diff --git a/cmd/bee/cmd/cmd.go b/cmd/bee/cmd/cmd.go
index ffe6bc06d01..8b5e6330f18 100644
--- a/cmd/bee/cmd/cmd.go
+++ b/cmd/bee/cmd/cmd.go
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ const (
 	optionNameStorageIncentivesEnable   = "storage-incentives-enable"
 	optionNameStateStoreCacheCapacity   = "statestore-cache-capacity"
 	optionNameTargetNeighborhood        = "target-neighborhood"
+	optionNameNeighborhoodSuggester     = "neighborhood-suggester"
 )
 
 // nolint:gochecknoinits
@@ -302,6 +303,7 @@ func (c *command) setAllFlags(cmd *cobra.Command) {
 	cmd.Flags().Bool(optionNameStorageIncentivesEnable, true, "enable storage incentives feature")
 	cmd.Flags().Uint64(optionNameStateStoreCacheCapacity, 100_000, "lru memory caching capacity in number of statestore entries")
 	cmd.Flags().String(optionNameTargetNeighborhood, "", "neighborhood to target in binary format (ex: 111111001) for mining the initial overlay")
+	cmd.Flags().String(optionNameNeighborhoodSuggester, "https://api.swarmscan.io/v1/network/neighborhoods/suggestion", "suggester for target neighborhood")
 }
 
 func newLogger(cmd *cobra.Command, verbosity string) (log.Logger, error) {
diff --git a/cmd/bee/cmd/start.go b/cmd/bee/cmd/start.go
index ee287a2104a..60ce54582e7 100644
--- a/cmd/bee/cmd/start.go
+++ b/cmd/bee/cmd/start.go
@@ -339,6 +339,7 @@ func buildBeeNode(ctx context.Context, c *command, cmd *cobra.Command, logger lo
 		EnableStorageIncentives:       c.config.GetBool(optionNameStorageIncentivesEnable),
 		StatestoreCacheCapacity:       c.config.GetUint64(optionNameStateStoreCacheCapacity),
 		TargetNeighborhood:            c.config.GetString(optionNameTargetNeighborhood),
+		NeighborhoodSuggester:         c.config.GetString(optionNameNeighborhoodSuggester),
 	})
 
 	return b, err
diff --git a/pkg/node/node.go b/pkg/node/node.go
index 214cad27d4f..15df1ae799b 100644
--- a/pkg/node/node.go
+++ b/pkg/node/node.go
@@ -171,6 +171,7 @@ type Options struct {
 	EnableStorageIncentives       bool
 	StatestoreCacheCapacity       uint64
 	TargetNeighborhood            string
+	NeighborhoodSuggester         string
 }
 
 const (
@@ -282,9 +283,18 @@ func NewBee(
 
 	if !nonceExists {
 		// mine the overlay
-		if o.TargetNeighborhood != "" {
-			logger.Info("mining an overlay address for the fresh node to target the selected neighborhood", "target", o.TargetNeighborhood)
-			swarmAddress, nonce, err = nbhdutil.MineOverlay(ctx, *pubKey, networkID, o.TargetNeighborhood)
+		targetNeighborhood := o.TargetNeighborhood
+		if o.TargetNeighborhood == "" && o.NeighborhoodSuggester != "" {
+			logger.Info("fetching target neighborhood from suggester", "url", o.NeighborhoodSuggester)
+			targetNeighborhood, err = nbhdutil.FetchNeighborhood(&http.Client{}, o.NeighborhoodSuggester)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("neighborhood suggestion: %w", err)
+			}
+		}
+
+		if targetNeighborhood != "" {
+			logger.Info("mining an overlay address for the fresh node to target the selected neighborhood", "target", targetNeighborhood)
+			swarmAddress, nonce, err = nbhdutil.MineOverlay(ctx, *pubKey, networkID, targetNeighborhood)
 			if err != nil {
 				return nil, fmt.Errorf("mine overlay address: %w", err)
 			}
diff --git a/pkg/util/nbhdutil/neighborhoodsuggestion.go b/pkg/util/nbhdutil/neighborhoodsuggestion.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..713f0345055
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/util/nbhdutil/neighborhoodsuggestion.go
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+// Copyright 2024 The Swarm Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+package nbhdutil
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/url"
+
+	"github.com/ethersphere/bee/pkg/swarm"
+)
+
+type httpClient interface {
+	Get(url string) (*http.Response, error)
+}
+
+func FetchNeighborhood(client httpClient, suggester string) (string, error) {
+	if suggester == "" {
+		return "", nil
+	}
+
+	_, err := url.ParseRequestURI(suggester)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	type suggestionRes struct {
+		Neighborhood string `json:"neighborhood"`
+	}
+	res, err := client.Get(suggester)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	defer res.Body.Close()
+	var suggestion suggestionRes
+	d, err := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	err = json.Unmarshal(d, &suggestion)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	_, err = swarm.ParseBitStrAddress(suggestion.Neighborhood)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("invalid neighborhood. %s", suggestion.Neighborhood)
+	}
+	return suggestion.Neighborhood, nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/util/nbhdutil/neighborhoodsuggestion_test.go b/pkg/util/nbhdutil/neighborhoodsuggestion_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..27c9b59d800
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/util/nbhdutil/neighborhoodsuggestion_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+// Copyright 2024 The Swarm Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+package nbhdutil_test
+
+import (
+	"io"
+	"net/http"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/ethersphere/bee/pkg/util/nbhdutil"
+)
+
+type mockHttpClient struct {
+	res string
+}
+
+func (c *mockHttpClient) Get(_ string) (*http.Response, error) {
+	return &http.Response{
+		Body: io.NopCloser(strings.NewReader(c.res)),
+	}, nil
+}
+
+func Test_FetchNeighborhood(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		name             string
+		neighborhood     string
+		suggester        string
+		httpRes          string
+		wantNeighborhood string
+		wantError        bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name:             "no suggester",
+			suggester:        "",
+			wantNeighborhood: "",
+			wantError:        false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:             "inavlid suggester url",
+			suggester:        "abc",
+			wantNeighborhood: "",
+			wantError:        true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:             "missing neighborhood in res",
+			suggester:        "http://test.com",
+			wantNeighborhood: "",
+			wantError:        false,
+			httpRes:          `{"abc":"abc"}`,
+		},
+		{
+			name:             "invalid neighborhood",
+			suggester:        "http://test.com",
+			wantNeighborhood: "",
+			wantError:        true,
+			httpRes:          `{"neighborhood":"abc"}`,
+		},
+		{
+			name:             "valid neighborhood",
+			suggester:        "http://test.com",
+			wantNeighborhood: "11011101000",
+			wantError:        false,
+			httpRes:          `{"neighborhood":"11011101000"}`,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		t.Run(test.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			neighborhood, err := nbhdutil.FetchNeighborhood(&mockHttpClient{res: test.httpRes}, test.suggester)
+			if test.wantNeighborhood != neighborhood {
+				t.Fatalf("invalid neighborhood. want %s, got %s", test.wantNeighborhood, neighborhood)
+			}
+			if test.wantError && err == nil {
+				t.Fatalf("expected error. got no error")
+			}
+			if !test.wantError && err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("expected no error. got %v", err)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}