Best practices for recording in SquadCast

Recording remotely with SquadCast? These tips will help ensure a smooth session and high-quality results for you and your guests.

Looking for an easier way to meet and record?

Rooms (Descript's conferencing tool and recorder) lets you meet, record, and collaborate—all in one place. It's simpler, faster, and fully integrated. Learn how to use Rooms.

This article covers:

Check your internet connection

SquadCast requires a minimum of 5 Mbps upload and download speed. For the best experience, aim for at least 10 Mbps in both directions. See SquadCast system requirements for more info.

For the most reliable connection:

  • Use a wired Ethernet connection when possible.
  • If you're on Wi-Fi, stay close to your router and avoid bandwidth-heavy activity on other devices.
  • Disconnect from any VPN that isn't required for your network.

If bandwidth is limited, participants can disable incoming video in the settings menu within the session. This reduces bandwidth usage while still recording video on each participant's end.

On a corporate or managed network?

If you're behind a firewall, VPN, or proxy, you may need your IT team to allow specific domains and ports. See How to resolve network connection issues for the full list.

Set up your browser

  • Keep SquadCast as the focused tab. Browsers throttle background tabs, which can cause dropped frames and audio/video sync issues. Don't switch to other tabs or windows while recording.
  • Close unnecessary apps and browser tabs. Open tabs and apps compete for system resources and bandwidth, which can affect upload quality.
  • Try incognito mode or a different browser. If you run into issues, an incognito window eliminates potential conflicts with browser extensions. SquadCast supports the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Brave, Safari, and Edge.

Firefox users

Firefox requires the SquadCast tab to be focused before recording can start. If a participant's tab isn't focused when the host presses record, they'll see a "Recording Start Delayed" alert. The recording begins once they switch to the SquadCast tab, but it will be offset from the other participants' recordings.

Prepare your equipment and environment

  • Wear wired headphones to prevent echo and mic bleed.
  • Restart your computer before the session to refresh permissions and clear background processes.
  • Wait for all participants to join before pressing record to make sure everyone's track is captured.

Test before you record

  1. Do a short test recording (~30 seconds to 1 minute) with your guest before your main session.
  2. Listen back by clicking the recording menu in the lower-right corner of the display. Select a recording to play or download and check for any issues with volume, equipment, or echo.
  3. If adjustments are needed, click the participants icon in the lower-right corner to expand the panel. From there, view each participant's sample rate, browser version, OS, and connected equipment. To switch a participant's device, click the equipment name and select a different option from the dropdown.

SquadCast also provides a Quality Sample about 10 seconds after the host presses record. A pop-up appears with a quick audio sample the host can listen to during the session—a fast way to confirm everything sounds right without stopping to review a full recording.

During the session

  • If someone disconnects, refresh the page and wait for everyone to rejoin before continuing.
  • If challenges persist, restart your computer. This can help stabilize network conditions and clear system-level issues.
  • The host can monitor uploads in real time by clicking the recording icon in the lower-right corner. If a file isn't uploading properly, the recording can be stopped and restarted during the session.

After recording

Keep the SquadCast window open until processing is finished.

After the session ends, all participants must leave their SquadCast tab open until their files finish uploading. Closing the browser prematurely can result in lost or incomplete recordings.

A confirmation appears in the lower-right corner when the upload is complete—only then is it safe to close the page.

How progressive uploading works

During the session, SquadCast progressively uploads audio and video to the cloud in small chunks (about 5 seconds at a time). This is a separate process from your live conversation—it uses local resources on each participant's device and network to create both primary and cloud backup recordings.

Because of progressive uploading, it's important that all participants stay in the SquadCast session until they see an "uploads complete" notification.

SquadCast also creates cloud backups, which are recorded from different sources over the network rather than locally within each participant's browser. This means the session host always has content from each session, even if a primary recording has an issue. Learn more about Progressive Uploads in SquadCast.