diff --git a/docs/admin/engines/settings.rst b/docs/admin/engines/settings.rst
index 118e01efd..250a27461 100644
--- a/docs/admin/engines/settings.rst
+++ b/docs/admin/engines/settings.rst
@@ -397,14 +397,26 @@ Communication with search engines.
   Global timeout of the requests made to others engines in seconds.  A bigger
   timeout will allow to wait for answers from slow engines, but in consequence
   will slow SearXNG reactivity (the result page may take the time specified in the
-  timeout to load). Can be override by :ref:`settings engine`
+  timeout to load).  Can be override by ``timeout`` in the :ref:`settings engine`.
 
 ``useragent_suffix`` :
   Suffix to the user-agent SearXNG uses to send requests to others engines.  If an
   engine wish to block you, a contact info here may be useful to avoid that.
 
+.. _Pool limit configuration: https://www.python-httpx.org/advanced/#pool-limit-configuration
+
+``pool_maxsize``:
+  Number of allowable keep-alive connections, or ``null`` to always allow.  The
+  default is 10.  See ``max_keepalive_connections`` `Pool limit configuration`_.
+
+``pool_connections`` :
+  Maximum number of allowable connections, or ``null`` # for no limits.  The
+  default is 100.  See ``max_connections`` `Pool limit configuration`_.
+
 ``keepalive_expiry`` :
-  Number of seconds to keep a connection in the pool. By default 5.0 seconds.
+  Number of seconds to keep a connection in the pool.  By default 5.0 seconds.
+  See ``keepalive_expiry`` `Pool limit configuration`_.
+
 
 .. _httpx proxies: https://www.python-httpx.org/advanced/#http-proxying
 
@@ -429,15 +441,6 @@ Communication with search engines.
   Number of retry in case of an HTTP error.  On each retry, SearXNG uses an
   different proxy and source ip.
 
-``retry_on_http_error`` :
-  Retry request on some HTTP status code.
-
-  Example:
-
-  * ``true`` : on HTTP status code between 400 and 599.
-  * ``403`` : on HTTP status code 403.
-  * ``[403, 429]``: on HTTP status code 403 and 429.
-
 ``enable_http2`` :
   Enable by default. Set to ``false`` to disable HTTP/2.
 
@@ -455,6 +458,11 @@ Communication with search engines.
 ``max_redirects`` :
   30 by default. Maximum redirect before it is an error.
 
+``using_tor_proxy`` :
+  Using tor proxy (``true``) or not (``false``) for all engines.  The default is
+  ``false`` and can be overwritten in the :ref:`settings engine`
+
+
 
 .. _settings categories_as_tabs:
 
@@ -522,13 +530,14 @@ engine is shown.  Most of the options have a default value or even are optional.
         use_official_api: true
         require_api_key: true
         results: HTML
-     enable_http: false
+
+     # overwrite values from section 'outgoing:'
      enable_http2: false
      retries: 1
-     retry_on_http_error: true # or 403 or [404, 429]
      max_connections: 100
      max_keepalive_connections: 10
      keepalive_expiry: 5.0
+     using_tor_proxy: false
      proxies:
        http:
          - http://proxy1:8080
@@ -539,6 +548,11 @@ engine is shown.  Most of the options have a default value or even are optional.
          - socks5://user:password@proxy3:1080
          - socks5h://user:password@proxy4:1080
 
+     # other network settings
+     enable_http: false
+     retry_on_http_error: true # or 403 or [404, 429]
+
+
 ``name`` :
   Name that will be used across SearXNG to define this engine.  In settings, on
   the result page...
@@ -579,7 +593,8 @@ engine is shown.  Most of the options have a default value or even are optional.
   query all search engines in that category (group).
 
 ``timeout`` : optional
-  Timeout of the search with the current search engine.  **Be careful, it will
+  Timeout of the search with the current search engine.  Overwrites
+  ``request_timeout`` from :ref:`settings outgoing`.  **Be careful, it will
   modify the global timeout of SearXNG.**
 
 ``api_key`` : optional
@@ -615,6 +630,37 @@ engine is shown.  Most of the options have a default value or even are optional.
   - ``ipv4`` set ``local_addresses`` to ``0.0.0.0`` (use only IPv4 local addresses)
   - ``ipv6`` set ``local_addresses`` to ``::`` (use only IPv6 local addresses)
 
