diff --git a/pkg/router/policy/preset/tick.go b/pkg/router/policy/preset/tick.go
index b2c9cb3ecd..ef27082c0a 100644
--- a/pkg/router/policy/preset/tick.go
+++ b/pkg/router/policy/preset/tick.go
@@ -584,7 +584,19 @@ const (
 	//       out instead of aggregating; the reorder/aggregation (reorder.go,
 	//       datagram_route_group.go) doesn't scale to many legs (#86 family).
 	// Both are being worked; the pool is uncapped deliberately to surface them.
-	adaptStandbyMax = 60
+	//
+	// TRUE UNCAP 2026-08-26: raised 60 -> 512 so the standby pool is the full
+	// disjoint set the topology offers (a warm visor exposes ~480 disjoint
+	// intermediates to a busy exit), not an arbitrary ceiling. 512 sits above any
+	// realistic single-exit disjoint count, so the binding limit is the topology,
+	// discovered by the self-heal's no-progress backoff (route_group.go) — it
+	// fills to what actually establishes and stops, re-probing as new transports
+	// come online. Risk (1) above is contained two ways: establishMuxRoutes now
+	// caps its FOREGROUND initial dial (initialForegroundMux) so the dial returns
+	// fast on a lean mux, and the background self-heal fills the rest one leg at a
+	// time with the no-progress backoff — so uncapping the pool never becomes a
+	// dial storm at connect time.
+	adaptStandbyMax = 512
 	adaptStandbyMin = 1
 	// Health + anti-churn. A leg is a gross-outlier (kept OUT of the active mux,
 	// where the no-skip reorder buffer would head-of-line-stall on it) when its
diff --git a/pkg/router/policy/wasm/presets/bundle.wasm b/pkg/router/policy/wasm/presets/bundle.wasm
index 217707f29b..7f335c2fd6 100644
Binary files a/pkg/router/policy/wasm/presets/bundle.wasm and b/pkg/router/policy/wasm/presets/bundle.wasm differ
diff --git a/pkg/router/policy/wasm/presets/presets_test.go b/pkg/router/policy/wasm/presets/presets_test.go
index bae936fda4..3d0aaaaa01 100644
--- a/pkg/router/policy/wasm/presets/presets_test.go
+++ b/pkg/router/policy/wasm/presets/presets_test.go
@@ -347,10 +347,11 @@ func TestAdaptiveDecides(t *testing.T) {
 	// dip-free promotion. The forward-lean / reverse-wide split is applied at SEND
 	// time, not baked into asymmetric rule setup. Per-direction ForwardMux/
 	// ReverseMux stay 0 (symmetric Mux drives it). Mux = adaptRevActive(1) +
-	// adaptStandbyMax(60) = 61 (uncapped pool, 2026-08-26); this literal mirrors
-	// the native const in pkg/router/policy/preset/tick.go — keep them in sync.
-	if spec.Mux != 61 {
-		t.Errorf("Mux = %d, want 61 (1 active + 60 warm standby, full-duplex)", spec.Mux)
+	// adaptStandbyMax(512) = 513 (true uncap, 2026-08-26 — the full disjoint pool
+	// the topology offers, filled in the background); this literal mirrors the
+	// native const in pkg/router/policy/preset/tick.go — keep them in sync.
+	if spec.Mux != 513 {
+		t.Errorf("Mux = %d, want 513 (1 active + 512 warm standby, full-duplex)", spec.Mux)
 	}
 	if spec.ForwardMux != 0 {
 		t.Errorf("ForwardMux = %d, want 0 (symmetric Mux drives adaptive)", spec.ForwardMux)
diff --git a/pkg/router/route_group.go b/pkg/router/route_group.go
index 50fed229c0..70f5b2f894 100644
--- a/pkg/router/route_group.go
+++ b/pkg/router/route_group.go
@@ -802,6 +802,13 @@ func (rg *RouteGroup) aliveLegCount() int {
 	return n
 }
 
+// selfHealNoProgressLimit is how many consecutive self-heal dials may fail to
+// grow the live leg count before the heal concludes the destination's disjoint-
+// intermediate set is exhausted for now and stops (instead of hammering the
+// setup node for the full uncapped target). A later leg death or newly-online
+// transport re-triggers the heal, so this is a backoff, not a cap.
+const selfHealNoProgressLimit = 4
+
 // maybeSelfHeal restores the multiplexed degree after a leg drop. If the live
 // leg count fell below target and no replacement is already in flight, it
 // dials replacement aux legs in the background until the degree is restored
@@ -827,21 +834,48 @@ func (rg *RouteGroup) maybeSelfHeal() {
 	}
 	go func() {
 		defer rg.healInFlight.Store(false)
-		// Each add(nil) blocks ~one setup-node dial and, on success,
-		// appends one leg. Re-check the live count between attempts and
-		// stop as soon as the degree is restored, the group closes, or we
-		// hit the attempt cap (target+1 gives a little headroom for dials
-		// that fail on a bad intermediate before one lands).
