Full Wi-Fi bars only describe the few metres between your computer and the router. Your audio crosses six more steps before it reaches your listeners, and any one of them can be the weak link.
The path your audio takes
Wi-Fi: the air between computer and router
Signal bars measure only this step: how loudly your computer hears the router.
WHAT GOES WRONG
- A full room: every phone in the audience shares the same air
- Walls, metal, and the slower, busier 2.4 GHz band
- Strong signal, but the router is overloaded
HOW IT LOOKS IN INTERSCRIBE
- Short caption gaps that come back on their own
- The Console connection badge turns amber
WHAT TO DO
- Connect the agent with a network cable: the best single fix
- Put production gear on its own network
- Use 5 GHz and stay near the router
Fast is not the same as steady
A speed test measures one big burst. Live audio is a small, steady stream going up, every second, for hours.
Your audio goes up. Most plans upload far less than they download, and the whole building shares it.
Pieces of audio arriving unevenly: pauses, then a rush.
Pieces that never arrive. A little is hidden; more becomes missing words.
Move the slider to see what your listeners would get.
When the browser can't reach InterScribe at all
Other sites open but InterScribe doesn't, or the page opens and audio never connects. Two usual causes: your computer's address book (DNS), or a firewall.
1 · Clear the DNS cache
Your computer remembers where websites live. A stale entry makes InterScribe look “down” only for you. Clearing it is safe and takes seconds.
sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponderOpen Terminal (Applications → Utilities), paste, press Return and enter your Mac password. Nothing is printed when it works.
2 · Check for a firewall or content filter
Companies, schools, hospitals, hotels and many places of worship filter their networks. A filter can let the website through and still block the live audio connection.
- You can sign in, but the agent stays “Agent is disconnected”
- It works on a phone hotspot, not on the building's network
- A Wi-Fi page asks you to accept terms
- Test on a phone hotspot to confirm
- Turn off any VPN
- Send the allow-list to IT a week before
| Address | Port | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| interscribe.io | 443 TCP | The Portal: your workspace, the Console and the Booth |
| *.interscribe.io | 443 TCP | Other InterScribe services, such as the one the agents connect to |
| scrb.live | 443 TCP | Listener pages and share links |
| *.scrb.live | 443 TCP | Your portal’s address and its event pages |
| *.livekit.cloud | 443 TCP | Live-audio media and relay servers: the connection that sets up live audio |
| *.turn.livekit.cloud | 443 TCP/TLS | Live-audio media and relay servers: live audio when UDP is blocked |
| *.host.livekit.cloud | 3478 UDP | Live-audio media and relay servers: help devices connect directly |
| Any address | 50000-60000 UDP | Live-audio media and relay servers: live audio (fastest path) |
| Any address | 7881 TCP | Live-audio media and relay servers: live audio over TCP when UDP is limited |
Starlink, satellite and phone hotspots
Short drops during satellite hand-offs show up as gaps in live audio. Cable the agent computer to the Starlink router.
Starlink handles Netflix and YouTube well because they buffer ahead. Live audio can't buffer ahead, so Starlink's short drops show up as gaps.
- Satellite hand-offs: the dish switches satellites every few minutes, causing brief drops.
- Upload swings: upload speed and delay change from minute to minute.
- Obstructions: trees, roof edges and heavy weather block the view. Check the obstruction map in the Starlink app.
- Mixed Wi-Fi bands: devices drift onto the slower 2.4 GHz band. Cable the agent computer to the Starlink router.
Still not sure where the problem is?
The connection check tests every step above from this device and gives you a report ID for support.
Read more
- The connection check explains each step it tests and what its result means.
- Fast is not the same as steady explains how to measure your connection and what to change.
- The allow-list for IT has the same list with notes for your IT team, and InterScribe won't load or won't connect goes through each cause.
- Connection types compares cable, Wi-Fi, hotspots, mobile data and satellite. Some Starlink routers need the Starlink Ethernet adapter for a cable.
- The IT pre-event checklist is one printable sheet for your IT team.
The DNS and Starlink advice on this page is general advice about your network, not an InterScribe setting.