+``enable_http`` : optional
+  Enable HTTP for this engine (by default only HTTPS is enabled).
+
+``retry_on_http_error`` : optional
+  Retry request on some HTTP status code.
+
+  Example:
+
+  * ``true`` : on HTTP status code between 400 and 599.
+  * ``403`` : on HTTP status code 403.
+  * ``[403, 429]``: on HTTP status code 403 and 429.
+
+``proxies`` :
+  Overwrites proxy settings from :ref:`settings outgoing`.
+
+``using_tor_proxy`` :
+  Using tor proxy (``true``) or not (``false``) for this engine.  The default is
+  taken from ``using_tor_proxy`` of the :ref:`settings outgoing`.
+
+``max_keepalive_connection#s`` :
+  `Pool limit configuration`_, overwrites value ``pool_maxsize`` from
+   :ref:`settings outgoing` for this engine.
+
+``max_connections`` :
+  `Pool limit configuration`_, overwrites value ``pool_connections`` from
+  :ref:`settings outgoing` for this engine.
+
+``keepalive_expiry`` :
+  `Pool limit configuration`_, overwrites value ``keepalive_expiry`` from
+  :ref:`settings outgoing` for this engine.
+
 .. note::
 
    A few more options are possible, but they are pretty specific to some
diff --git a/searx/enginelib/__init__.py b/searx/enginelib/__init__.py
index 00962e215..fd3019e6c 100644
--- a/searx/enginelib/__init__.py
+++ b/searx/enginelib/__init__.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 
 
 from __future__ import annotations
-from typing import Union, Dict, List, Callable, TYPE_CHECKING
+from typing import List, Callable, TYPE_CHECKING
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from searx.enginelib import traits
@@ -134,3 +134,15 @@ class Engine:  # pylint: disable=too-few-public-methods
           require_api_key: true
           results: HTML
     """
+
+    using_tor_proxy: bool
+    """Using tor proxy (``true``) or not (``false``) for this engine."""
+
+    send_accept_language_header: bool
+    """When this option is activated, the language (locale) that is selected by
+    the user is used to build and send a ``Accept-Language`` header in the
+    request to the origin search engine."""
+
+    tokens: List[str]
+    """A list of secret tokens to make this engine *private*, more details see
+    :ref:`private engines`."""
diff --git a/searx/enginelib/traits.py b/searx/enginelib/traits.py
index ae27d46f1..8a7356ce2 100644
--- a/searx/enginelib/traits.py
+++ b/searx/enginelib/traits.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ used.
 from __future__ import annotations
 import json
 import dataclasses
+import types
 from typing import Dict, Iterable, Union, Callable, Optional, TYPE_CHECKING
 from typing_extensions import Literal, Self
 
@@ -82,8 +83,7 @@ class EngineTraits:
     """
 
     custom: Dict[str, Union[Dict[str, Dict], Iterable[str]]] = dataclasses.field(default_factory=dict)
-    """A place to store engine's custom traits, not related to the SearXNG core
-
+    """A place to store engine's custom traits, not related to the SearXNG core.
     """
 
     def get_language(self, searxng_locale: str, default=None):
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ class EngineTraitsMap(Dict[str, EngineTraits]):
 
         return obj
 
-    def set_traits(self, engine: Engine):
+    def set_traits(self, engine: Engine | types.ModuleType):
         """Set traits in a :py:obj:`Engine` namespace.
 
         :param engine: engine instance build by :py:func:`searx.engines.load_engine`
diff --git a/searx/engines/__init__.py b/searx/engines/__init__.py
index a2db26816..e9e9f87c9 100644
--- a/searx/engines/__init__.py
+++ b/searx/engines/__init__.py
@@ -17,7 +17,9 @@ import sys
 import copy
 from os.path import realpath, dirname
 
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Dict, Optional
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Dict
+import types
+import inspect
 
 from searx import logger, settings
 from searx.utils import load_module
@@ -28,21 +30,23 @@ if TYPE_CHECKING:
 logger = logger.getChild('engines')
 ENGINE_DIR = dirname(realpath(__file__))
 ENGINE_DEFAULT_ARGS = {
+    # Common options in the engine module
     "engine_type": "online",
-    "inactive": False,
-    "disabled": False,
-    "timeout": settings["outgoing"]["request_timeout"],
-    "shortcut": "-",
-    "categories": ["general"],
     "paging": False,
-    "safesearch": False,
     "time_range_support": False,
+    "safesearch": False,
+    # settings.yml
+    "categories": ["general"],
     "enable_http": False,
-    "using_tor_proxy": False,
+    "shortcut": "-",
+    "timeout": settings["outgoing"]["request_timeout"],
     "display_error_messages": True,
+    "disabled": False,
+    "inactive": False,
+    "about": {},
+    "using_tor_proxy": False,
     "send_accept_language_header": False,
     "tokens": [],
-    "about": {},
 }
 # set automatically when an engine does not have any tab category
 DEFAULT_CATEGORY = 'other'
@@ -51,7 +55,7 @@ DEFAULT_CATEGORY = 'other'
 # Defaults for the namespace of an engine module, see :py:func:`load_engine`
 
 categories = {'general': []}
-engines: Dict[str, Engine] = {}
+engines: Dict[str, Engine | types.ModuleType] = {}
 engine_shortcuts = {}
 """Simple map of registered *shortcuts* to name of the engine (or ``None``).
 
