If that happens and you don’t want to suffer through the default 30–second (or whatever it is) timeout, then shorten it. Add `ConnectTimeout 5` to your config.
Good idea fine tuning the timeouts. I took your suggestion and dropped the SSH ConnectTimeout to 5, I was still using the default. I also peeked at the Tramp timeouts, and I realized that I had the variable as tramp-connect-timeout and not tramp-connection-timeout. Thanks!