diff --git a/desktop/src/shared/api/relayClientSession.ts b/desktop/src/shared/api/relayClientSession.ts
index 8274034ed5..94438386eb 100644
--- a/desktop/src/shared/api/relayClientSession.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/shared/api/relayClientSession.ts
@@ -566,8 +566,8 @@ export class RelayClient {
         this.reconnectDelayMs = RECONNECT_BASE_DELAY_MS;
       }, BACKOFF_RESET_STABLE_MS);
 
-      await this.replayLiveSubscriptions();
       this.connectionStateEmitter.set("connected");
+      await this.replayLiveSubscriptions();
       this.stallWatchdog.start();
       this.emitReconnectIfNeeded();
     } catch (error) {
diff --git a/desktop/src/testing/e2eBridge.ts b/desktop/src/testing/e2eBridge.ts
index 841e6ba83f..9bb3feabda 100644
--- a/desktop/src/testing/e2eBridge.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/testing/e2eBridge.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import {
 } from "./e2eBridgeCustomHarnesses.ts";
 
 import { relayClient } from "@/shared/api/relayClient";
+import { activateRateLimit } from "@/shared/api/relayRateLimitGate";
 import type { ConnectionState } from "@/shared/api/relayClientShared";
 import type { ChannelTemplate, RelayEvent } from "@/shared/api/types";
 import { getMarkdownParseCount } from "@/shared/ui/markdown/nodeCache";
@@ -1115,6 +1116,7 @@ declare global {
       unavailable: boolean,
     ) => void;
     __BUZZ_E2E_GET_WEBSOCKET_CONNECT_ATTEMPTS__?: () => number[];
+    __BUZZ_E2E_ACTIVATE_RELAY_RATE_LIMIT__?: (seconds: number) => void;
     __BUZZ_E2E_RESET_WEBSOCKET_CONNECT_ATTEMPTS__?: () => void;
     __BUZZ_E2E_SET_MESH__?: (mesh: {
       admitted?: boolean;
@@ -9706,6 +9708,9 @@ export function maybeInstallE2eTauriMocks() {
   window.__BUZZ_E2E_GET_WEBSOCKET_CONNECT_ATTEMPTS__ = () => [
     ...relayWebsocketConnectAttemptStarts,
   ];
+  window.__BUZZ_E2E_ACTIVATE_RELAY_RATE_LIMIT__ = (seconds) => {
+    activateRateLimit(seconds);
+  };
   window.__BUZZ_E2E_RESET_WEBSOCKET_CONNECT_ATTEMPTS__ = () => {
     relayWebsocketConnectAttemptStarts.length = 0;
   };
diff --git a/desktop/tests/e2e/relay-reconnect.spec.ts b/desktop/tests/e2e/relay-reconnect.spec.ts
index 67ce725da8..6606d5f04d 100644
--- a/desktop/tests/e2e/relay-reconnect.spec.ts
+++ b/desktop/tests/e2e/relay-reconnect.spec.ts
@@ -62,6 +62,19 @@ async function setMockWebsocketUnavailable(
   }, unavailable);
 }
 
+async function activateRelayRateLimit(
+  page: import("@playwright/test").Page,
+  seconds: number,
+) {
+  await page.evaluate((duration) => {
+    const activate = window.__BUZZ_E2E_ACTIVATE_RELAY_RATE_LIMIT__;
+    if (!activate) {
+      throw new Error("E2E relay rate-limit seam is not installed.");
+    }
+    activate(duration);
+  }, seconds);
+}
+
 async function getMockWebsocketConnectAttempts(
   page: import("@playwright/test").Page,
 ) {
@@ -195,6 +208,28 @@ test("routine traffic cannot bypass outage backoff and recovery stays automatic"
   );
 });
 
+test("authenticated reconnect reports connected while replay is rate-limited", async ({
+  page,
+}) => {
+  await page.goto("/");
+  await expect(page.getByTestId("channel-general")).toBeVisible();
+
+  await activateRelayRateLimit(page, 5);
+  await disconnectMockWebsockets(page);
+
+  // Replay remains intentionally blocked behind admission control, but socket
+  // open + successful AUTH is already a healthy connection. The UI must not
+  // claim the relay is unreachable for the rest of the gate window.
+  await expect
+    .poll(
+      () =>
+        page.evaluate(() => window.__BUZZ_E2E_GET_RELAY_CONNECTION_STATE__?.()),
+      { timeout: 3_000 },
+    )
+    .toBe("connected");
+  await expect(page.getByTestId("sidebar-relay-unreachable")).toHaveCount(0);
+});
+
 test("service restart close resets accumulated backoff", async ({ page }) => {
   await installMockBridge(page, {
     websocketConnectErrors: ["down 1", "down 2", "down 3"],