diff --git a/src/app/components/VoiceRoomItem.svelte b/src/app/components/VoiceRoomItem.svelte
index 71dc7002..7974e612 100644
--- a/src/app/components/VoiceRoomItem.svelte
+++ b/src/app/components/VoiceRoomItem.svelte
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
   import SecondaryNavItem from "@lib/components/SecondaryNavItem.svelte"
   import ProfileCircle from "@app/components/ProfileCircle.svelte"
   import RoomName from "@app/components/RoomName.svelte"
+  import {pushToast} from "@app/util/toast"
   import {deriveVoiceParticipants, joinVoiceRoom, currentVoiceSession} from "@app/voice"
 
   interface Props {
@@ -17,7 +18,14 @@
   const participants = deriveVoiceParticipants(url, h)
   const isActive = $derived($currentVoiceSession?.url === url && $currentVoiceSession?.h === h)
 
-  const handleClick = () => joinVoiceRoom(url, h)
+  const handleClick = async () => {
+    try {
+      await joinVoiceRoom(url, h)
+    } catch (e) {
+      const message = e instanceof Error ? e.message : String(e)
+      pushToast({theme: "error", message: `Failed to join voice room: ${message}`})
+    }
+  }
 
   $effect(() => {
     for (const pk of $participants) {
diff --git a/src/app/voice.ts b/src/app/voice.ts
index 8013a654..365be1e2 100644
--- a/src/app/voice.ts
+++ b/src/app/voice.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
+import {DisconnectReason, Room, RoomEvent, Track} from "livekit-client"
+import {getToken} from "nostr-tools/nip98"
 import {derived, get, writable} from "svelte/store"
-import {Room, RoomEvent, Track} from "livekit-client"
 import {now} from "@welshman/lib"
 import {makeEvent, getTagValue} from "@welshman/util"
 import {signer, publishThunk} from "@welshman/app"
 import {deriveEventsForUrl} from "@app/core/state"
+import {pushToast} from "@app/util/toast"
 
 export const ROOM_PRESENCE = 10312
 
@@ -19,32 +21,34 @@ export type VoiceSession = {
 
 export const currentVoiceSession = writable<VoiceSession | undefined>(undefined)
 
-const buildNip98AuthEvent = async (url: string, method: string) => {
-  const $signer = signer.get()
-  if (!$signer) throw new Error("No signer available")
-
-  const event = makeEvent(27235, {
-    tags: [
-      ["u", url],
-      ["method", method],
-    ],
-  })
-
-  return $signer.sign(event)
-}
-
 const fetchLivekitToken = async (
   url: string,
   groupId: string,
 ): Promise<{server_url: string; participant_token: string}> => {
-  const httpUrl = url.replace(/^wss:\/\//, "https://").replace(/^ws:\/\//, "http://")
+  const httpUrl = url
+    .replace(/^wss:\/\//, "https://")
+    .replace(/^ws:\/\//, "http://")
+    .replace(/\/$/, "")
   const endpoint = `${httpUrl}/.well-known/nip29/livekit/${groupId}`
 
-  const authEvent = await buildNip98AuthEvent(endpoint, "GET")
-  const encoded = btoa(JSON.stringify(authEvent))
+  const $signer = signer.get()
+  if (!$signer) throw new Error("No signer available")
+
+  const authHeader = await getToken(
+    endpoint,
+    "GET",
+    template =>
+      $signer.sign(
+        makeEvent(template.kind, {
+          tags: template.tags,
+          content: template.content ?? "",
+        }),
+      ),
+    true,
+  )
 
   const response = await fetch(endpoint, {
-    headers: {Authorization: `Nostr ${encoded}`},
+    headers: {Authorization: authHeader},
   })
 
   if (!response.ok) {
@@ -115,9 +119,16 @@ export const joinVoiceRoom = async (url: string, h: string) => {
     dynacast: true,
   })
 
-  room.on(RoomEvent.Disconnected, () => {
+  room.on(RoomEvent.Disconnected, (reason?: DisconnectReason) => {
     currentVoiceSession.set(undefined)
     stopPresenceHeartbeat()
+    if (reason !== undefined && reason !== DisconnectReason.CLIENT_INITIATED) {
+      const message =
+        reason === DisconnectReason.JOIN_FAILURE
+          ? "Could not connect to voice room. Please try again."
+          : "Voice connection lost."
+      pushToast({theme: "error", message})
+    }
   })
 
   room.on(RoomEvent.TrackSubscribed, (track, _publication, _participant) => {
@@ -133,7 +144,22 @@ export const joinVoiceRoom = async (url: string, h: string) => {
     track.detach().forEach(el => el.remove())
   })
 
-  await room.connect(server_url, participant_token)
+  const CONNECT_TIMEOUT_MS = 5_000
+
+  try {
+    await Promise.race([
+      room.connect(server_url, participant_token, {maxRetries: 0}),
+      new Promise<never>((_, reject) =>
+        setTimeout(
+          () => reject(new Error("Connection timed out. Please check your network and try again.")),
+          CONNECT_TIMEOUT_MS,
+        ),
+      ),
+    ])
+  } catch (e) {
+    room.disconnect()
+    throw e
+  }
   await room.localParticipant.setMicrophoneEnabled(true)
 
   currentVoiceSession.set({url, h, room, muted: false})