By the time you read this, Steam Link may already be dead. This week Valve announced they’d soon no longer have physical hardware units for their Steam Link system available for sale. This was true of both stock in the UK and in the USA, and final stock will likely leave the official Steam store soon. For those users that already have a Steam Link, there’s good news. For those that are just hearing about Steam Link now – you’re not alone! Also, there are alternatives for what’s basically the exact same service.

What is Steam Link?

Steam Link is Valve’s “Steam In-Home Streaming technology” as enabled by the Steam Link streaming box hardware for televisions. Steam Link works by doing “real-time encoding of H.264 video and sending it over a custom low-latency network protocol, then displaying it on the client.” This system also streams to Android devices via the Google Play app store.

It would be up to Steam Link to provide the software. Roku provides the platform and very few channels of its own. Roku runs on proprietary operating system, so a direct port from Android or IOS is not possible. The Steam Link app brings desktop gaming to your Android device. Just pair a Bluetooth controller or Steam Controller to your device, connect to a computer running Steam on the same local network, and start playing your existing Steam games. For best performance with Android TV:. Connect your computer using Ethernet to your router.

Save the hardware (the box and Valve’s controller), every part of this streaming process is free. There are no subscription costs, and there’s no sign-up fee. At this time, Valve’s suggested that they’ll be supporting (i.e. updating) their Steam Link software – and the app for Android – for the foreseeable future.

What is the Steam Link streaming box hardware?

Regardless, the Roku's protocol is not designed to solve sync problems, and in fact exploits the lack of need to sync in order to add quality buffering. – SevenSidedDie May 3 '14 at 3:11 Other streaming devices can do this just fine (with similar and/or worse hardware than the Roku), and it works great. Roku provides the simplest way to stream entertainment to your TV. Access more than 500,000+ movies and TV episodes across free and paid channels. Roku TV has a screen mirroring feature that is based on Miracast standards. With this feature, you can stream games, watch movies, play music, or access your favorite apps from your PC and have a different visual experience with a more enhanced and high-quality display.

The Steam Link hardware is a little box that connects via HDMI to your television. This device does ONE thing, and it does it well. It mirrors your compatible computer’s Steam app and game launcher, doing so on the television to which it is connected. This device also works with accessories like the original Steam Controller to allow the user to control what’s on the screen from their couch, or whatever chair they’ve got in front of their TV.

This Steam Link device is still up for sale on Steam under the hardware button section, the same place it’s been since November of 2015. This device currently costs $50, but you might find it for … different prices… elsewhere.

What’s the best Steam Link alternative?

As luck would have it, the NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV device has a nearly-identical service in play. Users need only own an NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV device and a PC with an NVIDIA GeForce GPU inside. That’s at least GeForce GTX 650 or higher for desktop or GTX 700M or higher, and select (Kepler-based) GTX 600M GPUs for notebooks.

Just like Steam Link, the user will be able to mirror games from their high-powered PC to their television, and control said content with a gaming controller. NVIDIA SHIELD’s service is called NVIDIA GameStream, and all the info you could possibly need can be found over at the NVIDIA GameStream page, including requirements and setup process.

You should take a peek at our NVIDIA SHIELD TV Review (Gen2, 2017) to see what this device is all about. Both the first and second-gen NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV devices have the same processor inside and each work just as well as the other – it’s the internal storage that’s the difference. Also you’ll probably want the newest version of the gaming controller and tv remote, while you’re at it.

Story Timeline

It will be more fun and enjoyable if you watch movies on a wider screen like your Roku TV. To do that, you will need a good screen mirroring tool to cast Windows 10 to Roku. Good thing is that there are practical tools available online for mirroring PC to TV. Read on to find out the best screen mirroring tools you can use for mirroring Windows 10 to Roku TV.

How to Cast Windows 10 to TV

Project feature of Windows 10

Windows 10 has a built-in screen mirroring feature, which is the Project. This amazing feature allows you to cast your Windows 10’s screen to any available dongle with the popular Miracast enabled TV such as Roku. To learn how to mirror Windows 10 to Roku, check out the steps below.

• On your PC, open the Action Center and choose Project.
• Then, select Connectto a Wireless display, and wait for you Windows 10 to detect your Roku TV.
• Once the detection is done, choose your Roku to start the mirroring process. Then you will see your Windows 10 screen on your Roku TV.

Alternative tool – LetsView

The next tool we listed here for you is an alternative tool named LetsView. It can help you connect Windows 10 to Roku fast and easy. It can be used on multiple platforms like PC and TV as well as on mobile devices like Android and iOS. What’s best about this amazing tool is that it is totally free and very easy to use. Follow the steps below to project Windows 10 to TV.

• Get the app from your web browser and install it on your Windows 10 and TV. You can also click the button below to download it.
• Open the application and click the Computer Screen Mirroring.
• Input the PIN code that is being displayed on your TV. Then your Windows 10 will be projected to your TV immediately.

Conclusion

Can You Get Steam Link On Roku

It is not difficult any more to mirror your Windows 10 to your TV. For a Roku TV, just try the built-in Project feature to mirror Windows 10 to Roku TV. However, if you do not have a Roku TV, you can still connect your Windows 10 PC to your TV using a screen mirroring tool – LetsView.

Steam Link App Roku Tv