diff --git a/scripts/cache_aware_proxy.py b/scripts/cache_aware_proxy.py
index ae136e3..bebf4b6 100644
--- a/scripts/cache_aware_proxy.py
+++ b/scripts/cache_aware_proxy.py
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ from contextlib import asynccontextmanager
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 
 import httpx
+
+MAX_STREAM_RETRIES = 3
+RETRY_DELAY_S = 0.5
 import uvicorn
 from fastapi import FastAPI, HTTPException, Request
 from fastapi.responses import StreamingResponse
@@ -44,7 +47,7 @@ class Settings:
     max_offload_inflight: int = 4          # global cap on concurrent P-role offloads
     cache_gate_ratio: float = 0.3          # min cache_hit/input ratio to allow offload
     prefill_throughput: float = 7000.0     # tokens/s per GPU (H20 measurement)
-    rdma_overhead_s: float = 2.0           # RDMA transfer + decode-start overhead
+    rdma_overhead_s: float = 0.1           # direct RDMA read overhead (raw memory read ~10-50ms)
     cache_capacity_blocks: int = 200000    # per-instance LRU cap on shadow cached_blocks
 
 
@@ -443,17 +446,28 @@ async def _handle_combined(api, req_data, token_ids, input_length, session_id, h
 
         async def generate():
             prefill_done = False
-            try:
-                async with inst.client.stream("POST", api, json=req_data, headers=headers) as resp:
-                    resp.raise_for_status()
-                    async for chunk in resp.aiter_bytes():
-                        if not prefill_done:
-                            inst.pending_prefill_tokens -= estimated_new
-                            inst.ongoing_decode_tokens += input_length
-                            breakdown["t_first_token"] = _time.monotonic()
-                            prefill_done = True
-                        yield chunk
-                inst.record_prefix(token_ids)
+            last_err = None
+            for attempt in range(MAX_STREAM_RETRIES):
+                try:
+                    async with inst.client.stream("POST", api, json=req_data, headers=headers) as resp:
+                        resp.raise_for_status()
+                        async for chunk in resp.aiter_bytes():
+                            if not prefill_done:
+                                inst.pending_prefill_tokens -= estimated_new
+                                inst.ongoing_decode_tokens += input_length
+                                breakdown["t_first_token"] = _time.monotonic()
+                                prefill_done = True
+                            yield chunk
+                    inst.record_prefix(token_ids)
+                    return
+                except (httpx.ConnectError, httpx.RemoteProtocolError) as e:
+                    last_err = e
+                    if prefill_done:
+                        raise
+                    if attempt < MAX_STREAM_RETRIES - 1:
+                        await asyncio.sleep(RETRY_DELAY_S)
+            if last_err:
+                raise last_err
             finally:
                 if not prefill_done:
                     inst.pending_prefill_tokens -= estimated_new