@@ -63,7 +67,19 @@ engine_shortcuts = {}
 """
 
 
-def load_engine(engine_data: dict) -> Optional[Engine]:
+def check_engine_module(module: types.ModuleType):
+    # probe unintentional name collisions / for example name collisions caused
+    # by import statements in the engine module ..
+
+    # network: https://github.com/searxng/searxng/issues/762#issuecomment-1605323861
+    obj = getattr(module, 'network', None)
+    if obj and inspect.ismodule(obj):
+        msg = f'type of {module.__name__}.network is a module ({obj.__name__}), expected a string'
+        # logger.error(msg)
+        raise TypeError(msg)
+
+
+def load_engine(engine_data: dict) -> Engine | types.ModuleType | None:
     """Load engine from ``engine_data``.
 
     :param dict engine_data:  Attributes from YAML ``settings:engines/<engine>``
@@ -100,19 +116,20 @@ def load_engine(engine_data: dict) -> Optional[Engine]:
         engine_data['name'] = engine_name
 
     # load_module
-    engine_module = engine_data.get('engine')
-    if engine_module is None:
+    module_name = engine_data.get('engine')
+    if module_name is None:
         logger.error('The "engine" field is missing for the engine named "{}"'.format(engine_name))
         return None
     try:
-        engine = load_module(engine_module + '.py', ENGINE_DIR)
+        engine = load_module(module_name + '.py', ENGINE_DIR)
     except (SyntaxError, KeyboardInterrupt, SystemExit, SystemError, ImportError, RuntimeError):
-        logger.exception('Fatal exception in engine "{}"'.format(engine_module))
+        logger.exception('Fatal exception in engine "{}"'.format(module_name))
         sys.exit(1)
     except BaseException:
-        logger.exception('Cannot load engine "{}"'.format(engine_module))
+        logger.exception('Cannot load engine "{}"'.format(module_name))
         return None
 
+    check_engine_module(engine)
     update_engine_attributes(engine, engine_data)
     update_attributes_for_tor(engine)
 
@@ -153,18 +170,18 @@ def set_loggers(engine, engine_name):
             and not hasattr(module, "logger")
         ):
             module_engine_name = module_name.split(".")[-1]
-            module.logger = logger.getChild(module_engine_name)
+            module.logger = logger.getChild(module_engine_name)  # type: ignore
 
 
-def update_engine_attributes(engine: Engine, engine_data):
+def update_engine_attributes(engine: Engine | types.ModuleType, engine_data):
     # set engine attributes from engine_data
     for param_name, param_value in engine_data.items():
         if param_name == 'categories':
             if isinstance(param_value, str):
                 param_value = list(map(str.strip, param_value.split(',')))
-            engine.categories = param_value
+            engine.categories = param_value  # type: ignore
         elif hasattr(engine, 'about') and param_name == 'about':
-            engine.about = {**engine.about, **engine_data['about']}
+            engine.about = {**engine.about, **engine_data['about']}  # type: ignore
         else:
             setattr(engine, param_name, param_value)
 
@@ -174,10 +191,10 @@ def update_engine_attributes(engine: Engine, engine_data):
             setattr(engine, arg_name, copy.deepcopy(arg_value))
 
 
-def update_attributes_for_tor(engine: Engine) -> bool:
+def update_attributes_for_tor(engine: Engine | types.ModuleType):
     if using_tor_proxy(engine) and hasattr(engine, 'onion_url'):
-        engine.search_url = engine.onion_url + getattr(engine, 'search_path', '')
-        engine.timeout += settings['outgoing'].get('extra_proxy_timeout', 0)
+        engine.search_url = engine.onion_url + getattr(engine, 'search_path', '')  # type: ignore
+        engine.timeout += settings['outgoing'].get('extra_proxy_timeout', 0)  # type: ignore
 
 
 def is_missing_required_attributes(engine):
@@ -193,12 +210,12 @@ def is_missing_required_attributes(engine):
     return missing
 
 
-def using_tor_proxy(engine: Engine):
+def using_tor_proxy(engine: Engine | types.ModuleType):
     """Return True if the engine configuration declares to use Tor."""
     return settings['outgoing'].get('using_tor_proxy') or getattr(engine, 'using_tor_proxy', False)
 
 
-def is_engine_active(engine: Engine):
+def is_engine_active(engine: Engine | types.ModuleType):
     # check if engine is inactive
     if engine.inactive is True:
         return False
@@ -210,7 +227,7 @@ def is_engine_active(engine: Engine):
     return True
 
