diff --git a/src/components/BootSplash.tsx b/src/components/BootSplash.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3048f81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/BootSplash.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+import { FC, useEffect, useState } from "react"
+
+/**
+ * What the page shows while the chain is being reached.
+ *
+ * `main.tsx` wraps the entire app in `<Subscribe source$={dynamicBuilder$ …}>`,
+ * and `Subscribe`'s fallback defaults to `null` — "it will render null until the
+ * subscription exists". `dynamicBuilder$` does not emit until a chain has been
+ * followed and its metadata decoded, so until then the document body is empty
+ * and a visitor sees a bare black page with nothing but the tab spinner to
+ * suggest it is not simply broken.
+ *
+ * That is indistinguishable from a crash, and on a chain the console cannot read
+ * it never resolves at all. So: say what is happening, and say it louder the
+ * longer it takes.
+ */
+
+const SLOW_MS = 8_000
+const STUCK_MS = 25_000
+
+export const BootSplash: FC<{ endpoint?: string; network?: string }> = ({
+  endpoint,
+  network,
+}) => {
+  const [elapsed, setElapsed] = useState(0)
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const started = Date.now()
+    const id = setInterval(() => setElapsed(Date.now() - started), 500)
+
+    return () => clearInterval(id)
+  }, [])
+
+  return (
+    <div className="flex h-screen w-full flex-col items-center justify-center gap-4 bg-background px-6 text-center">
+      <div className="text-base">
+        <span className="poppins-regular">qapi</span>{" "}
+        <span className="poppins-extralight">console</span>
+      </div>
+
+      <div
+        className="h-6 w-6 animate-spin rounded-full border-2 border-muted-foreground border-t-transparent"
+        role="status"
+        aria-label="connecting"
+      />
+
+      <div className="text-sm text-muted-foreground">
+        Connecting to {network ?? "the chain"}
+        {endpoint ? (
+          <>
+            {" "}
+            at <code className="break-all">{endpoint}</code>
+          </>
+        ) : null}
+        …
+      </div>
+
+      {elapsed > SLOW_MS && elapsed <= STUCK_MS ? (
+        <div className="max-w-md text-sm text-muted-foreground">
+          Still going. The console downloads the chain's metadata and decodes it
+          before it can render anything, which takes a moment on a first visit.
+        </div>
+      ) : null}
+
+      {elapsed > STUCK_MS ? (
+        <div className="max-w-md space-y-2 text-sm">
+          <p className="text-destructive">
+            This is taking much longer than it should.
+          </p>
+          <p className="text-muted-foreground">
+            Either the node is unreachable, or the console cannot read this
+            chain. Check the browser console for the reason, and try another
+            network — the switcher is in the header once any chain loads, and{" "}
+            <code>#networkId=polkadot&amp;endpoint=wss://rpc.polkadot.io</code>{" "}
+            in the URL will force one.
+          </p>
+        </div>
+      ) : null}
+    </div>
+  )
+}
diff --git a/src/main.tsx b/src/main.tsx
index be99382..0561f70 100644
--- a/src/main.tsx
+++ b/src/main.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { dynamicBuilder$ } from "@/state/chains/chain.state"
+import { dynamicBuilder$, getDefaultChain } from "@/state/chains/chain.state"
 import { RemoveSubscribe, Subscribe } from "@react-rxjs/core"
 import { MultisigExternalSignerModal, PolkaHubProvider } from "polkahub"
 import { StrictMode } from "react"
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import { merge } from "rxjs"
 import App from "./App.tsx"
 import { TooltipProvider } from "./components/ui/tooltip.tsx"
 import "./index.css"
+import { BootSplash } from "./components/BootSplash.tsx"
 import { codeSplit$ } from "./lib/externalState.ts"
 import { explorer$ } from "./pages/Explorer"
 import { polkaHub } from "./state/polkahub.ts"
@@ -17,8 +18,22 @@ const metrics$ = codeSplit$(() =>
   import("./pages/Metrics/metrics.state.ts").then((r) => r.blockStats$),
 )
 
+// Without a fallback, `Subscribe` renders null until `dynamicBuilder$` emits —
+// which is after a chain has been followed and its metadata decoded. On a slow
+// connection that is seconds of empty black page; on a chain the console cannot
+// read, it is forever, and indistinguishable from a crash.
+const initial = getDefaultChain()
+
 createRoot(document.getElementById("root")!).render(
-  <Subscribe source$={merge(dynamicBuilder$, explorer$, metrics$)}>
+  <Subscribe
+    fallback={
+      <BootSplash
+        endpoint={initial.endpoint}
+        network={initial.network.display}
+      />
+    }
+    source$={merge(dynamicBuilder$, explorer$, metrics$)}
+  >
     <RemoveSubscribe>
       <StrictMode>
         <ThemeProvider>
diff --git a/src/state/chains/chain.state.ts b/src/state/chains/chain.state.ts
index 47c5379..af0ffb0 100644
--- a/src/state/chains/chain.state.ts
+++ b/src/state/chains/chain.state.ts
@@ -145,10 +145,17 @@ export const isValidUri = (input: string): boolean => {
 
 const defaultSelectedChain: SelectedChain = {
   network: defaultNetwork,
-  endpoint: LIGHT_CLIENT_ENDPOINT,
+  // AUTO_RPC, not LIGHT_CLIENT. A light client needs a chain spec, and the
+  // Quantus networks have none (`hasChainSpecs: false`), so defaulting to
+  // smoldot asks it to follow a chain it has never heard of — which fails
+  // before a single byte is fetched, and with `Subscribe`'s null fallback it
+  // failed as a bare black page.
+  endpoint: defaultNetwork.lightclient
+    ? LIGHT_CLIENT_ENDPOINT
+    : AUTO_RPC_ENDPOINT,
   forkMethod: "none",
 }
-const getDefaultChain = (): SelectedChain => {
+export const getDefaultChain = (): SelectedChain => {
   const hashParams = getHashParams()
   if (hashParams.has("networkId") && hashParams.has("endpoint")) {
     const networkId = hashParams.get("networkId")!