TPCast Wireless Adapter for HTC VIVE - PC

I have to admit, after reading the reviews and researching and making sure this would be something worthy, I finally bought this and got it yesterday. I was worried from the start that this was going to be a waste but I was so hopeful due to the fact that the INTEL wireless adapter was not an option for me because of the laptop set up. I was so disappointed because INTEL is the real deal and backed by the company 100%! I got all the items and started the set up. I was scared as @@&)&!$ after paying out $300 for this thing, all I could remember is saying to myself please work please work lol! Got everything set up, lights blinking everywhere, the manual totally sucked and didn’t tell you jack! I quickly turned to Utube for help. It took me exactly three videos and almost two hours later to get everything connected. The router was connected wrong and the headset was not recognizing the receiver. If you have a TPCAST or you are thinking of getting one, you have to sync the headset receiver to the other receiver that will be placed higher than you. It doesn’t have to be next to a base module as explained in one of the videos. Your other connection from your computer to the router has to be connected in one of the yellow ports, not the blue one if you are running WiFi to your set up. This was part of the frustration for me after understanding this. FINALLY after almost two hours everything was on and ready to go. Make sure you power down everything if you run into a problem during set up, it will NOT recognize anything if you just simply restart your set up. Unplug and shut down everything. Once that’s done and you download the software from the website, it will check to see if everything is connected. I have a Alienware 17r5, the connection to TPCAST is flawless and smooth as butter! I think one of the issues that some people are having is if your internet connection speed is not above average, your going to have issues. My connection is the fastest speed/connection that Comcast has and it worked flawless. I would definitely recommend this product to anyone. But, the set up is a mother LOL! Other than that, this is a five star rating for me! Update: 10-26-18 so the TPCAST is still working great. One small issue. When I first start it up it says that the VIVE has an error 208. Simply unplug the unit box, USB cables and HDMI cables only. After re connecting them, reboot the VIVE through steam and presto, your back in business. I was able to enter VR games, quit those games and enter other games with no interruption. Now I know this isn’t how things are suppose to work. The playing and selecting should be flawless. Unfortunately that’s not how it works for me and I’m ok with the extra small steps to get it to work over all. This is still a 5 star rating for me. The only mistake I made was getting the laptop because although it’s a powerful machine that can run VR, a desktop is just going to be better because of the upgrade options. So, I bought a desktop lol. Now the other option for it is the intel wireless which should perform much better and consistently than the TPCAST. But, it still works. If it’s not completely broke, don’t fix it lol!

The Good: - When it's working it doesn't drop frames and has low latency - Five hours worth of charge The Bad: - It's not just a three-piece setup, the simplicity is oversold - You need to add in an additional (included) router - You lose front camera functionality (can't use chaperone mode with camera) The Ugly: - It's a temperamental bugger. Took ages to set up initially and then it worked fine for a while but after that it all went to hell. - Instructions are worse than useless and refers to sections that are not even present in the user guide. Needs better localization. - No troubleshooting steps in user guide and troubleshooting recommendations on site are copy-pasted from user guide. Lack of support. I like what it promises but ultimately it fails to deliver. It's more frustrating than anything else. UPDATE 2018-01-14: So after using this for a while I have some additional tidbits. Part of the connectivity problems stem from how the software interfaces with SteamVR. If you can't get it to connect the first time here's my recommended steps: 1. Close out Steam entirely and relaunch SteamVR. 2. Repeat previous step and also close out and restart the TPCast software. 3. Repeat previous steps and also unplug/replug battery and cables. It turns out there is a troubleshooting guide that wasn't immediately apparent or in the documentation. I found it only by clicking the text in the software saying "HMD not bright?" Link here: tpcastvr.com/vive-errorcode The hardware can suffer frame stuttering as time goes by due to the receiver on your head starting to overheat. It *really* should have been built with active cooling because sometimes it heats up enough I'm worried it's going to set my hair on fire. One 5V fan can't cause that much EMI on the 5GHz band :/ Update 2018-01-22 Well it's dead now and won't even connect anymore. Support is unresponsive so off to the return bin it goes. It powers on but beyond that it's a brick. I'd go through the whole warranty process but at this point it's just worn me down enough I no longer care. I'll try this again after the Vive Pro comes out.

