diff --git a/pkg/service/handlers/handlers_setup_test.go b/pkg/service/handlers/handlers_setup_test.go
index 81573a6..698326f 100644
--- a/pkg/service/handlers/handlers_setup_test.go
+++ b/pkg/service/handlers/handlers_setup_test.go
@@ -965,3 +965,9 @@ func (m *mockSSH) UploadContent(content []byte, remotePath string) error {
 
 	return nil
 }
+
+// Connect/Close are no-ops here — the mock has no real connection to
+// reuse, and every test call already goes through Run/UploadContent above
+// regardless of whether Connect was called first.
+func (m *mockSSH) Connect() error { return nil }
+func (m *mockSSH) Close() error   { return nil }
diff --git a/pkg/service/setup/setup.go b/pkg/service/setup/setup.go
index 7bff356..9db109d 100644
--- a/pkg/service/setup/setup.go
+++ b/pkg/service/setup/setup.go
@@ -124,9 +124,17 @@ type MigrationSummary struct {
 }
 
 // SSHClient defines the interface for SSH operations.
+//
+// Connect/Close are optional: Run/UploadContent both work standalone
+// (dialing their own one-off connection each time, as they always have).
+// Call Connect first when making several calls in a row — e.g.
+// RevertMigration's ~17 commands — so they reuse one connection instead of
+// dialing fresh every time; defer Close to release it afterward.
 type SSHClient interface {
 	Run(command string) (string, error)
 	UploadContent(content []byte, remotePath string) error
+	Connect() error
+	Close() error
 }
 
 // TelnetClient defines the interface for the device's port-17000 diagnostic
@@ -1869,6 +1877,18 @@ func (m *Manager) patchUdhcpcScript(client SSHClient, targetScript, hookMarker s
 // RevertMigration reverts the speaker to its original Bose cloud configuration.
 func (m *Manager) RevertMigration(deviceIP string) (string, error) {
 	client := m.NewSSH(deviceIP)
+
+	// This function alone makes ~17 client.Run/UploadContent calls across
+	// its sub-steps below. Dialing a fresh SSH connection per call (the
+	// default when Connect isn't used) was confirmed on real hardware to
+	// overwhelm a resource-constrained speaker; Connect+defer Close keeps
+	// it to one connection for the whole revert instead.
+	if err := client.Connect(); err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to connect for revert: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	defer func() { _ = client.Close() }()
+
 	rwCmd := "(rw || mount -o remount,rw /)"
 
 	var logs string
diff --git a/pkg/service/setup/setup_test.go b/pkg/service/setup/setup_test.go
index 10d3d57..68ff496 100644
--- a/pkg/service/setup/setup_test.go
+++ b/pkg/service/setup/setup_test.go
@@ -132,6 +132,12 @@ func (m *mockSSH) UploadContent(content []byte, remotePath string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// Connect/Close are no-ops here — the mock has no real connection to
+// reuse, and every test call already goes through Run/UploadContent above
+// regardless of whether Connect was called first.
+func (m *mockSSH) Connect() error { return nil }
+func (m *mockSSH) Close() error   { return nil }
+
 func TestMigrateViaHosts(t *testing.T) {
 	tempDir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "setup-test")
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/ssh/ssh.go b/pkg/ssh/ssh.go
index 4fe2be3..c70bd81 100644
--- a/pkg/ssh/ssh.go
+++ b/pkg/ssh/ssh.go
@@ -14,6 +14,15 @@ import (
 type Client struct {
 	Host string
 	User string
+
+	// conn is non-nil once Connect has been called, and is then reused by
+	// Run/UploadContent until Close. Left nil, each Run/UploadContent call
+	// dials its own one-off connection as before — Connect is opt-in for
+	// callers making several calls in a row (e.g. RevertMigration's ~17
+	// commands), where dialing fresh every time is both slow and, on a
+	// resource-constrained speaker, has been observed to overwhelm the
+	// device (#614 self-test, 2026-08-16).
+	conn *ssh.Client
 }
 