 
-def register_engine(engine: Engine):
+def register_engine(engine: Engine | types.ModuleType):
     if engine.name in engines:
         logger.error('Engine config error: ambiguous name: {0}'.format(engine.name))
         sys.exit(1)
diff --git a/searx/engines/archlinux.py b/searx/engines/archlinux.py
index 56c3b447f..17bb1b6c5 100644
--- a/searx/engines/archlinux.py
+++ b/searx/engines/archlinux.py
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ from urllib.parse import urlencode, urljoin, urlparse
 import lxml
 import babel
 
-from searx import network
 from searx.utils import extract_text, eval_xpath_list, eval_xpath_getindex
 from searx.enginelib.traits import EngineTraits
 from searx.locales import language_tag
@@ -45,13 +44,13 @@ main_wiki = 'wiki.archlinux.org'
 def request(query, params):
 
     sxng_lang = params['searxng_locale'].split('-')[0]
-    netloc = traits.custom['wiki_netloc'].get(sxng_lang, main_wiki)
-    title = traits.custom['title'].get(sxng_lang, 'Special:Search')
+    netloc: str = traits.custom['wiki_netloc'].get(sxng_lang, main_wiki)  # type: ignore
+    title: str = traits.custom['title'].get(sxng_lang, 'Special:Search')  # type: ignore
     base_url = 'https://' + netloc + '/index.php?'
     offset = (params['pageno'] - 1) * 20
 
     if netloc == main_wiki:
-        eng_lang: str = traits.get_language(sxng_lang, 'English')
+        eng_lang: str = traits.get_language(sxng_lang, 'English')  # type: ignore
         query += ' (' + eng_lang + ')'
     elif netloc == 'wiki.archlinuxcn.org':
         base_url = 'https://' + netloc + '/wzh/index.php?'
@@ -71,11 +70,11 @@ def request(query, params):
 def response(resp):
 
     results = []
-    dom = lxml.html.fromstring(resp.text)
+    dom = lxml.html.fromstring(resp.text)  # type: ignore
 
     # get the base URL for the language in which request was made
     sxng_lang = resp.search_params['searxng_locale'].split('-')[0]
-    netloc = traits.custom['wiki_netloc'].get(sxng_lang, main_wiki)
+    netloc: str = traits.custom['wiki_netloc'].get(sxng_lang, main_wiki)  # type: ignore
     base_url = 'https://' + netloc + '/index.php?'
 
     for result in eval_xpath_list(dom, '//ul[@class="mw-search-results"]/li'):
@@ -83,7 +82,7 @@ def response(resp):
         content = extract_text(result.xpath('.//div[@class="searchresult"]'))
         results.append(
             {
-                'url': urljoin(base_url, link.get('href')),
+                'url': urljoin(base_url, link.get('href')),  # type: ignore
                 'title': extract_text(link),
                 'content': content,
             }
@@ -114,6 +113,8 @@ def fetch_traits(engine_traits: EngineTraits):
        },
 
     """
+    # pylint: disable=import-outside-toplevel
+    from searx.network import get  # see https://github.com/searxng/searxng/issues/762
 
     engine_traits.custom['wiki_netloc'] = {}
     engine_traits.custom['title'] = {}
@@ -125,11 +126,11 @@ def fetch_traits(engine_traits: EngineTraits):
         'zh': 'Special:搜索',
     }
 
-    resp = network.get('https://wiki.archlinux.org/')
-    if not resp.ok:
+    resp = get('https://wiki.archlinux.org/')
+    if not resp.ok:  # type: ignore
         print("ERROR: response from wiki.archlinix.org is not OK.")
 
-    dom = lxml.html.fromstring(resp.text)
+    dom = lxml.html.fromstring(resp.text)  # type: ignore
     for a in eval_xpath_list(dom, "//a[@class='interlanguage-link-target']"):
 
         sxng_tag = language_tag(babel.Locale.parse(a.get('lang'), sep='-'))
@@ -143,9 +144,9 @@ def fetch_traits(engine_traits: EngineTraits):
                 print("ERROR: title tag from %s (%s) is unknown" % (netloc, sxng_tag))
                 continue
             engine_traits.custom['wiki_netloc'][sxng_tag] = netloc
-            engine_traits.custom['title'][sxng_tag] = title
+            engine_traits.custom['title'][sxng_tag] = title  # type: ignore
 
         eng_tag = extract_text(eval_xpath_list(a, ".//span"))
-        engine_traits.languages[sxng_tag] = eng_tag
+        engine_traits.languages[sxng_tag] = eng_tag  # type: ignore
 
     engine_traits.languages['en'] = 'English'
diff --git a/searx/engines/bing.py b/searx/engines/bing.py
index 81a0cf6a5..3cd707870 100644
--- a/searx/engines/bing.py
+++ b/searx/engines/bing.py
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@ import babel
 import babel.languages
 
 from searx.utils import eval_xpath, extract_text, eval_xpath_list, eval_xpath_getindex
-from searx import network
 from searx.locales import language_tag, region_tag
 from searx.enginelib.traits import EngineTraits
 
