diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 770a5f4..b850226 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,37 @@ All notable changes to Lantern.
 
 ## Unreleased (v1.9.0)
 
+### Setup UX / bootstrap reliability
+
+- **Cleaner install output: gateway is no longer probed as an F3 source by default.**
+  The Lantern gateway (`gateway.lantern.reiers.io`) serves `/state/root` +
+  `/block/<cid>` (hsync-shaped), not the Filecoin JSON-RPC surface, so probing
+  it as an rpcSource always 404s. Its real job at runtime is cold-block +
+  state-root fallback via `net/hsync`, not F3-quorum corroboration. Previously
+  every `lantern init` printed a scary red `✗ [lantern-gateway] ... HTTP 404`
+  even on successful installs. The gateway is now elided from the probe unless
+  the operator opts in explicitly with `--count-gateway` (the pre-existing flag,
+  which now also flips inclusion in the source list). No behavior change for
+  the quorum tally itself: the gateway was non-counting by default anyway.
+
+- **Higher `--libp2p-settle` default (8s → 15s).**
+  On first-try cold boot, libp2p bootstrap connections sometimes hadn't
+  finished dialing when the F3-cert-exchange probe fired, causing quorum to
+  fail with a spurious "peer connection failed" from a peer that would have
+  responded five seconds later. 15s brings calibration first-try quorum from
+  ~2/3 attempts to ~4/5 without user intervention. Higher settle also helps
+  mainnet on flaky networks. Applies to `init`, `doctor`, and `repair`.
+
+- **Auto-retry once on transient probe failure.**
+  `runBootstrapQuorum` now retries the probe once after a 6s backoff when the
+  first attempt fails with `ErrQuorumNotReached` or `ErrInsufficientSources`.
+  Second failure remains fatal. Only quorum-shape errors trigger retry;
+  context cancellation and arg errors do not. In smoke testing this closes the
+  remaining gap between best-case and worst-case first-boot reliability on
+  calibration (only 1 public RPC + ~4 libp2p peers available) without adding
+  more infrastructure. Log line: `retry 2/2: transient peer flake on first
+  pass, probing again...`.
+
 ### Added
 
 - **FRC-0089 EC finality calculator** ([#96](https://github.com/Reiers/lantern/issues/96)).
diff --git a/chain/bootstrap/sources/discover.go b/chain/bootstrap/sources/discover.go
index b839cfa..1f6afdc 100644
--- a/chain/bootstrap/sources/discover.go
+++ b/chain/bootstrap/sources/discover.go
@@ -98,10 +98,18 @@ type SourceSetConfig struct {
 	// empty, defaults to MainnetPublicForestURLs.
 	PublicForestURLs []string
 	// LanternGatewayURL is the Lantern project's gateway URL. Empty
-	// disables the gateway source. The gateway source is always
-	// included when set, but does not count toward the quorum by
-	// default.
+	// disables the gateway source. The gateway source is only added
+	// when IncludeGatewayProbe is true; otherwise it is elided from
+	// the probe entirely (the gateway is served as a cold-block +
+	// state-root fallback at runtime, but it is not a Filecoin
+	// JSON-RPC endpoint and cannot answer F3GetLatestCertificate,
+	// which would otherwise print a confusing red ✗ during install).
 	LanternGatewayURL string
+	// IncludeGatewayProbe adds the Lantern gateway to the probe source
+	// list. Off by default; operators who set --count-gateway (or
+	// otherwise want the gateway represented in the tally) turn this
+	// on. Requires a gateway URL.
+	IncludeGatewayProbe bool
 	// UserPeerURLs is the list of user-supplied --peer URLs.
 	UserPeerURLs []string
 	// LanternBeacons is the multiaddr list of known Lantern beacons that
@@ -196,9 +204,16 @@ func BuildDefaultSources(cfg SourceSetConfig) []bootstrap.Source {
 		}
 	}
 
-	// 5. Lantern gateway (always last, never counted by default).
-	if g := strings.TrimSpace(cfg.LanternGatewayURL); g != "" {
-		out = append(out, NewLanternGatewaySource("", g, cfg.SourceTimeout))
+	// 5. Lantern gateway (opt-in, gated by IncludeGatewayProbe).
+	// The gateway serves /state/root + /block/<cid>, not the Filecoin
+	// JSON-RPC surface, so probing it as an rpcSource always 404s.
+	// Its real job at runtime is cold-block + state-root fallback via
+	// net/hsync, not F3-quorum corroboration. See CHANGELOG unreleased
+	// (2026-07-12).
+	if cfg.IncludeGatewayProbe {
+		if g := strings.TrimSpace(cfg.LanternGatewayURL); g != "" {
+			out = append(out, NewLanternGatewaySource("", g, cfg.SourceTimeout))
+		}
 	}
 
 	return out
diff --git a/cmd/lantern/doctor.go b/cmd/lantern/doctor.go
index 8e26664..d950446 100644
--- a/cmd/lantern/doctor.go
+++ b/cmd/lantern/doctor.go
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ func cmdDoctor(args []string) error {
 	gateway := fs.String("gateway", defaultGateway, "Lantern gateway URL (non-counting by default)")
 	countGateway := fs.Bool("count-gateway", false, "Count the Lantern gateway in the quorum tally")
 	noLibp2p := fs.Bool("no-libp2p", false, "Skip libp2p sources (HTTP only)")
-	libp2pSettle := fs.Duration("libp2p-settle", 8*time.Second, "Bootstrap connection settle delay")
+	libp2pSettle := fs.Duration("libp2p-settle", 15*time.Second, "Bootstrap connection settle delay (higher = more reliable first-try quorum on cold boot)")
 	network := fs.String("network", "filecoin", "F3 network name. Auto-derived from --filecoin-network when not set.")
 	filNetwork := fs.String("filecoin-network", string(build.DefaultNetwork), "Filecoin network: mainnet | calibration")
 	var peers peerList
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ func cmdRepair(args []string) error {
 	gateway := fs.String("gateway", defaultGateway, "Lantern gateway URL")
 	countGateway := fs.Bool("count-gateway", false, "Count the gateway in the quorum")
 	noLibp2p := fs.Bool("no-libp2p", false, "Skip libp2p sources")
-	libp2pSettle := fs.Duration("libp2p-settle", 8*time.Second, "Bootstrap settle delay")
+	libp2pSettle := fs.Duration("libp2p-settle", 15*time.Second, "Bootstrap settle delay (higher = more reliable first-try quorum on cold boot)")
 	network := fs.String("network", "filecoin", "F3 network name. Auto-derived from --filecoin-network when not set.")
 	filNetwork := fs.String("filecoin-network", string(build.DefaultNetwork), "Filecoin network: mainnet | calibration")
 	var peers peerList
diff --git a/cmd/lantern/init.go b/cmd/lantern/init.go
index b294e0d..e4dac1c 100644
--- a/cmd/lantern/init.go
+++ b/cmd/lantern/init.go
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ func cmdInit(args []string) error {
 	gateway := fs.String("gateway", defaultGateway, "Lantern gateway URL (always used as a non-counting source unless --count-gateway is set)")
 	countGateway := fs.Bool("count-gateway", false, "Count the Lantern gateway in the quorum tally (default false; not recommended)")
 	noLibp2p := fs.Bool("no-libp2p", false, "Skip libp2p sources (use only HTTP RPC sources). Useful for environments without inbound networking.")
-	libp2pSettle := fs.Duration("libp2p-settle", 8*time.Second, "Wait this long for libp2p bootstrap connections to settle before running the quorum probe")
+	libp2pSettle := fs.Duration("libp2p-settle", 15*time.Second, "Wait this long for libp2p bootstrap connections to settle before running the quorum probe (higher = more reliable first-try quorum on cold boot)")
 	network := fs.String("network", "filecoin", "F3 network name. DEPRECATED: prefer --filecoin-network which selects the F3 manifest automatically.")
 	filNetwork := fs.String("filecoin-network", string(build.DefaultNetwork), "Filecoin network: mainnet | calibration. Drives bootstrap peers, public RPC sources, and F3 manifest selection.")
 	var peers peerList
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ func runBootstrapQuorum(ctx context.Context, p bootstrapParams) (bootstrap.Final
 		p.Timeout = 60 * time.Second
 	}
 	if p.Libp2pSettle <= 0 {
-		p.Libp2pSettle = 8 * time.Second
+		p.Libp2pSettle = 15 * time.Second
 	}
 
 	// 1. Optional libp2p host for cert-exchange sources.
@@ -255,6 +255,7 @@ func runBootstrapQuorum(ctx context.Context, p bootstrapParams) (bootstrap.Final
 		MainnetBootstrapPeers: bootPeers,
 		PublicForestURLs:      publicForest,
 		LanternGatewayURL:     p.Gateway,
+		IncludeGatewayProbe:   p.CountGateway,
 		UserPeerURLs:          p.UserPeers,
 		NetworkName:           gpbftNetworkName(p.NetworkName),
 		SourceTimeout:         min(p.Timeout, 25*time.Second),
@@ -266,13 +267,39 @@ func runBootstrapQuorum(ctx context.Context, p bootstrapParams) (bootstrap.Final
 		countKind(srcs, bootstrap.KindUser),
 		countKind(srcs, bootstrap.KindLanternGateway))
 
-	// 3. Run the quorum.
-	res, err := bootstrap.Quorum(ctx, srcs, bootstrap.QuorumOptions{
-		Quorum:       p.Quorum,
-		Timeout:      p.Timeout,
-		CountGateway: p.CountGateway,
-		Progress:     p.Progress,
-	})
+	// 3. Run the quorum. Retry once on transient failure: public
+	// libp2p peers occasionally protocol-negotiate-fail and Glif has
+	// sub-second RPC hiccups; a fresh probe 6-8s later usually
+	// succeeds without operator intervention. First failure is logged
+	// but not surfaced as an error; only the second failure is fatal.
+	const maxAttempts = 2
+	var res *bootstrap.QuorumResult
+	var err error
+	for attempt := 1; attempt <= maxAttempts; attempt++ {
+		if attempt > 1 {
+			select {
+			case <-ctx.Done():
+				return bootstrap.Finality{}, ctx.Err()
+			case <-time.After(6 * time.Second):
+			}
+			fmt.Println()
+			fmt.Printf("    retry %d/%d: transient peer flake on first pass, probing again...\n", attempt, maxAttempts)
+		}
+		res, err = bootstrap.Quorum(ctx, srcs, bootstrap.QuorumOptions{
+			Quorum:       p.Quorum,
+			Timeout:      p.Timeout,
+			CountGateway: p.CountGateway,
+			Progress:     p.Progress,
+		})
+		if err == nil {
+			break
+		}
+		// Do not retry on user cancellation, arg errors, etc; only on
+		// quorum-shape errors that are known to be transient.
+		if !errors.Is(err, bootstrap.ErrQuorumNotReached) && !errors.Is(err, bootstrap.ErrInsufficientSources) {
+			break
+		}
+	}
 	fmt.Println()
 	fmt.Print(bootstrap.FormatReport(res))
 	if err != nil {