 // NewClient creates a new SSH client for the given host. The default user is "root".
@@ -66,21 +75,71 @@ func (c *Client) getConfig() *ssh.ClientConfig {
 	}
 }
 
+// Connect opens a persistent SSH connection reused by subsequent
+// Run/UploadContent calls, instead of each dialing its own. Call Close when
+// done with it. Idempotent — calling Connect again while already connected
+// is a no-op. Skip this for a single (or a rare few) command — dialing
+// once and reusing it is only worth the extra Close bookkeeping when
+// several calls follow in quick succession.
+func (c *Client) Connect() error {
+	if c.conn != nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	conn, err := ssh.Dial("tcp", c.Host+":22", c.getConfig())
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to dial: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	c.conn = conn
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Close closes the persistent connection opened by Connect, if any. Safe
+// to call even when Connect was never called (e.g. every Run/UploadContent
+// call so far used its own one-off connection).
+func (c *Client) Close() error {
+	if c.conn == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	err := c.conn.Close()
+	c.conn = nil
+
+	return err
+}
+
+// dial returns the persistent connection from Connect if one is open,
+// otherwise dials a fresh one-off connection for the caller to close via
+// the returned closeFunc (a no-op when reusing the persistent connection —
+// that one is only closed by an explicit Close call).
+func (c *Client) dial() (conn *ssh.Client, closeFunc func(), err error) {
+	if c.conn != nil {
+		return c.conn, func() {}, nil
+	}
+
+	conn, err = ssh.Dial("tcp", c.Host+":22", c.getConfig())
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to dial: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	return conn, func() { _ = conn.Close() }, nil
+}
+
 // Run executes a command on the remote host and returns the combined stdout and stderr.
 //
 // command MUST be a hardcoded shell literal or constructed entirely from
 // internal, service-controlled values — never from user-supplied HTTP input.
 func (c *Client) Run(command string) (string, error) {
-	config := c.getConfig()
-
-	client, err := ssh.Dial("tcp", c.Host+":22", config)
+	conn, closeConn, err := c.dial()
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to dial: %w", err)
+		return "", err
 	}
 
-	defer func() { _ = client.Close() }()
+	defer closeConn()
 
-	session, err := client.NewSession()
+	session, err := conn.NewSession()
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to create session: %w", err)
 	}
@@ -133,16 +192,14 @@ func (c *Client) ReadDir(remotePath string) (map[string][]byte, error) {
 
 // UploadContent uploads the given content to a file on the remote host using stdin piping.
 func (c *Client) UploadContent(content []byte, remotePath string) error {
-	config := c.getConfig()
-
-	client, err := ssh.Dial("tcp", c.Host+":22", config)
+	conn, closeConn, err := c.dial()
 	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to dial: %w", err)
+		return err
 	}
 
-	defer func() { _ = client.Close() }()
+	defer closeConn()
 
-	session, err := client.NewSession()
+	session, err := conn.NewSession()
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create session: %w", err)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/ssh/ssh_test.go b/pkg/ssh/ssh_test.go
index d315e82..071bf1e 100644
--- a/pkg/ssh/ssh_test.go
+++ b/pkg/ssh/ssh_test.go
@@ -44,3 +44,33 @@ func TestRun_DialFailure(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("Expected 'failed to dial' error, got: %v", err)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestClose_NoOpWithoutConnect(t *testing.T) {
+	client := NewClient("127.0.0.1")
+
+	if err := client.Close(); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("Close on a never-connected client should be a no-op, got: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestConnect_DialFailureLeavesConnNil(t *testing.T) {
+	client := NewClient("127.0.0.1:0")
+
+	err := client.Connect()
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("Expected dial failure, got nil")
+	}
+
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "failed to dial") {
+		t.Errorf("Expected 'failed to dial' error, got: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if client.conn != nil {
+		t.Error("Connect should leave conn nil after a dial failure, so Run/UploadContent still fall back to their own one-off dial")
+	}
+
+	// Close after a failed Connect should still be a harmless no-op.
+	if err := client.Close(); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("Close after a failed Connect should be a no-op, got: %v", err)
+	}
+}