Smart Connect — also shown as Best Server in the app — picks a server for you automatically based on a score combining latency, current load, and recent reliability.
How servers are scored
Each candidate server is evaluated on a few signals:
- Geographic proximity — closer servers usually mean lower latency
- Latency — measured round-trip time from your device to the server
- Current load — how busy the server is right now
- Reliability — recent connection history for your account
The combination produces a single score, and Smart Connect picks the server with the best one.
How failed servers are handled
If a server fails to connect for you, Smart Connect skips it for a short period and then gradually returns it to the candidate pool. A server that just failed will not be picked on the next attempt, but it is not removed permanently.
When Smart Connect runs
Two ways to use it:
- Tap Best Server at the top of the server list — explicit
- Implicit: if you fail to connect twice in a row to the same country, the app shows a Smart Connect banner suggesting it pick instead
The app does not silently override your manual choice. If you picked a country, it stays picked.
Smart Connect vs picking manually
Use Smart Connect when:
- You don't need a specific country
- A server you usually use is slow or failing
- You're in a region where some servers are blocked — Smart Connect avoids the unreachable ones
Pick manually when:
- You need a specific country (streaming, local services, geo-restricted sites)
- You want to lock to one server for a session
What Smart Connect doesn't do
- It doesn't pick across protocols — protocol stays as you set it in Settings → Protocol
- It doesn't run while you're connected — it only picks at connection time
- It doesn't share data outside your device for the scoring; latency probes go from your device to candidate servers