Check out our tips below for preparing to join a Breakout session as well as troubleshooting steps if you are currently experiencing an issue.

In this article: 

• Preparing to Join or Host a Breakout Session 
• Camera & Microphone Issues
• Video Issues
• Connectivity Issues 

Preparing to Join or Host a Breakout Session 

For the best Breakout session experience, we recommend:

• Using Chrome or Microsoft Edge browsers 
• Joining on a high speed internet or ethernet connection
• Closing Zoom, Microsoft teams, or any other application utilizing a webcam 
• Closing all unnecessary other applications or tabs
• Logging off of your VPN if you use one 
• Sharing the firewall information below with your IT team if joining from a corporate network. 

Camera & Microphone Issues

Camera and microphone issues are often caused by browser permissions, incorrect input selections, or poor internet. 

Browser Permissions

If you are unable to join the session, you may see a gray screen with the following notification:

To join the session, you will need to check your browser permissions. 

Example: Chrome Browser 

Camera & Microphone Input

If you are joining or have already joined a session, click the gear icon to check your input. 

You can use the dropdown arrows to select from your devices. 

Mac Security Settings

If you're on a Mac, you may need to go into your computer settings to enable microphone access.

1. Click the Apple logo in the top left corner of your computer to open System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Enable Access Microphone Access 

2. The browser will restart

3. Reopen your browser

4. Reopen and join the Breakout session. You will then be able to select your microphone. 

Additional Troubleshooting Steps

If the camera and microphone are still having issues, there are additional steps that may be taken: 

1. Ensure your web browser is up-to-date. In Chrome and Microsoft Edge, click the Chrome/Edge Tab in the top left corner, then click About. This will indicate whether the browser needs updating, which can be done via the subsequent pop-up. 
2.  If you're using an external microphone or camera, ensure that it has a proper connection to your computer. You can open up another application to see if that source is recognized, such as your Quicktime Player. Some HDMI capture cards and audio interfaces might even require a driver to be installed on your computer, so ensure you have that up to date driver if it's required.
3. Should you be using a VPN on your computer, turn it off or disable it before attempting to log into the session, as it could be blocking the access of the camera and microphone.
4. Ensure that you don't have another program open that might be using your camera and mic, such as Zoom or any other conferencing tool. The other program could be preventing the site from accessing your camera and mic.

Video Issues

Restricted networks, usually in a corporate setting, can hinder video feed performance. We recommend sharing the firewall requirements and proxy requirements below with your IT department if you're experiencing issues.

• Firewall Requirements
• Proxy Requirements

Firewall Requirements

Brandlive events require access to specific ports. At a minimum the following requirements must be met:

• Open TCP port 443
• Whitelist the following domains:
• *.brand.live
• *.brandlive.com
• *.brnd.live
• *.tokbox.com
• *.opentok.com
• http://brandlive-upload.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/

Along with the minimum requirements, opening UDP Port 3478 will give you a better experience. UDP is highly recommended over TCP for better quality audio and video. The protocol favors timeliness over reliability which is consistent with the human perceptive preferences; where we can fill in gaps but are sensitive to time-based delays.

This port only accepts inbound traffic after an outbound request is sent. The connection is bidirectional but is always initiated from the corporate network/client so it is not possible for an external entity to send malicious traffic in the opposite direction. For the best possible experience, we recommend opening UDP ports 1025 - 65535.

Whitelist the following HTTPS verification servers for our HTTPS certificate. Not doing so may cause console warnings, but should not affect the session.

• ocsp.godaddy.com
• crl.godaddy.com

Proxy Requirements

As a general rule, using the latest version of Chrome will produce the best results. If the only way to access the Internet from your network is through a proxy, then it must be a transparent proxy or it must be configured in the browser for HTTPS connections. WebRTC does not work with proxies requiring authentication. Along with these requirements, clients may have the following rules:

• Chrome
  • Although not every option has been tested, recent versions have full support for authentication.
  • Pre-58 versions support NTLM authentication.
  • We've found a forwarding proxy setup with Kerberos does not work.

Connectivity Issues