A network may comprise a plurality of nodes wherein each of the plurality of nodes is associated with one of a plurality of hives. A computer may connect to the network by establishing node data for each of the plurality of nodes, the node data indicating a hive with which the node is associated and including a flag indicating whether a connection attempt associated with the node is or has been unsuccessful. When a connection attempt is successful, the computer may determine whether the node to which the computer is connected is a preferred node associated with the preferred hive based on the node data. The computer may connect to the preferred node associated with the preferred hive when the node to which the computer is connected is not the preferred node associated with the preferred hive and the preferred node associated with the preferred hive is not marked unsuccessful.