diff --git a/src/interfaces/Account.ts b/src/interfaces/Account.ts
index c87c55e5b..6453fd479 100644
--- a/src/interfaces/Account.ts
+++ b/src/interfaces/Account.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,12 @@ export interface Account {
     dns_domain: string;
     network_range?: string;
     lazy_connection_enabled: boolean;
+    // Phase 1 of issue #5989: connection-mode + idle timeouts. All three
+    // fields are optional and nullable on the wire (NULL means "use
+    // built-in default"). The dashboard treats null and undefined the same.
+    connection_mode?: "relay-forced" | "p2p" | "p2p-lazy" | "p2p-dynamic" | null;
+    relay_timeout_seconds?: number | null;
+    p2p_timeout_seconds?: number | null;
     embedded_idp_enabled?: boolean;
     auto_update_version: string;
     auto_update_always: boolean;
diff --git a/src/modules/settings/ClientSettingsTab.tsx b/src/modules/settings/ClientSettingsTab.tsx
index 56bcc90e9..d45877b4c 100644
--- a/src/modules/settings/ClientSettingsTab.tsx
+++ b/src/modules/settings/ClientSettingsTab.tsx
@@ -34,6 +34,14 @@ import ReverseProxyIcon from "@/assets/icons/ReverseProxyIcon";
 import useGroupHelper from "@/modules/groups/useGroupHelper";
 import { useGroups } from "@/contexts/GroupsProvider";
 import { SkeletonSettings } from "@components/skeletons/SkeletonSettings";
+import {
+  ConnectionModeValue,
+  DEFAULT_RELAY_TIMEOUT_SECONDS,
+  MODE_META,
+  VISIBLE_MODE_OPTIONS,
+  modeImpliesLegacyLazy,
+  resolveLegacyLazyBool,
+} from "@/modules/settings/connectionmode/modeOptions";
 
 type Props = {
   account: Account;
@@ -70,8 +78,16 @@ function ClientSettingsTabContent({ account }: Readonly<Props>) {
   const { mutate } = useSWRConfig();
   const saveRequest = useApiCall<Account>("/accounts/" + account.id, true);
 
-  const [lazyConnection, setLazyConnection] = useState(
-    account.settings?.lazy_connection_enabled ?? false,
+  // Phase 1 of issue #5989: replaced the binary lazy-toggle with a
+  // 2-value dropdown (p2p / p2p-lazy). The dashboard preserves the legacy
+  // lazy_connection_enabled boolean alongside the new connection_mode for
+  // backwards-compat with older daemon versions.
+  const [connectionMode, setConnectionMode] = useState<ConnectionModeValue>(
+    (account.settings?.connection_mode as ConnectionModeValue | null | undefined) ??
+      resolveLegacyLazyBool(account.settings?.lazy_connection_enabled),
+  );
+  const [relayTimeoutSeconds, setRelayTimeoutSeconds] = useState<number | null>(
+    account.settings?.relay_timeout_seconds ?? null,
   );
 
   const autoUpdateSetting = account.settings?.auto_update_version;
@@ -181,28 +197,55 @@ function ClientSettingsTabContent({ account }: Readonly<Props>) {
     });
   };
 
-  const toggleLazyConnection = async (toggle: boolean) => {
+  // Phase 1 (#5989): persist mode + timeout, AND mirror onto the legacy
+  // lazy_connection_enabled boolean so older daemon versions stay in sync.
+  const saveConnectionMode = async (
+    nextMode: ConnectionModeValue,
+    nextRelayTimeout: number | null,
+  ) => {
+    setConnectionMode(nextMode);
+    setRelayTimeoutSeconds(nextRelayTimeout);
+
     notify({
-      title: "Lazy Connections",
-      description: `Lazy Connections successfully ${
-        toggle ? "enabled" : "disabled"
-      }.`,
+      title: "Connection Mode",
+      description: "Connection mode updated.",
       promise: saveRequest
         .put({
           id: account.id,
           settings: {
             ...account.settings,
-            lazy_connection_enabled: toggle,
+            connection_mode: nextMode,
+            relay_timeout_seconds: nextRelayTimeout,
+            lazy_connection_enabled: modeImpliesLegacyLazy(nextMode),
           },
         })
         .then(() => {
-          setLazyConnection(toggle);
           mutate("/accounts");
         }),
-      loadingMessage: "Updating Lazy Connections setting...",
+      loadingMessage: "Updating connection mode...",
     });
   };
 
+  const handleModeChange = (next: string) => {
+    // Mode-change preserves the persisted relay timeout (per spec
+    // section 5.3): users only lose their entered value if they clear
+    // the input explicitly, not via mode-switch.
+    saveConnectionMode(next as ConnectionModeValue, relayTimeoutSeconds);
+  };
+
+  const handleRelayTimeoutChange = (raw: string) => {
+    const trimmed = raw.trim();
+    if (trimmed === "") {
+      saveConnectionMode(connectionMode, null);
+      return;
+    }
+    const parsed = Number(trimmed);
+    if (!Number.isInteger(parsed) || parsed < 0) return;
+    saveConnectionMode(connectionMode, parsed);
+  };
+
+  const currentMeta = MODE_META[connectionMode];
+
   return (
     <Tabs.Content value={"clients"}>
       <div className={"p-default py-6 max-w-2xl"}>
@@ -368,13 +411,17 @@ function ClientSettingsTabContent({ account }: Readonly<Props>) {
           <div>
             <Label>
               <FlaskConicalIcon size={15} />
-              Experimental
+              Experimental: Connection Mode
             </Label>
 
