diff --git a/neode-ui/src/components/CompanionIntroOverlay.vue b/neode-ui/src/components/CompanionIntroOverlay.vue
index f4ac9019..5461fe39 100644
--- a/neode-ui/src/components/CompanionIntroOverlay.vue
+++ b/neode-ui/src/components/CompanionIntroOverlay.vue
@@ -161,6 +161,14 @@
                 </div>
               </div>
               <p v-if="wgError" class="text-xs text-red-400 text-center mb-3">{{ wgError }}</p>
+              <button
+                v-if="wgError && !wgLoading"
+                type="button"
+                class="inline-flex w-full items-center justify-center rounded-lg bg-white/5 border border-white/15 px-4 py-2.5 text-sm font-medium text-white/80 hover:bg-white/10 hover:text-white transition-colors mb-3"
+                @click="retryWgPeer"
+              >
+                Try again
+              </button>
 
               <!-- Same-device path: a phone can't scan its own screen, so offer
                    the config as a file WireGuard can import. -->
@@ -318,7 +326,15 @@ const POST_INTRO_GRACE_MS = 2000
 
 let calmTicker: ReturnType<typeof setInterval> | null = null
 
+// Running inside the companion app's own WebView (it injects this JS bridge).
+// The "get the companion app" pitch is nonsense there — the user is already in
+// it — and the WG steps mid-pairing race the phone's changing network (the
+// "Failed to fetch" dead-end QR). Server/tunnel management for connected
+// companions lives in the NESMenu instead.
+const IN_COMPANION_APP = typeof (window as { ArchipelagoNative?: unknown }).ArchipelagoNative !== 'undefined'
+
 onMounted(() => {
+  if (IN_COMPANION_APP) return
   try {
     if (localStorage.getItem(STORAGE_KEY) !== '1') {
       setTimeout(maybeShow, BASE_DELAY_MS)
@@ -481,12 +497,28 @@ async function loadWgPeer() {
   try {
     const listed = await rpcClient
       .call<{ peers: { name: string }[] }>({ method: 'vpn.list-peers' })
-      .catch(() => ({ peers: [] as { name: string }[] }))
-    const exists = (listed.peers || []).some((p) => p.name === WG_PEER_NAME)
-    const res = await rpcClient.call<{ config: string; peer_ip: string }>({
-      method: exists ? 'vpn.peer-config' : 'vpn.create-peer',
-      params: { name: WG_PEER_NAME },
-    })
+      .catch(() => null)
+    // list-peers unreachable → don't guess "doesn't exist": create-peer on an
+    // existing name would fail. Try create first, fall back to peer-config.
+    const exists = listed === null
+      ? null
+      : (listed.peers || []).some((p) => p.name === WG_PEER_NAME)
+    let res: { config: string; peer_ip: string }
+    if (exists === true) {
+      res = await rpcClient.call({ method: 'vpn.peer-config', params: { name: WG_PEER_NAME } })
+    } else {
+      try {
+        res = await rpcClient.call({ method: 'vpn.create-peer', params: { name: WG_PEER_NAME } })
+      } catch (e) {
+        // Peer already provisioned on a previous visit (list failed or raced).
+        const msg = e instanceof Error ? e.message : ''
+        if (/exist|duplicate/i.test(msg)) {
+          res = await rpcClient.call({ method: 'vpn.peer-config', params: { name: WG_PEER_NAME } })
+        } else {
+          throw e
+        }
+      }
+    }
     wgConfig.value = res.config
     wgQrDataUrl.value = await QRCode.toDataURL(res.config, {
       width: 512,
@@ -498,12 +530,24 @@ async function loadWgPeer() {
       },
     })
   } catch (e) {
-    wgError.value = e instanceof Error ? e.message : 'Failed to generate the tunnel config'
+    // fetch()'s raw "Failed to fetch" means the node itself was unreachable —
+    // on this screen that's usually the phone's network mid-change (WiFi drop,
+    // or a half-configured tunnel already routing 10.44.0.0/16). Say so, and
+    // leave a Retry path instead of a dead end.
+    const raw = e instanceof Error ? e.message : ''
+    wgError.value = /failed to fetch|networkerror|load failed|abort/i.test(raw)
+      ? "Can't reach your node. Check the phone is on the same network as the node (and any half-set-up tunnel is switched off), then tap Try again."
+      : raw || 'Failed to generate the tunnel config'
   } finally {
     wgLoading.value = false
   }
 }
 
+function retryWgPeer() {
+  wgError.value = ''
+  void loadWgPeer()
+}
+
 // Same-device path: hand the config to the WireGuard app as an importable
 // .conf file (a phone can't scan its own screen).
 function downloadWgConfig() {