

The defaults should be fine here in most cases. These can improve performance at the cost of graphical beauty, but it may be worth it if your hardware just isn’t up to the task.Ĭlick “Advanced Client Options” on your client machine and you’ll be given a few more choices. On the client machine (the one you’re streaming to), you can choose between “Fast”, “Balanced”, and “Beautiful” presets from this same menu. Hardware encoding is usually better than software encoding, for example, but if you have a beefy processor (i7 or higher), and a weak graphics card (or problematic drivers), software encoding may actually give you better performance. You probably want most of these settings checked for best performance, but you may want to try turning a few off (one-by-one, of course) to see if performance improves. On your host machine (the one you’re streaming from), click “Advanced Host Options”. Check Your Streaming SettingsĬhances are you’ve tried this, but just in case: Head to Steam > Settings > In-Home Streaming on both machines and play with the settings there. Even if you’ve heard from other users that wireless works fine, give wired a try. In a perfect world, wireless would be good enough, but it just isn’t there yet. Powerline adapters may be a decent substitute, though your mileage may vary depending on the wiring in your home. Even if running ethernet cables through your apartment isn’t practically feasible, it’s worth trying just to diagnose the problem–if it solves your performance issues, you know a more reliable network connection is the only fix. Wireless can work, but there are a lot of factors that can affect performance.

If you’re using Wi-Fi to connect your two Steam computers, try a wired ethernet connection to see if it works better. RELATED: How to Easily Extend Your Home Network with Powerline Networking But it isn’t just about speed: ethernet wins big when it comes to latency, range, and interference, which can make a big difference in gaming and game streaming. Yes, Wireless AC is plenty fast, and Steam streaming isn’t that demanding speed-wise (after all, the Steam Link doesn’t even have gigabit ethernet). If you experience occasional stuttering or dropouts, your connection may be to blame. Ethernet: How Much Better Is a Wired Connection?
