ProofKit pauses a node — an entry or an exit — when it is short of memory or needs work done on it. On the marketplace its row shows Paused where its button was, and connecting by country does not choose it. A node that is overloaded (high load in 3 of its last 5 readings) is treated the same way, more slowly, until its load comes down — with one difference: an overloaded entry keeps the routes nobody is using.
What happens to a route you hold there
- A route you have not used for two hours is closed — on a paused node, or when the route's exit is overloaded. Its line leaves your subscription at the next refresh. This is the one case in which a route is closed for not being used: on a node in normal service it is not, and neither is it because of an entry that is only overloaded.
- A route you are using is closed only when you already hold its replacement: another route to the same exit through a different entry of the same country (or, for an exit, the same kind of route to another exit of that country), at the same price per GB or less. This happens only while the node is short of memory, one route every few minutes. You get a notification that names the route; the other one keeps working, so pick it in your app.
- Your only route through that node stays for as long as you use it.
Getting a route back
Add it again from the marketplace: every node that is not paused shows its button. The price is locked when you add it, as for any route. A closed route costs nothing from then on: you pay only for traffic.