I usually never have problems but I am noticing the same trend.
Midnight to 1 sometimes 2 am EST, I get lots of gatecrashes, Net-7 tray icon always indicates "Awaiting Master Handoff", but I sit there on the galaxy screen.
I let it sit for 15 minutes one time, no difference. Have to right click net-7 tray icon, terminate client, then log back in.
If it helps for informational purposes, I have used both the name address "sunrise.net-7.org" and the ip address of the server, with no difference.