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Suppose your Oculus Quest is refusing to cast. In that case, it may result from issues like poor WiFi connection, a misconfigured network, glitches with the Oculus Quest, and even having too many devices on your home network.
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Why Won’t My Oculus Quest Cast to My TV or Monitor?
The most common reasons an Oculus Quest won’t cast to a TV or monitor are that the networking settings for the devices are misconfigured or the devices themselves are glitching. You can generally resolve casting issues by restarting your devices and checking your network configuration.
How to Troubleshoot Oculus Quest That Won’t Cast
Unfortunately, even when you follow the casting steps correctly, there are situations where an Oculus Quest just won’t cast. This can happen due to issues like a poor WiFi connection or glitches with the Oculus headset. Here are some of the best methods to troubleshoot an Oculus Quest that won’t cast to your display.
1. Restart Your Oculus Quest and TV
As your Oculus Quest and TV run, they can sometimes accumulate small errors that prevent them from properly connecting for casting. Luckily, completely erasing these errors is as simple as restarting your Oculus Quest headset and TV. Before attempting any intensive troubleshooting methods, you should restart both devices to ensure it isn’t a small error causing the frustrating failure to connect.
2. Check if the Oculus Quest Needs Software Updates
While the Oculus Quest is designed to install updates as they’re released automatically, it sometimes fails. In these cases, the failure to update can cause your Oculus to behave strangely. If you believe your Oculus headset fails to cast results from outdated software, you’ll need to force it to update.
Here’s how you can check if your Oculus Quest needs an update:
- Press the Oculus button on the right controller to open the menu.
- Click the gear icon to navigate to the settings.
- Scroll through the selection on the left side of the settings menu until you find the About section. Click to open it.
- Once the About menu loads, you can see whether your Oculus Quest needs an update. If your Oculus is up to date, it will say No Updates Available. If it says Install Update, you should click to download the update and respond to prompts as necessary until the update is complete.
3. Make Sure Your Oculus Isn’t Actively Downloading Updates or Games
Some users report that their Oculus Quest runs into issues casting to a display while it is downloading or updating games or software. While this issue can be frustrating, resolving it is as simple as pausing the downloads or allowing them to complete before attempting to cast. This will ensure that all your data is going towards casting the Oculus display.
4. Check That Your Oculus Quest and TV Are Connected to the Same WiFi
If your Oculus Quest and intended display aren’t connected to the same network, you won’t be able to cast your headset display to the screen. Before attempting to cast, you should verify that both devices are connected to the same network. If they’re on separate networks, resolving the issue is as simple as putting them on the same network and attempting to cast your Oculus again.
5. Reboot Your WiFi
Just as accumulated glitches with your Oculus Quest or TV can cause them to malfunction, they can also cause your WiFi issues. You will need to reboot your WiFi router to fix these issues. Here are the steps you should take to reboot any WiFi router.
- Unplug the router or modem from the power. Don’t press the power button or do anything with the pinhole reset button.
- Allow the router to stay unplugged for 20 to 30 seconds.
- Plug the router back in. After waiting several minutes, turn the router back on and give it time to boot. If router glitches were causing your connection issues, you should notice a better connection once the router has fully rebooted.
6. Disconnect Other Devices From Your WiFi
Depending on how many devices you have connected to your WiFi network, you may be having casting issues because there isn’t enough bandwidth available.
Suppose you believe that it may be the number of devices in your home causing connectivity issues. In that case, you should disconnect any devices you aren’t immediately using and attempt to cast your Oculus Quest to your TV again.
7. Enable P2P Networking With Your Router
To have the best connection while casting, the Oculus Quest relies on direct peer-to-peer connections. If your router doesn’t support P2P connections, it can cause a strange failure to cast. You should consult the owner’s manual for your router to determine how to enable P2P networking on your router.
Generally speaking, you will need to access the default IP address provided in the owner’s manual for your router from your web browser and log in using the default username and password.
Once you’ve logged in, you can generally find and enable peer-to-peer networking in the general network settings. Depending on your router, the owner’s manual may provide more specific steps.
8. Verify That Your Oculus and Display are on the Same Network Band
While your Oculus and display might be on the same network, they can sometimes refuse to connect for casting because the router places them on different network bands.
While this issue can be frustrating to address, resolving it is as simple as changing the SSID for the 2.4GHz or 5.0GHz network and then ensuring that both devices are connected to the same band. Generally speaking, you’ll want to connect your Oculus Quest to the 5.0GHz band for high-performance gaming and casting.
9. Check if Your Oculus Is Charged
If your Oculus Quest is at low power, the device can sometimes malfunction and behave strangely. Unfortunately, the Oculus battery is known to drain very quickly.
If your Oculus Quest seems like it might be failing to cast due to low battery, you should charge it to full battery before attempting to cast to the display again.
10. Troubleshoot Your WiFi Connection
If your Oculus Quest still refuses to cast despite all of your other troubleshooting attempts, it may result from a complex issue with your WiFi.
You should check if the WiFi appears to work with other devices by attempting to cast to your TV from a smartphone. You may need to contact your internet service provider for expert help if it refuses to cast.
Final Thoughts
While casting is generally one of the most convenient features of the Oculus Quest, it can quickly become one of the most frustrating when it refuses to work. Luckily, fixing an Oculus Quest that won’t cast is often as simple as taking a few steps to troubleshoot the connection.