diff --git a/core/archipelago/src/mesh/reticulum.rs b/core/archipelago/src/mesh/reticulum.rs
index d6c557d2..5af0b667 100644
--- a/core/archipelago/src/mesh/reticulum.rs
+++ b/core/archipelago/src/mesh/reticulum.rs
@@ -47,7 +47,14 @@ const KISS_CMD_PLATFORM: u8 = 0x48;
 const KISS_CMD_MCU: u8 = 0x49;
 
 const PROBE_BAUD: u32 = 115200;
-const PROBE_READ_TIMEOUT: Duration = Duration::from_millis(800);
+// 800ms was too tight for real hardware: confirmed on a genuine Heltec V4
+// RNode (firmware 1.86, verified via `rnodeconf --info`) that prints extra
+// boot/status chatter on the same serial line before answering KISS
+// commands — DETECT_RESP measured arriving ~1.05s after the probe write in
+// that case. 2.5s leaves comfortable margin without meaningfully slowing
+// down detection of non-RNode devices (Meshcore/Meshtastic already budget
+// ~5s each).
+const PROBE_READ_TIMEOUT: Duration = Duration::from_millis(2500);
 
 /// Prefix marking an LXMF `content` string as base64 of a raw binary
 /// typed-envelope payload rather than literal text. LXMF `content` travels