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Racing Wheel over a Home Network

Editorial Team Editorial Team Jan 23, 2023

Why would you need to share access to racing wheel

A racing wheel is a control device used in driving, iracing, simulators, and simracing. With high-performing racing wheels, gamers can easily immerse themselves in a racing game, feeling every turn, vibration, and engine revving at the tip of their fingers.

As a beginner or pro racer, you may need to share access to your racing wheel for various reasons. Regardless of the e-race sport you play, here are three wheel scenarios you’ll likely face in your gaming career:

Gaming in a virtual desktop on another operating system - Virtual desktops make it simple to share data using telemetry between multiple consoles without switching the console.

Gaming on another computer in a home network - The racing wheel can still be used when the gamer is far from the host computer because it can access both the host computer and the racing wheel.

Gaming on remote servers (cloud gaming) - If you are gaming on a remote server, you may be unable to access a racing wheel.

Using a racing wheel over a home network

This article section outlines the procedures for USB sharing over network at home. If your PCs are all connected to the same network, you can launch a game on one computer and play from another linked to the same line. With a shared home network, you can connect to a game running on another computer while the actual game is on another machine.

Using a cable and your computer’s USB ports, you can easily connect your racing wheel or pedals to your computer. Unfortunately, this makes the device usable by only one computer, and it might not even work on new computers without physical USB ports. However, there is a way around these constraints by utilizing USB over Ethernet technology.

When using a racing wheel over a network, you can connect one or more remote USB devices (race wheels) to your computer via the internet (Internet/LAN/WAN) using USB Network Gate. This connection behaves as if the device was directly connected to your computer. You can also use a steering wheel like a Logitech racing wheel, pedals, and racing simulators, as if they were directly attached to your PC, regardless of whether you are in another country or the room next door.

Connecting over a home network raises the value of racing wheels by allowing numerous users to access racing wheels from any network-connected location. Using a racing wheel over the network makes it possible to play games on computers that ordinarily wouldn’t be able to do so.

Here, you must first share the USB device with the computer before you can connect to a remote USB port. After that, it is quite easy to use a shared device to access the steering wheel from any computer and race as if it were directly connected to yours.

If you are a gamer, specifically sim-racing, you can follow these steps to access a racing wheel over a home network.

1
Install and launch the USB Network Gate
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2
Select the "Remote USB devices" tab to view a list of remote devices available.
 Local USB devices tab
3
Press "Connect" after choosing the remote USB device you want to utilize.
 start USB Network Gate on the RDP server
4
Although the remote device might appear in the list, that does not indicate it is already connected to your local PC. It may be assigned to your client's PC and shared at the remote end, but it is not connected. To rectify this, select the remote USB device from the list, then click the "Establish connection" button to connect. If a password is requested, type it in and click "Connect" to proceed.
5
Once the connection has been made, the remote USB device will show up in the system resources and directly attach to the machine.
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Using a virtual operating system to play racing games

In this section, we will discuss how to transfer game wheel control to a virtual operating system environment. Gaming in a virtual desktop allows you to operate multiple computers, programs, and operating systems without purchasing, setting up, and configuring each separately.

Because driving sims become considerably more realistic with a racing wheel, the best way to utilize peripherals is via Link, Virtual Desktop, or ALVR. Using a serial port steering wheel with a modern racing game changes the gaming experience when you use a virtual reality headset to play with a driving simulator.

You’re not only completely involved in your surroundings thanks to the headset, but the driving wheel also gives you the impression that you are actually in control of the vehicle. With the Sims Wheels, users get an authentic experience with the force feedback because the vibration motors in the wheel’s grips improve sensory sensation.

1
The first step is to install the VirtualBox Extension Pack.
2
After installation, start your virtual machine using whichever supported guest OS you like.
3
Connect the USB device to any available USB port on the host computer.
4
Click “USB device to share” after navigating to Devices -> USB.
5
The USB device will appear in the guest OS after the VirtualBox has accessed it. The capabilities available to your virtual machine will be the same as if it were a direct connection. This makes it possible to connect iPhones to VirtualBox and other USB devices remotely. Remember that only one physical or virtual device can use the USB device at once.

Using the racing wheel for cloud gaming

Many cloud games do not allow additional controllers, such as wheels, because they search for the most fundamental controller inputs. Gamers may be able to remap the wheel controls to be recognized as conventional Xbox controller inputs using something like a controller emulator.

FlexiHub works well with racing wheels for remote gaming, especially one where the player directly controls the computer where the game is played. Few cloud gaming providers offer this functionality; thus, the customer should determine whether he can manually install third-party software before selecting a cloud gaming vendor.

If you wish to link your racing wheel to a virtual or cloud machine, FlexiHub software program will come in handy. This straightforward program, made to route USB devices to distant computers over the internet, will help you connect your wheel to a cloud gaming PC. With little latency and no data loss, this program will guarantee quick data transmission from your local device to the cloud.

Here’s how you can access a USB controller remotely using FlexiHub:

1
First, download the app on the local computer your USB controller is physically connected to.
2
Next, create an account on https://account.flexihub.com/.
3
After creating an account, log in to the new account and use the FlexiHub interface to view the wheel you want to utilize remotely.
4
Set up FlexiHub on your computer for cloud gaming, and then connect the wheel remotely.
5
Launch the app again and sign into your cloud account.
6
You can notice that the device is accessible for remote connection in the program interface. Simply select “Connect” by clicking the icon next to its name.
7
You can now race in the cloud-based game with the wheel in your hands.

Conclusion

Consoles are no longer the only devices for video games. Over time, gaming has developed to include racing wheels with incredibly realistic features like force feedback and weighted pedal sets. You should consider using a racing wheel if you’re a PC gamer who wants a more realistic experience when playing your favorite racing games. Your racing experience will be more immersive with more feedback on your wheel.

As the gaming industry has developed, most times, gaming now takes place online, whether virtually, via a network, or through a cloud service. Because it is ideal for in-home streaming, gamers constantly hunt for system/steering wheel compatibility. Therefore, it is important that you’re able to access your devices, including your racing wheel, via the internet.

As an e-race enthusiast, You can easily play your favorite racing games from anywhere with your wheel as long as it is connected via a virtual operating system with VirtualBox Extension Pack, over a home network with USB Network Gate, and finally over the cloud using FlexiHub.

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