# Node Health

### Node Health Indicator in Alby Hub

In the top right corner of the "Node" section of your Alby Hub, you'll see a small heart symbol with a percentage.

The lower your Node Health, the less likely you are to send or receive payments effectively. This indicator helps you ensure you have the best possible experience and reliability on the lightning network. Ideally, this should be above 60%.

<figure><img src="/files/Nh6x3bOTooiN7UBIvGfV" alt=""><figcaption><p>These are the factors that affect the Node's Health</p></figcaption></figure>

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## Recommendations to improve your node health 👨‍⚕️

### Channel Partners: Have more than one channel

Traditionally when using a custodial service which has a single node, that custodial node has *many* channel partners. If you run your own node and only have one channel, you may struggle to receive or send payments if your channel partner is offline or insufficiently connected.

{% hint style="info" %}
The more unique channel partners you have, the better. Alby Hub will automatically recommend new channel partners to you when you open new channels.
{% endhint %}

### Channel Balance: Have enough Receiving Capacity

To manage your channel balance, please see the [Node](/user-guide/alby-hub/node.md) page.

### Channel Size: The bigger, the better

Channel Size - the bigger your channel is, the better.

Aim to open channels a few times larger than the largest payment you expect to send or receive.

### Channel Partner Quality: Choose reliable peers

One important factor for payment success is liquidity along the route, which is why it's important to have channels to well-connected nodes.

Alby maintains a list of realiable and well connected channel partners for the best payment experience. If you have any feedback or channel partners you'd like to recommend, please let us know!

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{% hint style="success" %}
Great job on making your Alby Hub unstoppable! 💪 Keep the heart symbol above 60% by ensuring enough Lightning Balance and Receiving Capacity. Have multiple channel partners, maintain a healthy balance of liquidity, aim for bigger channels, and choose reliable peers for better payment success. You're doing awesome! ❤️
{% endhint %}


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