diff --git a/agent/probe.go b/agent/probe.go
index b50735ea..05f6d7c5 100644
--- a/agent/probe.go
+++ b/agent/probe.go
@@ -14,8 +14,9 @@ import (
 
 // ProbeManager manages network probe tasks.
 type ProbeManager struct {
-	mu     sync.RWMutex
-	probes map[string]*probeTask // key = probe.Config.Key()
+	mu         sync.RWMutex
+	probes     map[string]*probeTask // key = probe.Config.Key()
+	httpClient *http.Client
 }
 
 type probeTask struct {
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ type probeSample struct {
 func newProbeManager() *ProbeManager {
 	return &ProbeManager{
 		probes: make(map[string]*probeTask),
+		httpClient: &http.Client{Timeout: 10 * time.Second},
 	}
 }
 
@@ -168,7 +170,7 @@ func (pm *ProbeManager) executeProbe(task *probeTask) {
 	case "tcp":
 		latencyMs = probeTCP(task.config.Target, task.config.Port)
 	case "http":
-		latencyMs = probeHTTP(task.config.Target)
+		latencyMs = probeHTTP(pm.httpClient, task.config.Target)
 	default:
 		slog.Warn("unknown probe protocol", "protocol", task.config.Protocol)
 		return
@@ -212,8 +214,7 @@ func probeTCP(target string, port uint16) float64 {
 }
 
 // probeHTTP measures HTTP GET request latency. Returns -1 on failure.
-func probeHTTP(url string) float64 {
-	client := &http.Client{Timeout: 10 * time.Second}
+func probeHTTP(client *http.Client, url string) float64 {
 	start := time.Now()
 	resp, err := client.Get(url)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/hub/api_probes.go b/internal/hub/api_probes.go
index 615daa41..51e0a9de 100644
--- a/internal/hub/api_probes.go
+++ b/internal/hub/api_probes.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package hub
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"net/http"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/pocketbase/dbx"
 	"github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/core"
@@ -75,6 +76,9 @@ func (h *Hub) createNetworkProbe(e *core.RequestEvent) error {
 	if req.Protocol != "icmp" && req.Protocol != "tcp" && req.Protocol != "http" {
 		return e.BadRequestError("protocol must be icmp, tcp, or http", nil)
 	}
+	if req.Protocol == "http" && !strings.HasPrefix(req.Target, "http://") && !strings.HasPrefix(req.Target, "https://") {
+		return e.BadRequestError("http probe target must start with http:// or https://", nil)
+	}
 	if req.Interval <= 0 {
 		req.Interval = 10
 	}
diff --git a/internal/hub/systems/system.go b/internal/hub/systems/system.go
index df54e4cf..6156008c 100644
--- a/internal/hub/systems/system.go
+++ b/internal/hub/systems/system.go
@@ -169,7 +169,9 @@ func (sys *System) update() error {
 	}
 
 	// Fetch and save network probe results
-	go sys.fetchAndSaveProbeResults()
+	if sys.hasEnabledProbes() {
+		go sys.fetchAndSaveProbeResults()
+	}
 
 	return err
 }
diff --git a/internal/hub/systems/system_probes.go b/internal/hub/systems/system_probes.go
index 4a71a458..b5a6aa63 100644
--- a/internal/hub/systems/system_probes.go
+++ b/internal/hub/systems/system_probes.go
@@ -27,17 +27,17 @@ func (sys *System) FetchNetworkProbeResults() (map[string]probe.Result, error) {
 	return results, err
 }
 
+// hasEnabledProbes returns true if this system has any enabled network probes.
+func (sys *System) hasEnabledProbes() bool {
+	count, err := sys.manager.hub.CountRecords("network_probes",
+		dbx.NewExp("system = {:system} AND enabled = true", dbx.Params{"system": sys.Id}))
+	return err == nil && count > 0
+}
+
 // fetchAndSaveProbeResults fetches probe results and saves them to the database.
 func (sys *System) fetchAndSaveProbeResults() {
 	hub := sys.manager.hub
 
-	// Check if this system has any probes
-	count, err := hub.CountRecords("network_probes",
-		dbx.NewExp("system = {:system} AND enabled = true", dbx.Params{"system": sys.Id}))
-	if err != nil || count == 0 {
-		return
-	}
-
 	results, err := sys.FetchNetworkProbeResults()
 	if err != nil || len(results) == 0 {
 		return
diff --git a/internal/hub/systems/system_realtime.go b/internal/hub/systems/system_realtime.go
index de74fd77..729feff1 100644
--- a/internal/hub/systems/system_realtime.go
+++ b/internal/hub/systems/system_realtime.go
@@ -168,8 +168,10 @@ func (sm *SystemManager) fetchRealtimeDataAndNotify() {
 				Containers: data.Containers,
 			}
 			// Fetch network probe results (lightweight in-memory read on agent)
-			if probes, err := sys.FetchNetworkProbeResults(); err == nil && len(probes) > 0 {
-				payload.Probes = probes
+			if sys.hasEnabledProbes() {
+				if probes, err := sys.FetchNetworkProbeResults(); err == nil && len(probes) > 0 {
+					payload.Probes = probes
+				}
 			}
 			bytes, err := json.Marshal(payload)
 			if err == nil {