@@ -180,6 +179,10 @@ def request(query, params):
 
 
 def response(resp):
+    # pylint: disable=too-many-locals,import-outside-toplevel
+
+    from searx.network import Request, multi_requests  # see https://github.com/searxng/searxng/issues/762
+
     results = []
     result_len = 0
 
@@ -231,9 +234,9 @@ def response(resp):
 
     # resolve all Bing redirections in parallel
     request_list = [
-        network.Request.get(u, allow_redirects=False, headers=resp.search_params['headers']) for u in url_to_resolve
+        Request.get(u, allow_redirects=False, headers=resp.search_params['headers']) for u in url_to_resolve
     ]
-    response_list = network.multi_requests(request_list)
+    response_list = multi_requests(request_list)
     for i, redirect_response in enumerate(response_list):
         if not isinstance(redirect_response, Exception):
             results[url_to_resolve_index[i]]['url'] = redirect_response.headers['location']
@@ -272,16 +275,19 @@ def fetch_traits(engine_traits: EngineTraits):
 
 
 def _fetch_traits(engine_traits: EngineTraits, url: str, xpath_language_codes: str, xpath_market_codes: str):
+    # pylint: disable=too-many-locals,import-outside-toplevel
+
+    from searx.network import get  # see https://github.com/searxng/searxng/issues/762
 
     # insert alias to map from a language (zh) to a language + script (zh_Hans)
     engine_traits.languages['zh'] = 'zh-hans'
 
-    resp = network.get(url)
+    resp = get(url)
 
-    if not resp.ok:
+    if not resp.ok:  # type: ignore
         print("ERROR: response from peertube is not OK.")
 
-    dom = html.fromstring(resp.text)
+    dom = html.fromstring(resp.text)  # type: ignore
 
     map_lang = {'jp': 'ja'}
     for td in eval_xpath(dom, xpath_language_codes):
diff --git a/searx/engines/dailymotion.py b/searx/engines/dailymotion.py
index d734ec3c8..99da9616c 100644
--- a/searx/engines/dailymotion.py
+++ b/searx/engines/dailymotion.py
@@ -18,9 +18,9 @@ from urllib.parse import urlencode
 import time
 import babel
 
-from searx.exceptions import SearxEngineAPIException
-from searx import network
+from searx.network import get, raise_for_httperror  # see https://github.com/searxng/searxng/issues/762
 from searx.utils import html_to_text
+from searx.exceptions import SearxEngineAPIException
 from searx.locales import region_tag, language_tag
 from searx.enginelib.traits import EngineTraits
 
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ def request(query, params):
     if not query:
         return False
 
-    eng_region = traits.get_region(params['searxng_locale'], 'en_US')
+    eng_region: str = traits.get_region(params['searxng_locale'], 'en_US')  # type: ignore
     eng_lang = traits.get_language(params['searxng_locale'], 'en')
 
     args = {
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ def response(resp):
     if 'error' in search_res:
         raise SearxEngineAPIException(search_res['error'].get('message'))
 
-    network.raise_for_httperror(resp)
+    raise_for_httperror(resp)
 
     # parse results
     for res in search_res.get('list', []):
@@ -218,11 +218,11 @@ def fetch_traits(engine_traits: EngineTraits):
 
     """
 
-    resp = network.get('https://api.dailymotion.com/locales')
-    if not resp.ok:
+    resp = get('https://api.dailymotion.com/locales')
+    if not resp.ok:  # type: ignore
         print("ERROR: response from dailymotion/locales is not OK.")
 
-    for item in resp.json()['list']:
+    for item in resp.json()['list']:  # type: ignore
         eng_tag = item['locale']
         if eng_tag in ('en_EN', 'ar_AA'):
             continue
@@ -241,11 +241,11 @@ def fetch_traits(engine_traits: EngineTraits):
 
     locale_lang_list = [x.split('_')[0] for x in engine_traits.regions.values()]
 
-    resp = network.get('https://api.dailymotion.com/languages')
-    if not resp.ok:
+    resp = get('https://api.dailymotion.com/languages')
+    if not resp.ok:  # type: ignore
         print("ERROR: response from dailymotion/languages is not OK.")
 
