Connection issues
Reconnect, check your network, and get past firewalls and VPNs.
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How do I fix connection issues in flat.social?
The fastest fix for most connection issues is to refresh the page. Flat.social reconnects your presence and audio automatically once the page reloads. If a refresh doesn't hold, the cause is usually your network: a weak connection, a corporate firewall or VPN blocking real-time traffic, or another app eating your bandwidth. Work through the checklist below and you'll know which one it is.
Refresh the page. Your avatar, presence, and audio reconnect on their own. A single reload clears most temporary drops in seconds.
Reconnect with this checklist
If you dropped out, froze, or saw a reconnecting message, run through these steps in order. Each one rules out a likely cause, starting with the quickest.
Reconnect to a flat room
A quick checklist to get back online when the connection drops.
- 1Refresh the page
Reload flat.social in your browser. Presence and audio reconnect automatically, which fixes most short drops.
- 2Check your internet
Confirm other sites load. If your Wi-Fi is weak, move closer to the router or switch to a wired connection for a steadier link.
- 3Pause bandwidth-heavy apps
Stop large downloads, cloud backups, video streaming, and other calls. They compete with flat.social for the bandwidth it needs.
- 4Disable a VPN or try another network
Turn off your VPN, then reload. If you are on locked-down office Wi-Fi, switch to a phone hotspot or home network to test.
Firewalls and VPNs can block flat.social
Flat.social uses real-time WebRTC traffic for live audio and presence, and some corporate firewalls and VPNs block or throttle it. This is the most common reason flat.social connects on home Wi-Fi but fails at the office. If you suspect this, turn off your VPN and reload, or switch to a personal hotspot to confirm.
This has its own guide with the exact hosts and ports your IT team needs: see Firewalls and VPNs.
Switching networks mid-session, for example from Wi-Fi to cellular, can drop your connection. After any network change, refresh the page so flat.social reconnects cleanly.