Connection, reliability, and limits
Drills run on whatever network the members happen to be on, which on a training ground often means phones moving between WiFi and cellular. This page describes what the software does about that, and what the limits are.
Connection indicators#
In the drill header:
| Indicator | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ● live | Connected. |
| ● reconnecting… | The connection dropped and is being restored. |
| ⏳ syncing N | N of your actions have not been confirmed by the server yet. |
| ⚠ |
Your last action was refused, with the reason. |
What happens when you drop#
The connection restores itself. When it does:
- You come back as the same participant: same unit assignment, same command role, same apparatus already parked. You do not become a new person.
- The full record of the drill is resent, so your feed and the scene catch up to the current state.
- Anything you did during the outage is sent automatically once you are back.
A brief drop does not appear in the record as leaving and rejoining. A longer one is recorded, because who was present when matters for accountability.
Nothing is silently lost#
Every action you take is held until the server confirms it. If the connection is down, it waits and sends when the connection returns. The ⏳ syncing count is how many are waiting. When the count clears, the server has everything.
If an action is refused rather than delayed, you get a message saying so with the reason. Silence never means "recorded."
Common refusal reasons:
| Message | Cause |
|---|---|
| Your unit is not on scene yet | You tried to place apparatus before arrival. |
| Interior access requires an interior assignment from command | You are not cleared for the interior. |
| Load a scenario before starting the exercise | The instructor started the clock with no scenario. |
| Slow down | You exceeded a rate limit, for example many CAN reports in quick succession. |
| Session has ended | The drill was sealed. |
The radio and dropped connections#
Channel status is broadcast live rather than stored, so a drop during someone else's transmission can leave a stale "channel busy" indication. The software clears it after about three seconds of silence. The server remains the arbiter, so you can never actually transmit over someone.
If you drop while transmitting, your transmission is closed out and archived up to that point, and the channel is released for everyone else.
Limits#
| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Participants per drill | 50 |
| Single transmission length | 2 minutes |
| Radio audio retention | 14 days (transcripts kept permanently) |
Instructors are always admitted, even at the participant cap, and a member reconnecting is always admitted because they are replacing their own connection rather than adding one. A member refused at the cap gets a clear message saying the drill is full.
If you genuinely need more than 50 in one exercise, that limit can be raised; ask before the drill rather than during it.
Requirements#
- A current browser: Chrome, Safari, Edge, or Firefox on desktop, iOS, or Android.
- Microphone permission for anyone who will transmit. Members can hear the radio without it.
- Nothing to install.
If a drill goes badly wrong#
The record is written as the drill happens, not at the end. If a session has to be abandoned, everything up to that point is still in the after-action review and can be debriefed normally.