button, then Settings, then scroll down to About and check your Software version.  If it’s older than version 28, click on “Software Update.”

Step 3: Sideload Air Link Connector.

You’ll need to sideload an unofficial app called Air Link Connector.  Download the Air Link Connector APK here.  You can install the APK on your Quest either through Sidequest or through ADB. If you don’t have either Sidequest or ADB, see how to get Sidequest here.

On Sidequest, click this down arrow to install an APK
On Sidequest, click this down arrow to install an APK

Step 4: Connect your desktop to a router and enable Air Link.

To use Air Link, your desktop must be connected via an ethernet cable to a 5Ghz router.  Then you need to enable Air Link in the Oculus desktop app.  Under Settings, go to Beta and toggle on Air Link.

Step 5: Activate Air Link on Quest.

To activate Air Link on your Quest 1, you need to run Air Link Connector.  First, make sure your Quest 1 is on the 5Ghz WiFi network of the same router connected to your desktop. Then run Air Link Connector: click on apps, and select “Unknown Sources” on the drop down on the right side.  Then click on Air Link Connector to run it.  You should see a button with your PC’s name.  Click on that button.

In a few seconds, you should see the Oculus desktop app appear on your Quest.

With the revelation that Air Link works even on the original Quest, there will be pressure on Oculus to enable it officially.  Will they do that or will they block Air Link Connector?  If they do block it, there’s always Virtual Desktop as an alternative for wireless PC VR.

About the author

Mic Ty

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  • Awesome, it’s works !
    I have an Rift S for my PC, but I 100% prefer oculus quest 1 + airlink for the freedom feel of no-cable playing instead of better Image Quality with native render on Rift S !

  • WOW! Thank you very much for this tutorial! It work perfectly on my quest 1 and it was very very easy! so col! Thx!

  • Hello I am using side quest to try and side load the Air Link Connecter Apk but Sidequest is giving me a SafeSide pop up. Any work around to this issue or is there another side loader I can use?