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Enable this feature, and you should be good to go. In our case, it was Wake on Magic Packet. Scroll down the list of options until you find Wake on LAN or something similar. Open the Device Manager in Windows and find your network adapter. Although the power is still off, you can trigger your computer to wake by sending what’s known as a “magic packet.” Your computer will detect the packet and cause the “power on” cycle to start.Įnabling WoL is dead simple, too. WoL allows your computer to detect when a certain packet is sent to the LAN port, essentially leaving your computer on standby. Thankfully, you can accomplish that remotely. If you want to, say, plop down on the couch and boot up a game, you’d normally need to go and turn on your computer first.
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That’s where wake on LAN ( WoL) comes in. Simply downloading the Steam Link app doesn’t offer the full Switch experience. Wi-Fi is susceptible to interference from a slew of different sources, leading to wildly different results each time you connect to your host machine. More important, though, hardwired connections are consistent. Hardwired connections are faster, and that’ll help with streaming quality. You can’t get away with Wi-Fi even if your connection is great. Although you can connect and launch a game with a host on Wi-Fi, your experience will likely be filled with stutters, lag, and streaming artifacts. You’ll obviously need a fast internet connection (25Mbps usually does the trick, though faster is better), but Wi-Fi won’t cut it. There are a couple of important notes for the best experience, though. As long as your PC is hardwired and you have a decent connection, you should be able to stream games locally without many problems. Download the Steam Link app to your phone, connect a Bluetooth controller or use the touch controls, and connect your PC. It isn’t perfect, and you’ll always be at the mercy of your connection, so keep that in mind. This setup works best on local networks and has an inconsistent ability to play outside your home. More importantly, though, you won’t get the same experience with your phone and PC as you will with a Switch.
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Two notes before diving in: We’re going to get technical, so if you’re not up for the task, it’s best just to stick with a Switch. In this guide, we’ll show you how to set up remote play on your local network and external networks, as well as how to get the look and feel of a Switch. If you have a gaming computer, though, you can harness its power to play games portably on your phone - not just from home, but when out and about, too.
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