USB hubs and SteamVR Tracking
What are SteamVR Dongles?Receivers?
Summary: SteamVR donglesreceivers (also referred to as watchmen receivers) are usbwireless receivers that each can talk to one SteamVR positionally tracked device over the 2.4 GHz wireless (withband, and typically come in the exceptionform of a USB dongle. The plastic shells of these dongles do vary by manufacturer, as do the specific wireless chip used (more on this later).
Tundra and Vive trackers (excluding the ultimate inside-out tracker) use these dongles, as well as controllers such such as the Vive wands or the index controllers. Essentially anything you can pair with SteamVR's pairing menu.
There are more unique dongles out there, such as the tundra super dongles,dongle, which can trackhave multiple andwatchmen workreceivers byin packagingthem so you can connect multiple receiverstracked intodevices to a single packageUSB connecteddongle.
HTC sells something called the "Vive Ultimate Dongle" alongside their watchmen dongles for SteamVR tracked devices. Be wary because this dongle is NOT for SteamVR devices but actually intended for their "Vive Ultimate Tracker," which uses a separate inside out based tracking system instead of base stations!
It is also important to note that most SteamVR headsets (such as the index) contain 2 watchmen receivers built in, intended for a right and left controller (though technically can be paired to any SteamVR device). Non SteamVR headset, like the Quest, do not have any watchmen receivers.
As an internalexample, USBif hub)you had an index headset, and wanted to use your 2 index controllers and 3 Vive trackers for full body tracking, you would need 3 additional dongles (the controllers can connect to the 2 watchmen receivers in the headset, and you get one dongle per Vive tracker). If you were using a quest headset but wanted to use the index controllers and 3 Vive trackers, you would need to use 5 dongles.
Steam Controller Dongles?
The Steam Controller also shipped with its own 2.4 ghz dongle, and actually is capable of acting as a SteamVR dongle, if you flashed it with the appropriate firmware. Be cautious as this can be destructive and do research before attempting if you wish to go down this path. You can read more
Tracking Problems
As many of us know, while theoretically base station tracked controllers such be far more accurate than inside out tracked solutions (and they usually are), there are situations where tracking may be jittery or lost entirely.
Before going in too deep or starting to throw money at the problem, do check the most common issues first:
- Ensure Base Station placement is adequate and that there is no excessive amount of reflective materials in your room
- if all of your controllers + your headset are facing tracking issues, this is likely the culprit
- Ensure the tracker dongles are positioned well
- The dongles should be high up, and not obstructed in view of your devices (IE not shoved behind your desktop PC)
- They should be kept away from devices emitting 2.4 ghz signals, notably routers
- dongles can even interfere with each other, make sure you keep a couple inches of distance between them
In addition, there is a lovely guide for ensuring software wise SteamVR is running the best is can, I suggest giving it a go here