The Good: You get complete freedom no wires works well for games like budget cuts also works with the audio strap The Bad: works for about 2months even at first its a troubleshooter and it only gets worse, It comes with a router and a wireless box that connects to the box on your vive headset wirelessly all 3 parts are buggy and as for VRchat users Don't bother this takes more processing power than you think and will lag you HMD out this also happens on other games too and lastly your wireless box that connects to your headset box often bugs out (out of range) even when your stood next to it Verdict: a Good start well-done product, however a prototype at best, Troubleshoot is required everytime you turn it on

Mich hat das Kabel bei meiner HTC Vive ziemlich genervt, deswegen habe ich das TPCAST gekauft. Mir war im Vorherein bewusst das Kamera und Mikrofon nicht funktionieren, da ich die bis jetzt nicht gebraucht habe, ist mir das egal. Die Hardware war schnell zusammengebaut, den Router habe ich mit einem Ethernet-USB Adapter angeschlossen. Hier gibt es auch andere Möglichkeiten, aber für mich war das die einfachste Lösung. Die Software muss man von der TPCAST Homepage downloaden, und hier habe ich einen Fehler gemacht. Die Installation der Software brach bei mir mit einer Fehlermeldung immer ab, ich habe die Anschlüsse mehrmals überprüft, aber keinen Fehler gefunden. Ich war dann schon ziemlich verzweifelt, und habe den TPCAST-Support angeschrieben, und sehr rasch eine Rückmeldung erhalten. Es gibt zwei Software-Versionen, eine für die chinesische und eine für die europäische Hardware. Ich hatte die falsche Version installiert, nach Installation der richtigen Software lief alles so wie es sein soll. Den Empfänger habe ich an der Decke montiert, und es ist ein leiser Pfeifton zuhören. Zuerst hatte ich den Pfeifton auch in dem Kopfhörer, was sehr nervig war. Ich habe dann den Kanal gewechselt, die Verbindung neu synchronisiert, und seitdem ist der Pfeifton im Kopfhörer weg. Ich habe keine Aussetzer oder Ruckler, ich sehe keinen Unterschied zur kabelgebundener Vive. Etwas aufpassen muss man bei der Spielzeit, der Akku hat keine Warnmeldung ehe er komplett leer ist, das heist mitten im Spiel schaltet sich dann die Vive plötzlich aus. Das Aufladen des Akku über USB dauert rund einen ganzen Tag, mittlerweile habe ich einen zweiten Akku samt passenden Ladegerät (Ladezeit wesentlich kürzer als über USB) über Amazon gekauft. Mein Fazit: Zuerst was ich mir wünschen würde: Auf der Download Seite von TPCAST Hinweise für welche Version die Software ist, damit man nicht wie ich versehentlich die falsche Version installiert. Ebenso würde ich mir einen Warnhinweis (Akustisch oder eine optische Einblendung im HMD) wünschen, ehe der Akku komplett leer ist, damit man Zeit hat das Spiel zu speichern und zu beenden. Ich bin aber sehr zufrieden, das Spielerlebnis ist ohne Kabel eine völlig neue Erfahrung. Der Preis ist es mir wert, aber das muss jeder für sich selbst entscheiden. Von meiner Seite aus eine Kaufempfehlung

Vive is an amazing VR experience. Feels very immersive. Easy to use controls and for the most part easy to set up. Their customer service is ok, it may take longer then expected to get an answer to your questions but you will eventually get the answer. The only problem I have with Vive is the controller thumb pad button wears out after 200-300 hours of use, so be prepared to repair them.

For the few that get it to work it is apparently pretty good. For the rest of us it is a nightmare. I love tec and ive messed around building and repairing pc's since the 8086 came out, but this thing is totally beyond me. I started by following the instructions. then videos. Then tec pages. Then searchs for other people with the same problems. Ive tried different cables. different connections. blah blah blah! Some people get it working and some don't. If you have a spare few hundred pounds to gamble with, be my guest. If not, wait for the tpcast air to become available. That is supposedly working out of the box, like this crap was supposed to do. Gave it a 1 star rating as it dosnt go any lower.

Der größte (überteuerte) Schrott den ich bis jetzt in den Händen gehalten hab... Wieso kann man nicht einfach eine Funkübertragung basteln... Das System erfordert, das man einen billigen TPCAST WLAN Router zwischen den eigenen Router und dem PC schaltet... dies kann ich schon mal gar nicht ab und ruiniert die gesamte Netzwerkstruktur da man IP Adresse und ähnliches nicht verändern darf (Sonst läuft das System ja nicht - das bedeutet ich baue ein WLAN Netz auf zu dem es online überall die Zugangsdaten gibt)... und selbst bei direktem Anschluss findet die Hardware sich nicht. Man kann den Router in das eigene Netz integrieren müsste dann aber anscheinend die IP Adresse des eigenen IP Bereichs auf die des Routers ändern ... Fazit - geht ja mal gar nicht.... und wandert zurück an Amazon Pro: Kabel liessen sich verbinden ... alles benötigte ist anbei Negativ: -Zwang den ein quasi offenes WLAN Netz in das eigene Netzwerk zu integrieren -System anscheinend Störanfällig - selbst wenn man den Router direkt verbindet stockt die App beim Verbinden mit dem Wireless Adapter.... - Passwort für die Anmeldung an der Benutzeroberfläche vom Router steht nirgends.... (Was soll das denn bitte!) - Router darf nicht angepasst werden - da ja sonst die Installation nicht funktioniert