diff --git a/archinstall/lib/installer.py b/archinstall/lib/installer.py
index 93829ecc6b..ff2e3b1806 100644
--- a/archinstall/lib/installer.py
+++ b/archinstall/lib/installer.py
@@ -194,9 +194,16 @@ def _verify_service_stop(self) -> None:
 		else:
 			info(tr('Skipping waiting for automatic time sync (this can cause issues if time is out of sync during installation)'))
 
-		info('Waiting for automatic mirror selection (reflector) to complete.')
-		while self._service_state('reflector') not in ('dead', 'failed', 'exited'):
-			time.sleep(1)
+		if not arch_config_handler.args.offline:
+			info('Waiting for automatic mirror selection (reflector) to complete.')
+			for _ in range(60):
+				if self._service_state('reflector') in ('dead', 'failed', 'exited'):
+					break
+				time.sleep(1)
+			else:
+				warn('Reflector did not complete within 60 seconds, continuing anyway...')
+		else:
+			info('Skipped reflector...')
 
 		# info('Waiting for pacman-init.service to complete.')
 		# while self._service_state('pacman-init') not in ('dead', 'failed', 'exited'):
diff --git a/archinstall/lib/mirrors.py b/archinstall/lib/mirrors.py
index 707cf08009..b4a6921efd 100644
--- a/archinstall/lib/mirrors.py
+++ b/archinstall/lib/mirrors.py
@@ -384,6 +384,7 @@ def __init__(
 	) -> None:
 		self._local_mirrorlist = local_mirrorlist
 		self._status_mappings: dict[str, list[MirrorStatusEntryV3]] | None = None
+		self._fetched_remote: bool = False
 
 	def _mappings(self) -> dict[str, list[MirrorStatusEntryV3]]:
 		if self._status_mappings is None:
@@ -407,9 +408,12 @@ def load_mirrors(self) -> None:
 		from .args import arch_config_handler
 
 		if arch_config_handler.args.offline:
+			self._fetched_remote = False
 			self.load_local_mirrors()
 		else:
-			if not self.load_remote_mirrors():
+			self._fetched_remote = self.load_remote_mirrors()
+			debug(f'load mirrors: {self._fetched_remote}')
+			if not self._fetched_remote:
 				self.load_local_mirrors()
 
 	def load_remote_mirrors(self) -> bool:
@@ -436,7 +440,15 @@ def load_local_mirrors(self) -> None:
 	def get_status_by_region(self, region: str, speed_sort: bool) -> list[MirrorStatusEntryV3]:
 		mappings = self._mappings()
 		region_list = mappings[region]
-		return sorted(region_list, key=lambda mirror: (mirror.score, mirror.speed))
+
+		# Only sort if we have remote mirror data with score/speed info
+		# Local mirrors lack this data and can be modified manually before-hand
+		# Or reflector potentially ran already
+		if self._fetched_remote and speed_sort:
+			# original return
+			return sorted(region_list, key=lambda mirror: (mirror.score, mirror.speed))
+		# just return as-is without sorting?
+		return region_list
 
 	def _parse_remote_mirror_list(self, mirrorlist: str) -> dict[str, list[MirrorStatusEntryV3]]:
 		mirror_status = MirrorStatusListV3.model_validate_json(mirrorlist)
diff --git a/archinstall/lib/models/mirrors.py b/archinstall/lib/models/mirrors.py
index 9c5e841b5a..a013eb0a71 100644
--- a/archinstall/lib/models/mirrors.py
+++ b/archinstall/lib/models/mirrors.py
@@ -105,10 +105,13 @@ def validate_score(cls, value: float) -> int | None:
 
 	@model_validator(mode='after')
 	def debug_output(self) -> 'MirrorStatusEntryV3':
+		from ..args import arch_config_handler
+
 		self._hostname, *port = urllib.parse.urlparse(self.url).netloc.split(':', 1)
 		self._port = int(port[0]) if port and len(port) >= 1 else None
 
-		debug(f'Loaded mirror {self._hostname}' + (f' with current score of {self.score}' if self.score else ''))
+		if arch_config_handler.args.verbose:
+			debug(f'Loaded mirror {self._hostname}' + (f' with current score of {self.score}' if self.score else ''))
 		return self
 
 
diff --git a/archinstall/lib/networking.py b/archinstall/lib/networking.py
index f7d4efac4f..c06c0346b2 100644
--- a/archinstall/lib/networking.py
+++ b/archinstall/lib/networking.py
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ def enrich_iface_types(interfaces: list[str]) -> dict[str, str]:
 	return result
 
 
-def fetch_data_from_url(url: str, params: dict[str, str] | None = None) -> str:
+def fetch_data_from_url(url: str, params: dict[str, str] | None = None, timeout: int = 30) -> str:
 	ssl_context = ssl.create_default_context()
 	ssl_context.check_hostname = False
 	ssl_context.verify_mode = ssl.CERT_NONE
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ def fetch_data_from_url(url: str, params: dict[str, str] | None = None) -> str:
 		full_url = url
 
 	try:
-		response = urlopen(full_url, context=ssl_context)
+		response = urlopen(full_url, context=ssl_context, timeout=timeout)
 		data = response.read().decode('UTF-8')
 		return data
 	except URLError as e: