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Recording remotely with SquadCast? These tips will help ensure a smooth session and high-quality results for you and your guests. If something went wrong with your SquadCast recording, see this troubleshooting section for help with choppy audio, missing video, skipping sounds, and camera problems.
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.

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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.

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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 usersFirefox 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.

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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.
  • uit all other apps that use your camera or microphone (Zoom, Teams, etc.) — even if you’ve closed the window, they may still be running in the background and can block SquadCast from accessing your equipment.
  • Confirm your browser has permission to access your camera and microphone.
  • 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Troubleshoot common recording issues

If something went wrong with your recording, find your symptom below.
If your primary recording sounds choppy or has missing video but the cloud backup looks fine, your network was likely struggling during the session. SquadCast records locally in each participant’s browser, so network instability directly impacts primary recording quality. Look for in-app warnings like “App not in Focus,” “Network Struggling,” or “Upload Queue Backup” — these indicate the issue was happening during the session.What to do now: Download the session’s cloud backup recordings. SquadCast automatically creates cloud backups of every session, so you’ll always have content even if the primary recording has issues.Prevent it next time: Keep SquadCast as the focused tab, use a wired Ethernet connection, close unnecessary apps and tabs, and stay in the session until you see the “uploads complete” confirmation.
Skipping or pitched audio usually means the microphone sample rate wasn’t set to 48kHz during recording.What to do now: Adjust the sample rate in your computer’s OS sound settings. See Microphone Sample Rate for step-by-step instructions.Prevent it next time: Hosts can check participant equipment during a session by clicking the participants icon in the lower-right corner. From there, view each participant’s sample rate, browser, and connected devices — and request an equipment change if needed. The participant will receive a notification and can accept or decline.
If your camera isn’t showing up at all in SquadCast, another app may be using it, or your browser doesn’t have permission to access it.What to do now:
  1. Fully quit all other apps with camera access (Zoom, Teams, etc.) Other apps can still run in the background after being closed, creating an equipment permissions conflict with the SquadCast recorder.
  2. Confirm your browser has camera permissions enabled for SquadCast.
  3. Make sure you’re using the latest version of a supported browser.
  4. Restart your computer to clear lingering processes.
  5. Try an incognito window or a different browser.
Avoid VPNs and controlled networks when possible — shared, enterprise, government, university, and medical networks are typically highly secured and can block SquadCast’s camera and recording functionality. See How to resolve network connection issues for details.Prevent it next time: Close all camera-using apps before joining a session, and confirm browser permissions during your equipment setup.