diff --git a/core/archipelago/src/mesh/mod.rs b/core/archipelago/src/mesh/mod.rs
index ee533423..5c29f823 100644
--- a/core/archipelago/src/mesh/mod.rs
+++ b/core/archipelago/src/mesh/mod.rs
@@ -933,7 +933,25 @@ impl MeshService {
         // over Tor; otherwise the send falls through to LoRa.
         let is_federation_synthetic = contact_id & 0x8000_0000 != 0;
         let exceeds_lora = wire.len() > protocol::MAX_MESSAGE_LEN;
-        if is_federation_synthetic || exceeds_lora {
+        // Mesh-preferred routing with a federation fallback. A normal radio
+        // contact is delivered over LoRa (preferred — free, local, no internet).
+        // But if that contact is the same node as a federated peer — we know its
+        // archipelago identity (`arch_pubkey_hex`) → onion — AND it is NOT
+        // currently reachable over the radio (out of LoRa range, e.g. a peer on
+        // another continent), route the message over the federation transport
+        // (FIPS→Tor) instead of handing it to a radio that physically cannot
+        // deliver it. Reachable radio peers stay on the mesh; oversized
+        // envelopes (file shares etc.) always take the federation path.
+        let radio_federated_unreachable = !is_federation_synthetic
+            && !exceeds_lora
+            && {
+                let peers = self.state.peers.read().await;
+                peers
+                    .get(&contact_id)
+                    .map(|p| !p.reachable && p.arch_pubkey_hex.is_some())
+                    .unwrap_or(false)
+            };
+        if is_federation_synthetic || exceeds_lora || radio_federated_unreachable {
             // Resolve the peer's pubkey/did. Prefer the live mesh peer table,
             // but fall back to federation storage for federation-synthetic ids
             // that were never seeded into `state.peers` — e.g. a radio-less
@@ -942,9 +960,15 @@ impl MeshService {
             // even though we know its onion from nodes.json.
             let from_table = {
                 let peers = self.state.peers.read().await;
-                peers
-                    .get(&contact_id)
-                    .map(|p| (p.pubkey_hex.clone(), p.did.clone()))
+                peers.get(&contact_id).map(|p| {
+                    // Resolve via the archipelago IDENTITY key (not the firmware
+                    // routing key) — that's what matches the peer's onion entry
+                    // in nodes.json for the federation lookup below.
+                    (
+                        p.arch_pubkey_hex.clone().or_else(|| p.pubkey_hex.clone()),
+                        p.did.clone(),
+                    )
+                })
             };
             let (peer_pubkey, peer_did) = match from_table {
                 Some(v) => v,
@@ -1078,7 +1102,14 @@ impl MeshService {
                 "/archipelago/mesh-typed",
             )
             .service(crate::settings::transport::PeerService::Messaging)
-            .timeout(std::time::Duration::from_secs(120));
+            .timeout(std::time::Duration::from_secs(120))
+            // Fast-fail a FIPS path the peer isn't reachable on (the common case
+            // for remote/Tailscale peers that share no FIPS overlay with us) so
+            // the Tor fallback delivers the message in ~3-5s instead of the send
+            // hanging on FIPS. FIPS-reachable peers connect in <1s and still use
+            // it; only an unreachable FIPS path is short-circuited. Matches the
+            // federation-sync fix. 8s ≈ the FIPS connect_timeout headroom.
+            .fips_timeout(std::time::Duration::from_secs(8));
             match req.send_json(&body).await {
                 Ok((resp, transport)) if resp.status().is_success() => {
                     tracing::debug!(contact_id, transport = %transport, "Federation envelope delivered");