-    for item in resp.json()['list']:
+    for item in resp.json()['list']:  # type: ignore
         eng_tag = item['code']
         if eng_tag in locale_lang_list:
             sxng_tag = language_tag(babel.Locale.parse(eng_tag))
diff --git a/searx/engines/duckduckgo.py b/searx/engines/duckduckgo.py
index d37e28c2d..8349ad8e3 100644
--- a/searx/engines/duckduckgo.py
+++ b/searx/engines/duckduckgo.py
@@ -13,17 +13,17 @@ import babel
 import lxml.html
 
 from searx import (
-    network,
     locales,
     redislib,
     external_bang,
 )
-from searx import redisdb
 from searx.utils import (
     eval_xpath,
     eval_xpath_getindex,
     extract_text,
 )
+from searx.network import get  # see https://github.com/searxng/searxng/issues/762
+from searx import redisdb
 from searx.enginelib.traits import EngineTraits
 from searx.exceptions import SearxEngineAPIException
 
@@ -95,8 +95,8 @@ def get_vqd(query, headers):
             return value
 
     query_url = 'https://duckduckgo.com/?q={query}&atb=v290-5'.format(query=urlencode({'q': query}))
-    res = network.get(query_url, headers=headers)
-    content = res.text
+    res = get(query_url, headers=headers)
+    content = res.text  # type: ignore
     if content.find('vqd=\"') == -1:
         raise SearxEngineAPIException('Request failed')
     value = content[content.find('vqd=\"') + 5 :]
@@ -139,7 +139,9 @@ def get_ddg_lang(eng_traits: EngineTraits, sxng_locale, default='en_US'):
          params['cookies']['kl'] = eng_region  # 'ar-es'
 
     """
-    return eng_traits.custom['lang_region'].get(sxng_locale, eng_traits.get_language(sxng_locale, default))
+    return eng_traits.custom['lang_region'].get(  # type: ignore
+        sxng_locale, eng_traits.get_language(sxng_locale, default)
+    )
 
 
 ddg_reg_map = {
@@ -358,13 +360,13 @@ def fetch_traits(engine_traits: EngineTraits):
     engine_traits.all_locale = 'wt-wt'
 
     # updated from u588 to u661 / should be updated automatically?
-    resp = network.get('https://duckduckgo.com/util/u661.js')
+    resp = get('https://duckduckgo.com/util/u661.js')
 
-    if not resp.ok:
+    if not resp.ok:  # type: ignore
         print("ERROR: response from DuckDuckGo is not OK.")
 
-    pos = resp.text.find('regions:{') + 8
-    js_code = resp.text[pos:]
+    pos = resp.text.find('regions:{') + 8  # type: ignore
+    js_code = resp.text[pos:]  # type: ignore
     pos = js_code.find('}') + 1
     regions = json.loads(js_code[:pos])
 
@@ -399,8 +401,8 @@ def fetch_traits(engine_traits: EngineTraits):
 
     engine_traits.custom['lang_region'] = {}
 
-    pos = resp.text.find('languages:{') + 10
-    js_code = resp.text[pos:]
+    pos = resp.text.find('languages:{') + 10  # type: ignore
+    js_code = resp.text[pos:]  # type: ignore
     pos = js_code.find('}') + 1
     js_code = '{"' + js_code[1:pos].replace(':', '":').replace(',', ',"')
     languages = json.loads(js_code)
diff --git a/searx/engines/google.py b/searx/engines/google.py
index 708068f3a..6aaac2f22 100644
--- a/searx/engines/google.py
+++ b/searx/engines/google.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ import babel.languages
 
 from searx.utils import extract_text, eval_xpath, eval_xpath_list, eval_xpath_getindex
 from searx.locales import language_tag, region_tag, get_offical_locales
-from searx import network
+from searx.network import get  # see https://github.com/searxng/searxng/issues/762
 from searx.exceptions import SearxEngineCaptchaException
 from searx.enginelib.traits import EngineTraits
 
@@ -419,11 +419,11 @@ def fetch_traits(engine_traits: EngineTraits, add_domains: bool = True):
 
     engine_traits.custom['supported_domains'] = {}
 
-    resp = network.get('https://www.google.com/preferences')
-    if not resp.ok:
+    resp = get('https://www.google.com/preferences')
+    if not resp.ok:  # type: ignore
         raise RuntimeError("Response from Google's preferences is not OK.")
 
-    dom = html.fromstring(resp.text)
+    dom = html.fromstring(resp.text)  # type: ignore
 
     # supported language codes
 
@@ -474,18 +474,18 @@ def fetch_traits(engine_traits: EngineTraits, add_domains: bool = True):
     # supported domains
 
     if add_domains:
-        resp = network.get('https://www.google.com/supported_domains')
-        if not resp.ok:
+        resp = get('https://www.google.com/supported_domains')
+        if not resp.ok:  # type: ignore
             raise RuntimeError("Response from https://www.google.com/supported_domains is not OK.")
 
