diff --git a/internal/servicecheck/neighbours.go b/internal/servicecheck/neighbours.go
index 78e1f01..aca6032 100644
--- a/internal/servicecheck/neighbours.go
+++ b/internal/servicecheck/neighbours.go
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 package servicecheck
 
 import (
+	"container/heap"
 	"context"
 	"crypto/sha256"
+	"encoding/binary"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
-	"slices"
 
 	v1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels"
@@ -25,7 +26,7 @@ type Neighbour struct {
 	PodIP    string
 	HostIP   string
 	NodeName string
-	NodeHash string
+	NodeHash uint64
 }
 
 // GetNeighbours returns a slice of neighbour kubenurses for the given namespace and labelSelector.
@@ -74,7 +75,7 @@ func (c *Checker) GetNeighbours(ctx context.Context, namespace, labelSelector st
 			PodIP:    pod.Status.PodIP,
 			HostIP:   pod.Status.HostIP,
 			NodeName: pod.Spec.NodeName,
-			NodeHash: sha256String(pod.Spec.NodeName),
+			NodeHash: sha256Uint64(pod.Spec.NodeName),
 		}
 		neighbours = append(neighbours, &n)
 	}
@@ -102,31 +103,55 @@ func (c *Checker) checkNeighbours(nh []*Neighbour) {
 	}
 }
 
+type Uint64Heap []uint64
+
+func (h Uint64Heap) Len() int           { return len(h) }
+func (h Uint64Heap) Less(i, j int) bool { return h[i] > h[j] } // we want a max-heap, therefore the inversed condition
+func (h Uint64Heap) Swap(i, j int)      { h[i], h[j] = h[j], h[i] }
+
+func (h *Uint64Heap) Push(x any) {
+	*h = append(*h, x.(uint64))
+}
+
+func (h *Uint64Heap) Pop() any {
+	n := len(*h)
+	x := (*h)[n-1]
+	*h = (*h)[0 : n-1]
+
+	return x
+}
+
 func (c *Checker) filterNeighbours(nh []*Neighbour) []*Neighbour {
-	m := make(map[string]*Neighbour, len(nh))
-	l := make([]string, 0, len(nh))
+	m := make(map[uint64]*Neighbour, c.NeighbourLimit+1)
+
+	sl := make(Uint64Heap, 0, c.NeighbourLimit+1)
+	h := &sl
+	currentNodeHash := sha256Uint64(currentNode)
+
+	heap.Init(h)
 
 	for _, n := range nh {
-		m[n.NodeHash] = n
-		l = append(l, n.NodeHash)
-	}
+		adjHash := n.NodeHash - currentNodeHash
+		m[adjHash] = n
 
-	slices.Sort(l)
+		heap.Push(h, adjHash)
 
-	currentNodeHash := sha256String(currentNode)
-	idx, _ := slices.BinarySearch(l, currentNodeHash)
+		if len(*h) > c.NeighbourLimit {
+			p := heap.Pop(h).(uint64)
+			delete(m, p)
+		}
+	}
 
 	filteredNeighbours := make([]*Neighbour, 0, c.NeighbourLimit)
 
-	for i := 0; i < c.NeighbourLimit; i++ {
-		hash := l[(idx+i)%len(l)]
-		filteredNeighbours = append(filteredNeighbours, m[hash])
+	for _, n := range m {
+		filteredNeighbours = append(filteredNeighbours, n)
 	}
 
 	return filteredNeighbours
 }
 
-func sha256String(s string) string {
+func sha256Uint64(s string) uint64 {
 	h := sha256.Sum256([]byte(s))
-	return string(h[:])
+	return binary.BigEndian.Uint64(h[:8])
 }
diff --git a/internal/servicecheck/neighbours_test.go b/internal/servicecheck/neighbours_test.go
index e2f1192..dd17007 100644
--- a/internal/servicecheck/neighbours_test.go
+++ b/internal/servicecheck/neighbours_test.go
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ func generateNeighbours(n int) (nh []*Neighbour) {
 		nodeName := fmt.Sprintf("a1-k8s-abcd%03d.domain.tld", i)
 		neigh := Neighbour{
 			NodeName: nodeName,
-			NodeHash: sha256String(nodeName),
+			NodeHash: sha256Uint64(nodeName),
 		}
 		nh = append(nh, &neigh)
 	}
@@ -23,6 +23,25 @@ func generateNeighbours(n int) (nh []*Neighbour) {
 	return
 }
 
+func BenchmarkNodeFiltering(b *testing.B) {
+	n := 10_000
+	neighbourLimit := 10
+	nh := generateNeighbours(n)
+	require.NotNil(b, nh)
+
+	checker := Checker{
+		NeighbourLimit: neighbourLimit,
+	}
+
+	b.ResetTimer()
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		currentNode = nh[i%len(nh)].NodeName
+		b.StartTimer()
+		checker.filterNeighbours(nh)
+		b.StopTimer()
+	}
+}
+
 func TestNodeFiltering(t *testing.T) {
 
 	n := 1_000