+		// Each add(nil) blocks ~one setup-node dial and, on success, appends one
+		// leg. Re-check the live count between attempts and stop as soon as the
+		// degree is restored or the group closes.
+		//
+		// NO-PROGRESS BACKOFF: with the standby pool uncapped (target ~513), the
+		// achievable degree is bounded by the destination's disjoint-intermediate
+		// set, which is usually far below target. Once the pool is filled to what
+		// the topology offers, every further add fails ("failure code 1: transport
+		// already in the group" / "setup-node dial: context deadline exceeded")
+		// and re-dialing target-more times would hammer the setup node for minutes
+		// (the observed storm). So compare the live count before/after each add:
+		// after selfHealNoProgressLimit consecutive adds that grow the degree by
+		// nothing, the disjoint set is exhausted for now — settle at the degree we
+		// have and stop. A later leg death (which frees an intermediate) or newly-
+		// online transports (which open fresh disjoint paths) re-trigger this and
+		// the pool grows again, so the target is never a hard cap — the fill just
+		// tracks the topology instead of storming past it.
+		noProgress := 0
 		for attempt := 0; attempt < target+1; attempt++ {
-			if rg.isClosed() || rg.aliveLegCount() >= target {
+			before := rg.aliveLegCount()
+			if rg.isClosed() || before >= target {
 				return
 			}
 			if rg.logger != nil {
-				rg.logger.WithField("alive", rg.aliveLegCount()).
+				rg.logger.WithField("alive", before).
 					WithField("target", target).
 					Debug("Mux self-heal: dialing replacement leg to restore degree")
 			}
 			add(nil)
+			if rg.aliveLegCount() > before {
+				noProgress = 0
+				continue
+			}
+			noProgress++
+			if noProgress >= selfHealNoProgressLimit {
+				if rg.logger != nil {
+					rg.logger.WithField("alive", rg.aliveLegCount()).
+						WithField("target", target).
+						Debug("Mux self-heal: no disjoint path available right now; settling at current degree")
+				}
+				return
+			}
 		}
 	}()
 }
diff --git a/pkg/router/router_dial.go b/pkg/router/router_dial.go
index 1ad0705c44..b9cd3902f4 100644
--- a/pkg/router/router_dial.go
+++ b/pkg/router/router_dial.go
@@ -2202,6 +2202,17 @@ func hopPath(path []routing.Hop) string {
 // stale-entry leaks. The most useful case is fwd=1 + rev=N for
 // download-heavy workloads (1 forward upstream + N reverse legs that
 // aggregate the bulk payload).
+// initialForegroundMux bounds how many mux legs establishMuxRoutes sets up
+// SYNCHRONOUSLY at dial time. The standby pool is uncapped (adaptStandbyMax=512),
+// but dialing hundreds of legs at connect would storm the setup node and stall
+// the connection before it serves; so the foreground dial builds a lean mux (a
+// few active + a small warm reserve) and returns, and the background self-heal
+// fills the rest of the disjoint pool one leg at a time (see SetSelfHeal /
+// maybeSelfHeal). Chosen well above the adaptive active cap (adaptCap=8) so a
+// download can grow onto warm legs immediately, but small enough that the
+// initial dial is a handful of parallel setups, not a storm.
+const initialForegroundMux = 16
+
 func (r *router) establishMuxRoutes(
 	ctx context.Context,
 	nrg *NoiseRouteGroup,
@@ -2224,6 +2235,17 @@ func (r *router) establishMuxRoutes(
 	if revCount > maxCount {
 		maxCount = revCount
 	}
+	// Cap the FOREGROUND initial dial. With the standby pool uncapped
+	// (adaptStandbyMax=512 → Mux ~513), planning+dialing every leg here — at
+	// connect time, Phase-2 in parallel — would be a setup-node dial storm that
+	// stalls the connection before it serves a byte. Instead set up a lean mux
+	// now (a few active + a small warm reserve) so the dial returns fast, and let
+	// the BACKGROUND self-heal (SetSelfHeal target = full Mux) fill the rest of
+	// the disjoint pool one leg at a time. The reverse/forward split is preserved
+	// below; this only bounds how many legs are attempted synchronously.
+	if maxCount > initialForegroundMux {
+		maxCount = initialForegroundMux
+	}
 	if maxCount <= 1 || nrg.rg.mux == nil {
 		return
 	}