-        for domain in resp.text.split():
+        for domain in resp.text.split():  # type: ignore
             domain = domain.strip()
             if not domain or domain in [
                 '.google.com',
             ]:
                 continue
             region = domain.split('.')[-1].upper()
-            engine_traits.custom['supported_domains'][region] = 'www' + domain
+            engine_traits.custom['supported_domains'][region] = 'www' + domain  # type: ignore
             if region == 'HK':
                 # There is no google.cn, we use .com.hk for zh-CN
-                engine_traits.custom['supported_domains']['CN'] = 'www' + domain
+                engine_traits.custom['supported_domains']['CN'] = 'www' + domain  # type: ignore
diff --git a/searx/engines/peertube.py b/searx/engines/peertube.py
index 87b386d7a..d0eba6b88 100644
--- a/searx/engines/peertube.py
+++ b/searx/engines/peertube.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ from dateutil.relativedelta import relativedelta
 
 import babel
 
-from searx import network
+from searx.network import get  # see https://github.com/searxng/searxng/issues/762
 from searx.locales import language_tag
 from searx.utils import html_to_text
 from searx.enginelib.traits import EngineTraits
@@ -147,32 +147,30 @@ def fetch_traits(engine_traits: EngineTraits):
        https://framagit.org/framasoft/peertube/search-index/-/commit/8ed5c729#3d8747f9a60695c367c70bb64efba8f403721fad_0_291
     """
 
-    resp = network.get(
+    resp = get(
         'https://framagit.org/framasoft/peertube/search-index/-/raw/master/client/src/components/Filters.vue',
         # the response from search-index repository is very slow
         timeout=60,
     )
 
-    if not resp.ok:
+    if not resp.ok:  # type: ignore
         print("ERROR: response from peertube is not OK.")
         return
 
-    js_lang = re.search(r"videoLanguages \(\)[^\n]+(.*?)\]", resp.text, re.DOTALL)
+    js_lang = re.search(r"videoLanguages \(\)[^\n]+(.*?)\]", resp.text, re.DOTALL)  # type: ignore
     if not js_lang:
         print("ERROR: can't determine languages from peertube")
         return
 
     for lang in re.finditer(r"\{ id: '([a-z]+)', label:", js_lang.group(1)):
+        eng_tag = lang.group(1)
+        if eng_tag == 'oc':
+            # Occitanis not known by babel, its closest relative is Catalan
+            # but 'ca' is already in the list of engine_traits.languages -->
+            # 'oc' will be ignored.
+            continue
         try:
-            eng_tag = lang.group(1)
-            if eng_tag == 'oc':
-                # Occitanis not known by babel, its closest relative is Catalan
-                # but 'ca' is already in the list of engine_traits.languages -->
-                # 'oc' will be ignored.
-                continue
-
             sxng_tag = language_tag(babel.Locale.parse(eng_tag))
-
         except babel.UnknownLocaleError:
             print("ERROR: %s is unknown by babel" % eng_tag)
             continue
diff --git a/searx/engines/startpage.py b/searx/engines/startpage.py
index 2813d0bf3..92d69867a 100644
--- a/searx/engines/startpage.py
+++ b/searx/engines/startpage.py
@@ -91,8 +91,8 @@ import dateutil.parser
 import lxml.html
 import babel
 
-from searx import network
 from searx.utils import extract_text, eval_xpath, gen_useragent
+from searx.network import get  # see https://github.com/searxng/searxng/issues/762
 from searx.exceptions import SearxEngineCaptchaException
 from searx.locales import region_tag
 from searx.enginelib.traits import EngineTraits
@@ -211,25 +211,25 @@ def get_sc_code(searxng_locale, params):
     get_sc_url = base_url + '/?sc=%s' % (sc_code)
     logger.debug("query new sc time-stamp ... %s", get_sc_url)
     logger.debug("headers: %s", headers)
-    resp = network.get(get_sc_url, headers=headers)
+    resp = get(get_sc_url, headers=headers)
 
     # ?? x = network.get('https://www.startpage.com/sp/cdn/images/filter-chevron.svg', headers=headers)
     # ?? https://www.startpage.com/sp/cdn/images/filter-chevron.svg
     # ?? ping-back URL: https://www.startpage.com/sp/pb?sc=TLsB0oITjZ8F21
 
-    if str(resp.url).startswith('https://www.startpage.com/sp/captcha'):
+    if str(resp.url).startswith('https://www.startpage.com/sp/captcha'):  # type: ignore
         raise SearxEngineCaptchaException(
             message="get_sc_code: got redirected to https://www.startpage.com/sp/captcha",
         )
 
