diff --git a/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/output/upnp/UpnpDiscoveryController.kt b/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/output/upnp/UpnpDiscoveryController.kt
index 1989f904..cbf22ddc 100644
--- a/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/output/upnp/UpnpDiscoveryController.kt
+++ b/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/output/upnp/UpnpDiscoveryController.kt
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import okhttp3.HttpUrl.Companion.toHttpUrlOrNull
 import okhttp3.OkHttpClient
 import okhttp3.Request
 import timber.log.Timber
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit
 import javax.inject.Inject
 import javax.inject.Singleton
 
@@ -45,6 +46,15 @@ class UpnpDiscoveryController @Inject constructor(
 ) {
     private val ssdp = SsdpDiscovery(context)
 
+    // Transport commands (play/pause/seek/next) and the 1 Hz poll go through
+    // this client. A dead renderer should fail fast so OutputPickerController's
+    // drop-recovery reverts to the phone in ~2 s instead of the shared client's
+    // 10 s connect timeout. Derived via newBuilder() so the connection pool +
+    // dispatcher stay shared with the app client.
+    private val controlHttp: OkHttpClient = okHttp.newBuilder()
+        .connectTimeout(CONTROL_CONNECT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+        .build()
+
     private val routesInternal = MutableStateFlow<List<UpnpRoute>>(emptyList())
     val routes: StateFlow<List<UpnpRoute>> = routesInternal.asStateFlow()
 
@@ -91,7 +101,7 @@ class UpnpDiscoveryController @Inject constructor(
     fun transportFor(routeId: String): AVTransportClient? {
         val route = routesInternal.value.firstOrNull { it.id == routeId } ?: return null
         return AVTransportClient(
-            loggingSoapClient(okHttp, route.name),
+            loggingSoapClient(controlHttp, route.name),
             route.avTransportControlUrl,
         )
     }
@@ -225,6 +235,11 @@ class UpnpDiscoveryController @Inject constructor(
         // devices append. Anchored to end-of-string so it never eats
         // a legitimate parenthetical inside a name.
         val IP_SUFFIX_REGEX = Regex("""\s*\(\d+\.\d+\.\d+\.\d+\)$""")
+
+        // Aggressive connect timeout for transport SOAP so a dead renderer
+        // trips the drop-recovery quickly. Conservative enough not to false-drop
+        // a slow-but-alive LAN; read timeout still inherits the shared client.
+        const val CONTROL_CONNECT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 2L
     }
 }