so ive been running winlink for about 6 months now mostly on 40m and noticed something weird. sometimes the closest RMS gateway to me shows up green in the channel selection but when i try to connect it just times out or gives really slow throughput. then i'll try one thats like 200 miles further away and boom connects right up and moves mail fast

is this just propagation being weird or are some gateways just better than others? i mean i get that closer isnt always better with HF but seems like the winlink software should be smarter about this. anyone else notice this or am i doing something wrong with my setup

yeah this happens all the time, especially on 40m during the day when skip is doing weird things. the RMS gateway might show green because someone else connected recently but that doesnt mean the path is good right now for your qth

i usually try 2-3 different gateways if the first one is being slow. also check the gateway status on the winlink website - some of them go offline or have issues and it takes a while to update in the software

Gateway quality varies a lot too. Some sysops maintain their stations really well and others... not so much. I've noticed the ones run by clubs or emergency groups tend to be more reliable than the casual hobby ones. Also frequency matters - if everyone's piling onto the same gateway on 40m during prime time you're gonna have a bad time regardless of propagation.

Try using the frequency recommendation feature in winexpress, it usually steers you toward less congested frequencies and gateways.