diff --git a/src/app/login/login.component.ts b/src/app/login/login.component.ts
index b9a645fc5b..ea74663fef 100644
--- a/src/app/login/login.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/login/login.component.ts
@@ -21,10 +21,14 @@ export class LoginComponent implements OnInit {
 
   ngOnInit() {
     this.getPlanetVersion();
-    this.configurationCheckService.checkConfiguration().subscribe(isOnline => {
-      this.online = isOnline;
-    });
-  }
+    this.configurationCheckService.checkConfiguration().subscribe(isOnline => {
+      if (!isOnline) {
+        this.online = 'off';
+        return;
+      }
+      this.online = isOnline;
+    });
+  }
 
   getPlanetVersion() {
     const opts = { responseType: 'text', withCredentials: false, headers: { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain' } };
diff --git a/src/app/shared/configuration-check.service.ts b/src/app/shared/configuration-check.service.ts
index 4884ba6eda..2437b3943e 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/configuration-check.service.ts
+++ b/src/app/shared/configuration-check.service.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 import { Injectable } from '@angular/core';
+import { HttpParams } from '@angular/common/http';
 import { Router } from '@angular/router';
 import { environment } from '../../environments/environment';
 import { CouchService } from './couchdb.service';
 import { of } from 'rxjs';
-import { tap, switchMap, catchError, map } from 'rxjs/operators';
+import { switchMap, catchError, map, timeout } from 'rxjs/operators';
 
 @Injectable({
   providedIn: 'root'
@@ -34,7 +35,10 @@ export class ConfigurationCheckService {
           if (!data[0] || data[0].planetType === 'center') {
             return of(false);
           }
-          return this.couchService.get('', { domain: data[0].parentDomain });
+          return this.couchService.get('', { domain: data[0].parentDomain }).pipe(
+            timeout(3000),
+            catchError(() => of(false))
+          );
         }),
         map(data => {
           this.online = (data) ? 'on' : 'off';
@@ -46,13 +50,13 @@ export class ConfigurationCheckService {
   }
 
   checkAdminExistence() {
-    return this.couchService.get('_users/_all_docs').pipe(
-      tap((data) => {
-        return true; // user can see data so there is no admin
-      }),
-      catchError((error) => {
-        return of(false); // user doesn't have permission so there is an admin
-      })
+    return this.couchService.get('_users/_all_docs', {
+      params: new HttpParams()
+        .set('limit', '1')
+        .set('include_docs', 'false')
+    }).pipe(
+      map(() => true),
+      catchError(() => of(false))
     );
   }