diff --git a/js/modules/loki_snode_api.js b/js/modules/loki_snode_api.js
index 1176dbad6..ba2a9feb4 100644
--- a/js/modules/loki_snode_api.js
+++ b/js/modules/loki_snode_api.js
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ const snodeHttpsAgent = new https.Agent({
 const RANDOM_SNODES_TO_USE_FOR_PUBKEY_SWARM = 3;
 const SEED_NODE_RETRIES = 3;
 
+const timeoutDelay = ms => new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
+
 class LokiSnodeAPI {
   constructor({ serverUrl, localUrl }) {
     if (!is.string(serverUrl)) {
@@ -25,7 +27,8 @@ class LokiSnodeAPI {
     this.swarmsPendingReplenish = {};
     this.refreshRandomPoolPromise = false;
     this.versionPools = {};
-    this.versionMap = {};
+    this.versionMap = {}; // reverse version look up
+    this.versionsRetrieved = false; // to mark when it's done getting versions
 
     this.onionPaths = [];
     this.guardNodes = [];
@@ -214,7 +217,7 @@ class LokiSnodeAPI {
           log.warn(
             `could not find some guard nodes: ${this.guardNodes.length}/${
               edKeys.length
-            }`
+            } left`
           );
         }
       }
@@ -261,6 +264,7 @@ class LokiSnodeAPI {
     if (this.randomSnodePool.length === 0) {
       throw new window.textsecure.SeedNodeError('Invalid seed node response');
     }
+    // FIXME: _.sample?
     return this.randomSnodePool[
       Math.floor(Math.random() * this.randomSnodePool.length)
     ];
@@ -282,13 +286,15 @@ class LokiSnodeAPI {
     if (!goodVersions.length) {
       return false;
     }
+    // FIXME: _.sample?
     const goodVersion =
       goodVersions[Math.floor(Math.random() * goodVersions.length)];
     const pool = this.versionPools[goodVersion];
+    // FIXME: _.sample?
     return pool[Math.floor(Math.random() * pool.length)];
   }
 
-  async getVersion(node, count, total) {
+  async getVersion(node) {
     try {
       process.env.NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED = '0';
       const result = await nodeFetch(
@@ -297,11 +303,6 @@ class LokiSnodeAPI {
       );
       process.env.NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED = '1';
       const data = await result.json();
-      log.info(
-        `${count}/${total} ${node.ip}:${node.port}`,
-        'is on',
-        data.version
-      );
       if (data.version) {
         if (this.versionPools[data.version] === undefined) {
           this.versionPools[data.version] = [node];
@@ -312,16 +313,28 @@ class LokiSnodeAPI {
         this.versionMap[`${node.ip}:${node.port}`] = data.version;
       }
     } catch (e) {
-      this.markRandomNodeUnreachable(node);
-      const randomNodesLeft = this.getRandomPoolLength();
-      log.warn(
-        'loki_snode:::getVersion - Error',
-        e.code,
-        e.message,
-        `removing ${node.ip}:${
-          node.port
-        } leaving ${randomNodesLeft} in the randomPool`
-      );
+      // ECONNREFUSED likely means it's just offline...
+      if (e.code === 'ECONNREFUSED') {
+        this.markRandomNodeUnreachable(node);
+        const randomNodesLeft = this.getRandomPoolLength();
+        // clean up these error messages to be a little neater
+        log.warn(
+          `loki_snode:::getVersion - ${node.ip}:${
+            node.port
+          } is offline, removing, leaving ${randomNodesLeft} in the randomPool`
+        );
+      } else {
+        // mostly ECONNRESETs
+        // ENOTFOUND could mean no internet or hiccup
+        log.warn(
+          'loki_snode:::getVersion - Error',
+          e.code,
+          e.message,
+          `on ${node.ip}:${node.port} retrying in 1s`
+        );
+        await timeoutDelay(1000);
+        await this.getVersion(node);
+      }
     }
   }
 
@@ -366,9 +379,12 @@ class LokiSnodeAPI {
             snodes = response.result.service_node_states.filter(
               snode => snode.public_ip !== '0.0.0.0'
             );
+            // make sure order of the list is random, so we get version in a non-deterministic way
+            snodes = _.shuffle(snodes);
             // commit changes to be live
             // we'll update the version (in case they upgrade) every cycle
             this.versionPools = {};
+            this.versionsRetrieved = false;
             this.randomSnodePool = snodes.map(snode => ({
               ip: snode.public_ip,
               port: snode.storage_port,
@@ -389,11 +405,34 @@ class LokiSnodeAPI {
             // start polling versions
             resolve();
             let c = 0;
+            const verionStart = Date.now();
             const t = this.randomSnodePool.length;
-            this.randomSnodePool.forEach(async node => {
-              c += 1;
-              await this.getVersion(node, c, t);
-            });
+            const noticeEvery = parseInt(t / 10, 10);
+            const finalPromise = this.randomSnodePool.reduce(
+              async (p, node) => {
+                if (p) {
+                  await p;
+                  c += 1;
+                  if (c % noticeEvery === 0) {
+                    // give stats
+                    const diff = Date.now() - verionStart;
+                    log.info(
+                      `${c}/${t} pool version status update, has taken ${diff.toLocaleString()}ms`
+                    );
+                    Object.keys(this.versionPools).forEach(version => {
+                      const nodes = this.versionPools[version].length;
+                      log.info(
+                        `version ${version} has ${nodes.toLocaleString()} snodes`
+                      );
+                    });
+                  }
+                }
+                return this.getVersion(node);
+              }
+            );
+            await finalPromise;
+            log.info('Versions retrieved from network!');
+            this.versionsRetrieved = true;
           } catch (e) {
             log.warn(
               'loki_snodes:::refreshRandomPoolPromise - error',