             <HelpText>
-              Lazy connections are an experimental feature. Functionality and
-              behavior may evolve. Instead of maintaining always-on connections,
-              NetBird activates them on-demand based on activity or signaling.{" "}
+              Choose how NetBird clients establish peer-to-peer connections.{" "}
+              <span className={"text-white font-medium"}>P2P</span> keeps
+              connections always on (best latency, more bandwidth).{" "}
+              <span className={"text-white font-medium"}>P2P Lazy</span>{" "}
+              opens connections on demand and tears them down after the relay
+              timeout (much lower bandwidth on metered links like LTE).
+              Changes take effect after the client restarts.{" "}
               <InlineLink
                 href={"https://docs.netbird.io/how-to/lazy-connection"}
                 target={"_blank"}
@@ -383,25 +430,33 @@ function ClientSettingsTabContent({ account }: Readonly<Props>) {
                 <ExternalLinkIcon size={12} />
               </InlineLink>
             </HelpText>
-            <FancyToggleSwitch
-              className={"mt-2"}
-              value={lazyConnection}
-              onChange={toggleLazyConnection}
-              label={
-                <>
-                  <ClockFadingIcon size={15} />
-                  Enable Lazy Connections
-                </>
-              }
-              helpText={
-                <>
-                  Allow to establish connections between peers only when
-                  required. This requires NetBird client v0.45 or higher.
-                  Changes will only take effect after restarting the clients.
-                </>
-              }
-              disabled={!permission.settings.update}
-            />
+            <div className={"gap-4 items-center grid grid-cols-2 mt-2"}>
+              <SelectDropdown
+                value={connectionMode}
+                onChange={handleModeChange}
+                options={VISIBLE_MODE_OPTIONS}
+              />
+              {currentMeta.showsRelayTimeout && (
+                <Input
+                  value={
+                    relayTimeoutSeconds === null
+                      ? ""
+                      : String(relayTimeoutSeconds)
+                  }
+                  customPrefix={<ClockFadingIcon size={14} />}
+                  placeholder={String(DEFAULT_RELAY_TIMEOUT_SECONDS)}
+                  onChange={(e) => handleRelayTimeoutChange(e.target.value)}
+                  disabled={!permission.settings.update}
+                />
+              )}
+            </div>
+            {currentMeta.showsRelayTimeout && (
+              <HelpText className={"mt-2"}>
+                Relay timeout in seconds. Empty = use built-in default
+                ({DEFAULT_RELAY_TIMEOUT_SECONDS}s = 5 min). Set to 0 to keep
+                the relay alive indefinitely.
+              </HelpText>
+            )}
           </div>
         </div>
       </div>
diff --git a/src/modules/settings/connectionmode/modeOptions.ts b/src/modules/settings/connectionmode/modeOptions.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f484cd793
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/modules/settings/connectionmode/modeOptions.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+// Phase 1 (issue #5989) connection-mode options for the dashboard.
+// Two modes are visible in Phase 1; relay-forced and p2p-dynamic remain
+// admin-only (settable via API/CLI/env) and are kept out of the dropdown
+// to avoid surprising the typical admin.
+
+import { SelectOption } from "@components/select/SelectDropdown";
+
+export type ConnectionModeValue =
+  | "p2p"
+  | "p2p-lazy"
+  | "p2p-dynamic"
+  | "relay-forced";
+
+export interface ModeMeta {
+  value: ConnectionModeValue;
+  label: string;
+  visible: boolean;
+  showsRelayTimeout: boolean;
+  showsP2pTimeout: boolean;
+}
+
+export const MODE_META: Record<ConnectionModeValue, ModeMeta> = {
+  "p2p": {
+    value: "p2p",
+    label: "P2P (recommended)",
+    visible: true,
+    showsRelayTimeout: false,
+    showsP2pTimeout: false,
+  },
+  "p2p-lazy": {
+    value: "p2p-lazy",
+    label: "P2P Lazy",
+    visible: true,
+    showsRelayTimeout: true,
+    showsP2pTimeout: false,
+  },
+  "p2p-dynamic": {
+    value: "p2p-dynamic",
+    label: "P2P Dynamic",
+    visible: false, // Phase-1 hides; backend still accepts via API
+    showsRelayTimeout: true,
+    showsP2pTimeout: true,
+  },
+  "relay-forced": {
+    value: "relay-forced",
+    label: "Relay Forced",
+    visible: false, // Phase-1 admin-only
+    showsRelayTimeout: false,
+    showsP2pTimeout: false,
+  },
+};
+
+export const VISIBLE_MODE_OPTIONS: SelectOption[] = Object.values(MODE_META)
+  .filter((m) => m.visible)
+  .map((m) => ({ label: m.label, value: m.value }));
+
+// Defaults shown as placeholders when DB value is NULL.
+export const DEFAULT_RELAY_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 5 * 60; // 5 min
+export const DEFAULT_P2P_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 180 * 60; // 180 min
+
+// resolveLegacyLazyBool mirrors the server-side fallback: if the new
+// connection_mode field is null/undefined, derive the effective mode from
+// the legacy lazy_connection_enabled boolean. Used to seed the dropdown
+// state when a user opens an account that has never set the new field.
+export function resolveLegacyLazyBool(
+  lazyEnabled: boolean | undefined,
+): ConnectionModeValue {
+  return lazyEnabled ? "p2p-lazy" : "p2p";
+}
+
+// modeImpliesLegacyLazy is the inverse: when the user picks a mode in the
+// dashboard, we ALSO write the legacy lazy_connection_enabled boolean to
+// keep older daemon versions (which only understand the boolean) in sync.
+// relay-forced and p2p-dynamic both map to false because the legacy boolean
+// cannot express their semantics.
+export function modeImpliesLegacyLazy(mode: ConnectionModeValue): boolean {
+  return mode === "p2p-lazy";
+}