diff --git a/internal/hub/systems/system.go b/internal/hub/systems/system.go
index 57d0f1995..7ef9e3223 100644
--- a/internal/hub/systems/system.go
+++ b/internal/hub/systems/system.go
@@ -174,24 +174,11 @@ func (sys *System) update() error {
 
 	data, err := sys.fetchDataFromAgent(options)
 	if err != nil {
-		// Keep the WebSocket alive even though this fetch failed.
-		//
-		// Only a message from the agent resets the read deadline, and an agent
-		// still collecting sends nothing. Without this ping the deadline expires
-		// between polls, the hub closes the connection, the agent reconnects,
-		// collects slowly again, and the cycle repeats. Pinging here is the same
-		// move handlePaused already makes for a paused system, and Ping() pushes
-		// the deadline out as it sends, so it works without an answer, which
-		// matters because a collecting agent cannot answer.
-		//
-		// This is why the deadline has to exceed interval + wsDataRequestTimeout:
-		// the ping only happens once the fetch gives up. See ws.deadline.
-		//
-		// The system is still reported down: that comes from the error we
-		// return. Only the connection survives, so recovery costs no reconnect.
-		// A failed ping needs no handling either, since a connection that
-		// cannot be pinged runs into its deadline anyway.
-		if sys.WsConn != nil && sys.WsConn.IsConnected() {
+		// Ping so a slow agent's connection survives until the next poll. Ping()
+		// extends the read deadline without needing a reply (see ws.deadline).
+		// Once the agent has been silent for maxAgentSilence, stop pinging and let
+		// the deadline close what is likely a dead connection.
+		if sys.WsConn != nil && sys.WsConn.IsConnected() && sys.WsConn.TimeSinceLastMessage() < maxAgentSilence {
 			_ = sys.WsConn.Ping()
 		}
 		return err
@@ -820,6 +807,12 @@ func (sys *System) fetchDataFromAgent(options common.DataRequestOptions) (*syste
 // so this must be well above the request manager's 5s default.
 var wsDataRequestTimeout = 30 * time.Second
 
+// maxAgentSilence is how long a WebSocket agent may go without sending anything
+// before failed polls stop keeping its connection alive. An agent whose
+// collection runs past its own 120s deadline drops the connection itself, so a
+// live agent always answers within interval + 120s.
+var maxAgentSilence = 3 * time.Minute
+
 func (sys *System) fetchDataViaWebSocket(options common.DataRequestOptions) (*system.CombinedData, error) {
 	if sys.WsConn == nil || !sys.WsConn.IsConnected() {
 		return nil, errors.New("no websocket connection")
diff --git a/internal/hub/systems/ws_data_timeout_test.go b/internal/hub/systems/ws_data_timeout_test.go
index a8a019c47..c50cd4632 100644
--- a/internal/hub/systems/ws_data_timeout_test.go
+++ b/internal/hub/systems/ws_data_timeout_test.go
@@ -185,18 +185,26 @@ const timelineScale = 100
 // happens once the fetch gives up, which is interval + wsDataRequestTimeout into
 // the cycle, so the read deadline has to outlast that. With a deadline below
 // that sum the connection is already closed when the ping would go out, which is
-// the reconnect loop from #2294.
+// the reconnect loop from #2294. An agent silent for longer than
+// maxAgentSilence is no longer pinged, so its connection is allowed to expire.
 func TestSlowAgentKeepsConnectionAcrossPolls(t *testing.T) {
 	tick := time.Duration(interval) * time.Millisecond / timelineScale
 
 	tests := []struct {
 		name          string
 		deadline      time.Duration
+		polls         int
 		wantConnected bool
 	}{
-		{"production deadline outlasts a failed poll", ws.Deadline() / timelineScale, true},
+		// The first failed poll shows the ping lands, the second shows the ping
+		// keeps re-arming the deadline.
+		{"production deadline outlasts a failed poll", ws.Deadline() / timelineScale, 2, true},
 		// 70s was the old value and sits below the 90s a failed poll needs.
-		{"deadline below interval plus request timeout", 70 * time.Second / timelineScale, false},
+		{"deadline below interval plus request timeout", 70 * time.Second / timelineScale, 2, false},
+		// The third failed poll ends 210s after the last message, past
+		// maxAgentSilence, so it skips the ping and the deadline closes the
+		// connection before the fifth poll.
+		{"agent silent past maxAgentSilence", ws.Deadline() / timelineScale, 5, false},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range tests {
@@ -206,6 +214,9 @@ func TestSlowAgentKeepsConnectionAcrossPolls(t *testing.T) {
 			previousTimeout := wsDataRequestTimeout
 			wsDataRequestTimeout = 30 * time.Second / timelineScale
 			t.Cleanup(func() { wsDataRequestTimeout = previousTimeout })
+			previousSilence := maxAgentSilence
+			maxAgentSilence = 3 * time.Minute / timelineScale
+			t.Cleanup(func() { maxAgentSilence = previousSilence })
 
 			connections := make(chan *ws.WsConn, 1)
 			// The real handler: OnClose has to run, or a dropped connection
@@ -244,9 +255,7 @@ func TestSlowAgentKeepsConnectionAcrossPolls(t *testing.T) {
 			require.NoError(t, err, "the first poll must succeed")
 			pollZero := time.Now()
 
-			// Two failed polls: the first shows the ping lands, the second shows
-			// the ping keeps re-arming the deadline.
-			for poll := 1; poll <= 2; poll++ {
+			for poll := 1; poll <= tc.polls; poll++ {
 				time.Sleep(time.Until(pollZero.Add(time.Duration(poll) * tick)))
 				if !sys.WsConn.IsConnected() {
 					break
diff --git a/internal/hub/ws/ws.go b/internal/hub/ws/ws.go
index 6b268a3ba..c040c8190 100644
--- a/internal/hub/ws/ws.go
+++ b/internal/hub/ws/ws.go
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ type WsConn struct {
 	requestManager *RequestManager
 	DownChan       chan struct{}
 	agentVersion   semver.Version
+	lastMessage    atomic.Int64 // unix nanoseconds of the last message from the agent
 }
 
 // FingerprintRecord is fingerprints collection record data in the hub
@@ -66,6 +67,7 @@ func NewWsConnection(conn *gws.Conn, agentVersion semver.Version) *WsConn {
 		agentVersion:   agentVersion,
 	}
 	ws.conn.Store(conn)
+	ws.lastMessage.Store(time.Now().UnixNano())
 	return ws
 }
 
@@ -85,6 +87,7 @@ func (h *Handler) OnMessage(conn *gws.Conn, message *gws.Message) {
 		_ = conn.WriteClose(1000, nil)
 		return
 	}
+	wsConn.(*WsConn).lastMessage.Store(time.Now().UnixNano())
 	wsConn.(*WsConn).requestManager.handleResponse(message)
 }
 
@@ -126,6 +129,11 @@ func (ws *WsConn) Ping() error {
 	return conn.WritePing(nil)
 }
 
+// TimeSinceLastMessage returns how long it has been since the agent last sent a message.
+func (ws *WsConn) TimeSinceLastMessage() time.Duration {
+	return time.Since(time.Unix(0, ws.lastMessage.Load()))
+}
+
 // sendMessage encodes data to CBOR and sends it as a binary message to the agent.
 // This is kept for backwards compatibility but new actions should use RequestManager.
 func (ws *WsConn) sendMessage(data common.HubRequest[any]) error {