-    dom = lxml.html.fromstring(resp.text)
+    dom = lxml.html.fromstring(resp.text)  # type: ignore
 
     try:
         sc_code = eval_xpath(dom, search_form_xpath + '//input[@name="sc"]/@value')[0]
     except IndexError as exc:
         logger.debug("suspend startpage API --> https://github.com/searxng/searxng/pull/695")
         raise SearxEngineCaptchaException(
-            message="get_sc_code: [PR-695] query new sc time-stamp failed! (%s)" % resp.url,
+            message="get_sc_code: [PR-695] query new sc time-stamp failed! (%s)" % resp.url,  # type: ignore
         ) from exc
 
     sc_code_ts = time()
@@ -350,7 +350,7 @@ def _response_cat_web(dom):
         title = extract_text(link)
 
         if eval_xpath(result, content_xpath):
-            content = extract_text(eval_xpath(result, content_xpath))
+            content: str = extract_text(eval_xpath(result, content_xpath))  # type: ignore
         else:
             content = ''
 
@@ -374,7 +374,7 @@ def _response_cat_web(dom):
             date_string = content[0 : date_pos - 5]
 
             # calculate datetime
-            published_date = datetime.now() - timedelta(days=int(re.match(r'\d+', date_string).group()))
+            published_date = datetime.now() - timedelta(days=int(re.match(r'\d+', date_string).group()))  # type: ignore
 
             # fix content string
             content = content[date_pos:]
@@ -399,12 +399,12 @@ def fetch_traits(engine_traits: EngineTraits):
         'User-Agent': gen_useragent(),
         'Accept-Language': "en-US,en;q=0.5",  # bing needs to set the English language
     }
-    resp = network.get('https://www.startpage.com/do/settings', headers=headers)
+    resp = get('https://www.startpage.com/do/settings', headers=headers)
 
-    if not resp.ok:
+    if not resp.ok:  # type: ignore
         print("ERROR: response from Startpage is not OK.")
 
-    dom = lxml.html.fromstring(resp.text)
+    dom = lxml.html.fromstring(resp.text)  # type: ignore
 
     # regions
 
@@ -443,8 +443,10 @@ def fetch_traits(engine_traits: EngineTraits):
 
     # get the native name of every language known by babel
 
-    for lang_code in filter(lambda lang_code: lang_code.find('_') == -1, babel.localedata.locale_identifiers()):
-        native_name = babel.Locale(lang_code).get_language_name().lower()
+    for lang_code in filter(
+        lambda lang_code: lang_code.find('_') == -1, babel.localedata.locale_identifiers()  # type: ignore
+    ):
+        native_name = babel.Locale(lang_code).get_language_name().lower()  # type: ignore
         # add native name exactly as it is
         catalog_engine2code[native_name] = lang_code
 
@@ -478,7 +480,7 @@ def fetch_traits(engine_traits: EngineTraits):
         eng_tag = option.get('value')
         if eng_tag in skip_eng_tags:
             continue
-        name = extract_text(option).lower()
+        name = extract_text(option).lower()  # type: ignore
 
         sxng_tag = catalog_engine2code.get(eng_tag)
         if sxng_tag is None:
diff --git a/searx/engines/wikipedia.py b/searx/engines/wikipedia.py
index 98b3d6f9e..b4b70208d 100644
--- a/searx/engines/wikipedia.py
+++ b/searx/engines/wikipedia.py
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ import babel
 from lxml import html
 
 from searx import utils
-from searx import network
+from searx import network as _network
 from searx import locales
 from searx.enginelib.traits import EngineTraits
 
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ def response(resp):
             ):
                 return []
 
-    network.raise_for_httperror(resp)
+    _network.raise_for_httperror(resp)
 
     api_result = resp.json()
     title = utils.html_to_text(api_result.get('titles', {}).get('display') or api_result.get('title'))
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ def fetch_wikimedia_traits(engine_traits: EngineTraits):
         for sxng_tag in sxng_tag_list:
             engine_traits.regions[sxng_tag] = eng_tag
 
-    resp = network.get(list_of_wikipedias)
+    resp = _network.get(list_of_wikipedias)
     if not resp.ok:
         print("ERROR: response from Wikipedia is not OK.")
 
diff --git a/searx/settings_defaults.py b/searx/settings_defaults.py
index 7f657aa54..5d978d0e0 100644
--- a/searx/settings_defaults.py
+++ b/searx/settings_defaults.py
@@ -209,9 +209,7 @@ SCHEMA = {
         'enable_http2': SettingsValue(bool, True),
         'verify': SettingsValue((bool, str), True),
         'max_request_timeout': SettingsValue((None, numbers.Real), None),
-        # Magic number kept from previous code
         'pool_connections': SettingsValue(int, 100),
-        # Picked from constructor
         'pool_maxsize': SettingsValue(int, 10),
         'keepalive_expiry': SettingsValue(numbers.Real, 5.0),
         # default maximum redirect