The three onions above are published as a set. Each has its own Tor descriptor, so a reader who cannot reach one has two more to try. This page does not claim where any of them is hosted, and it does not rank them.
Speed differences between the three usually say more about the Tor circuit you happened to build than about the address itself. A slow load is worth retrying on a fresh circuit before you conclude anything.
Addresses change over time. When one is retired, this page stops listing it. Take the current set from this page each visit rather than from an old note, and compare the whole string, first characters and last, before you use it.
Import the master key from the status page or any active mirror under /pgp.key. The fingerprint is 7F2A 9C41 66B8 E1D5 4832 19A4 88F3 BD2C 1E5A 0F77 ... 0A9D. Verify against at least two independent sources before trusting.
On the login page of any mirror, copy the signed timestamp block between BEGIN and END markers. Paste into a local file and run gpg --verify. The output should read Good signature with the fingerprint matching the master. Any other output, particularly BAD signature, is the mirror failing verification and the only correct response is to abandon the session.
The signed timestamp rotates daily. A timestamp older than 36 hours is also a verification failure, even if the signature is cryptographically valid. The freshness window is what proves the gateway you are looking at is current.