How to Reduce Input Lag on Steam Link [4 Simple Steps]

Your connection might determine the input lag on your Steam Link

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Key notes

  • Several Steam Link input lag issues are often caused by the lack of a newer and faster router.
  • Keep this aspect in mind when trying to solve them. Also, make sure to use a router that supports 5 GHz Wi-Fi.
  • To get precise results, refer to the below procedure and modify your PC’s streaming options too.
  • You may even change Steam Link’s streaming settings to make sure that all Steam Link app latency issues are gone.
Reduce input lag on Steam Link

If you are having a Steam Link input lag issue, this article will help you to solve this problem along with some helpful information.

Available for multiple devices such as TV, smartphone, or tablet, Steam Link is a free application created with the purpose of improving your gaming experience.

Moreover, it supports Bluetooth control. Using it will allow you to try out different types of these devices, such as the Steam Controller and many popular keyboards, mice, and controllers.

Steam Link is widely used by lots of gamers. Does Steam Link have input lag? That’s what certain users have in mind.

Most of them have already experienced slower playing times and discussed on Steam forums how the Steam Link app slow connection issues manifest:

I have played lots of games on my Steam Link, but I have input lag in almost every game, which is very troublesome. I have both my computer and my Steam Link on a wired connection (not wireless). What should I do?

If you are interested, check out this solution: How to fix Steam Link no sound issue.

You will always experience some latency or lag when using Steam Link because the games you play are loaded and played from the computer.

We know every user wants to have a great experience and enjoy his favorite games on a bigger screen. You’re no exception to that.

In fact, Steam Link is a good step to enhance the gaming experience. Smartphone games are not as powerful as PC games. This service allows users to enjoy PC games on smartphones or smart TVs.

If everything goes OK, you will get a native gaming-like experience on Steam Link. However, for this, connection stability is important.

Is 100 Mbps good for Steam Link?

Yes. 100 Mbps is sufficient for a good gaming experience on Steam Link. Note that 100 Mbps is not 100 megabytes per second. There is a difference between 100 Mbps vs. 100 MBps. Steam Link doesn’t use your internet speed. It uses the local network. So, the speed may vary. But, you will find that it uses 100 Mbps or 11.25 MBps.

That speed is totally enough. However, if speed drops or there is higher latency, you may find that Steam Link is lagging. It is not catching all inputs properly, or the inputs are not syncing with the game well.

This is the reason why we have verified the Steam Link input lag issue and prepared four quick solutions. Feel free to check them out by reading the next section of this guide.

Quick Tip:

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1. Connect to a wired network using the Ethernet cable

  1. At first, use an Ethernet cable to connect the Steam Link host PC to your router.
  2. Connect the gaming PC to your router using an Ethernet cable (make sure to use a newer and faster router).

A wired connection will always significantly reduce the Steam Link input lag as it is much faster and more stable than a wireless connection.

If you use a very old router, this will cause a bad performance in your Ethernet connection. You will always get a slow connection warning message on Steam Link with a poor network hardware combination. So, you will need to take care of this too.

2. Connect to a 5 GHz wireless network

Do not hesitate to connect both your gaming PC and Steam Link to a 5 GHz Wi-Fi network. Also, make sure to use a router that supports 5 GHz Wi-Fi.

You can try this solution, too, as the wireless Internet connection is a proper means to decrease the Steam Link input lag. Consider that the 5 GHz Wi-Fi connection is, without a doubt, superior to a 2.4 GHz one.

To fully benefit from its advantages, make sure you are not using a router that doesn’t support 5 GHz Wi-Fi.

Your wireless connection may be weaker compared to a wired one, but its strength will depend on two factors: your general setup and the games you play.

For example, many users reported input lag with Steam Link while playing the Rocket League game only. In this type of case, try faster Wi-Fi or wired connection to check which works better.

Steam Link functions with 802.11n, but it is also compatible with the 802.11ac standard. The latter is the ideal standard if you want to use a reliable wireless Internet connection.

3. Modify your PC’s streaming options

  1. Open the Steam app on the host device.
  2. Click on Steam from the top menu and click on Settings.going steam settings
  3. Go to Remote Play.
    going remote play settings steam app
  4. Click on Advanced Host Options.clicking on advanced host option steam settings
  5. Check all Enable hardware encoding boxes.
    enabling hardware encoding steam advanced host settings

The boxes from the Enable hardware encoding are set to default. By checking them, you will ensure maximum performance for your device and make Steam Link display latency issues a thing of the past.

Enabling this setting help to reduce Steam Link input lag as well as remote play lag on Apple TV, Samsung TV, or any other smart TV or device.

If Steam Link is not going full screen, as many users claim these days, just check out this dedicated guide, and you will be able to solve the problem.

  1. Open Steam Link and navigate to the Settings menu.going steam link settings
  2. Select Streaming.going streaming settings steam link remote device
  3. Select Fast for video.setting video streaming fast steam link

Steam Link has a setup composed of three options: Fast, Balanced, and Beautiful. The device has the Balanced option set as default. Choose Fast if you have encountered poor performance.

Select Beautiful if you have good performance and verify if you benefit from an increased picture quality and only a few delay moments.

These simple settings should actually prevent all Steam Link input lag issues on remote devices like smartphones, smart TVs, NVIDIA shield TV, etc.

Another thing is, If you use an outdated version of the Steam Link app, there may be various issues you may face. Whether you are playing the game on a smartphone, TV, or a Rasberry Pi device, updating the app will always help to reduce the Steam Link input lag.

Also, make sure the game you are playing is also up to date. Otherwise, you will experience remote play lag and also poor performance on the host device together.

The above methods will help you to fix the Steam Link input lag issue. If you want, you can leave us a comment about the efficiency of our solutions in the comments section.

More about the topics: game streaming tools