DNS resolution failures occurred inconsistently—sometimes due to browser caching when accessing web resources, but often for no apparent reason. For some users, restarting or reconnecting Netbird resolved it; for others, it didn't. The fact it worked flawlessly for some users while barely functioning for others suggests client-side issues. We also saw sporadic failures in cron jobs (like DB exporters) that never happened with Twingate. We followed the Helm chart configuration exactly and properly configured the Network Load Balancer with appropriate timeout settings.
I tried migrating our organization from Twingate to self-hosted Netbird for cost savings but couldn't get it working reliably for 10-15% of users. The client failed intermittently with no clear pattern to troubleshoot. It became very frustrating for our end users. My advice: if you're considering self-hosted Netbird, set clear expectations that it's best-effort QoS, not enterprise-grade reliability. There's no such thing as a cheap VPN.
I strongly relate to your analysis, as I have often found myself overwhelmed due to a lack of working memory capacity, which has often resulted in failing a whiteboard interview, or being unable to provide a short answer to a question that I have never thought about before.
I am more comfortable with deep thinking, or reflection, which allows me to come up with more complex analysis, while this process translates quite well when I have homework challenges.
I used to test some of my mental capacity with pseudo-IQ tests and realized that the factor that would penalize me the most was lack of time.