diff --git a/src/app.rs b/src/app.rs
index 400544a..873c130 100644
--- a/src/app.rs
+++ b/src/app.rs
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ mod sync;
 pub(super) const MAX_CONCURRENT_BLOB_TRANSFERS: usize = 4;
 pub(super) const MAX_CONCURRENT_PEER_REQUESTS: usize = 4;
 const INVITE_TTL: Duration = Duration::hours(24);
+const INVITE_ONLINE_WAIT_TIMEOUT: std::time::Duration = std::time::Duration::from_secs(5);
 const OWNER_DISPLAY_NAME: &str = "owner";
 const JOINED_DEVICE_DISPLAY_NAME: &str = "joined device";
 
@@ -173,7 +174,8 @@ impl AppaService {
             .state_store
             .load_roster(folder.id)?
             .ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("folder has no signed roster"))?;
-        node.wait_until_online().await?;
+        node.wait_until_online_for(INVITE_ONLINE_WAIT_TIMEOUT)
+            .await?;
         let mut invite = Invite {
             protocol_version: PROTOCOL_VERSION,
             folder_id: folder.id,
diff --git a/src/iroh.rs b/src/iroh.rs
index 9945c97..a179b68 100644
--- a/src/iroh.rs
+++ b/src/iroh.rs
@@ -154,9 +154,18 @@ impl NodeHost {
     }
 
     pub async fn wait_until_online(&self) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
-        tokio::time::timeout(ONLINE_WAIT_TIMEOUT, self.endpoint.online())
+        self.wait_until_online_for(ONLINE_WAIT_TIMEOUT).await
+    }
+
+    pub async fn wait_until_online_for(&self, timeout: std::time::Duration) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+        tokio::time::timeout(timeout, self.endpoint.online())
             .await
-            .map_err(|_| anyhow::anyhow!("timed out waiting for Iroh network connectivity"))?;
+            .map_err(|_| {
+                anyhow::anyhow!(
+                    "timed out waiting {} seconds for Iroh network connectivity",
+                    timeout.as_secs()
+                )
+            })?;
         Ok(())
     }
     pub fn endpoint_address(&self) -> EndpointAddr {