While cleaning out my TV unit, found this this flat, slightly not rectangular box shoved in one the drawers. My natural reaction was: what the fuck is this? Flipping it over, I realised it was the Steam Link I picked up off eBay probably six or seven years ago. Since this happened during Wii’re Going Back, I took a bit of time to set it up in another room away from my study so I could stream Nintendo Wii games from my Steam Deck around the house. I figured my Wi-Fi router is pretty powerful, it’s also not too far away. So, why not give it a crack? Admittedly, I’ve only used this thing maybe a handful of times at best when I first bought it. Our old house didn’t have the best network setup and I didn’t exactly have the best equipment back then either. Since moving a couple years ago, I’ve upgraded our network and I’ve still got a few more improvements planned. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s a hell of a lot better than it used to be.
Steam Link Hardware
I dusted off my Steam Link, plugged it into my bedroom TV (this is an older 1080p TV, so a perfect fit) and connected a mouse and keyboard. Don’t panic when it initially boots at 480p, it’ll sort itself out and switch to 1080p. After connecting to Wi-Fi, to the surprise of exactly nobody, this thing demanded forty-five updates. That’s not some random, exaggerated number that I’m pulling out of my ass either. Forty. Five. Updates. It only took about twenty minutes, most of which was spent installing them. Once it finally booted, it ran a Wi-Fi test which came back as pretty poor. Honestly, I don’t think that’s a reflection of my network, but of the hardware itself. This thing is over ten years old at this point. The actual setup was incredibly straightforward. I selected ‘Add Computer’ from the menu, entered the code shown on the screen into my Steam Deck and that… uh, that was it. All that was left was to select my Steam Deck from the device list, which was instantly projected up onto the TV.
I was genuinely surprised by how well this thing performed. I went in expecting constant stutters, slowdowns and latency out the ass. In reality, it was actually rock solid. Streaming Nintendo Wii games from the Steam Deck felt legitimately smooth with no noticeable visual issues. I was expecting a decent chunk of input lag, but was incredibly surprised by the lack of it. This is over Wi-Fi on a fairly old device so my expectations were fairly tempered, but this felt almost native. Even more impressive was that this was all running on the default settings. I didn’t tweak streaming quality or mess around in the menu trying to make it usable. It just… worked. That feels pretty rare for tech this old. I actually played through most of Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles via the Steam Link.
Steam Link App
Sitting right next to my Steam Link is an older Apple TV HD, which released around the same time. I’m pretty sure the Wi-Fi chip in the Apple TV might be ever so slightly better. Downloading the Steam Link app from the App Store and firing it up is almost identical to using the Steam Link hardware, except you can navigate through everything with the Apple TV remote (or your iPhone with the Remote app, if you’ve lost your remote like I have). The setup process is just as painless. I selected my Steam Deck from the device list, entered the pairing code and was ready to roll within a couple minutes. For a moment there, this seemed like the superior option. The Steam Link app’s network test rated my connection as ‘great for streaming’ and if anything, it felt even quicker than the Steam Link hardware.
It made a strong first impression, but unfortunately it didn’t last. My initial test session worked surprisingly well, but every attempt afterwards turned into a stuttery mess. The connection warning consistently flashed in the bottom-right corner of the screen, screen tearing became incredibly noticeable and the input latency felt god awful. I’m not trash talking the Steam Link app itself here, it works great on other devices. My iPhone 15 Pro Max and older iPad handled it without any major hiccups. That leaves my aging Apple TV, over Wi-Fi, as the obvious culprit. It’s a little disappointing because outside of the actual streaming performance, the overall app experience felt excellent. But after that first session, it completely fell apart the second I actually tried to play something.
Steam Link Hardware vs Steam Link App
What surprised me the most is just how easy both options are to use. Valve nailed the setup process, whether I was using the app or the Steam Link hardware. Getting my Steam Deck connected took a couple minutes at most. No digging through obscure menus, port forwarding or spending hours tweaking settings to make streaming usable. That’s refreshingly straightforward. That said, the original Steam Link hardware is showing its age. Launching back in 2015, it still performs shocking well in the right conditions. But modern phones, tablets and newer streaming devices clearly overtake it, thanks to vastly better hardware and newer wireless standards. Weirdly, the Steam Link hardware still ended up being the more consistent experience on older hardware, for me at least. If you can nab one at a yard sale or cheap on eBay, I think there’s still a place for it. If you’ve got an older 1080p TV gathering dust, decent Wi-Fi (or better yet: ethernet), it honestly still works great. Valve pushed wired networking fairly heavily when it originally launched and after my Apple TV experience, I can see why. On the other hand, if you’ve got a newer phone, tablet or supported streaming device with modern Wi-Fi, the Steam Link app is going to be the better long-term option. Performance depends heavily on the device you’re running it on and the device you’re streaming from. But when it works properly, it genuinely feels like the future Valve was pitching over ten years ago.
Verdict
So, is the Steam Link hardware still viable in 2026?
The answer is: It depends.
There isn’t one answer to rule them all here. So much of the experience comes down to the hardware you already own, or what you’re willing to upgrade. The original Steam Link is undeniably a relic at this point, it released in November of 2015, but it’s still surprisingly capable with the right setup. If you’re still hanging onto an older 1080p TV and can ideally toss an ethernet cable into it (Wi-Fi may still surprise you!), this near-rectangle can still do a genuinely solid job. It’s currently handling Nintendo Wii from a Steam Deck as you read this. At the same time, technology has obviously pushed forward. Newer phones, tablets and streaming devices come equipped with modern hardware that can easily outperform it through the Steam Link app. The big problem is consistency. Some devices handle streaming incredibly well, while others can completely fall apart over the exact same network. I think that’s what makes the old Steam Link hardware still worth talking about in 2026. Despite being over a decade old, it still manages to just work.
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