diff --git a/static/index.html b/static/index.html
index 574a532..2e3b2fb 100644
--- a/static/index.html
+++ b/static/index.html
@@ -2028,8 +2028,13 @@
           opts.headers['Authorization'] = 'Bearer ' + AppState.authToken;
         }
       }
+      // 15s timeout to prevent hanging lookups on slow/mobile networks
+      const controller = new AbortController();
+      const timeoutId = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 15000);
+      opts.signal = controller.signal;
       try {
         const res = await fetch(url, opts);
+        clearTimeout(timeoutId);
         if (res.status === 204) return null;
         const text = await res.text();
         let data = null;
@@ -2041,9 +2046,13 @@
         if (returnMeta) return { data, headers: res.headers };
         return data;
       } catch (e) {
+        clearTimeout(timeoutId);
         if (e.name === 'TypeError' && e.message === 'Failed to fetch') {
           throw new Error('Network error — check your connection');
         }
+        if (e.name === 'AbortError') {
+          throw new Error('Request timed out — check your connection');
+        }
         throw e;
       }
     }
@@ -3060,6 +3069,10 @@
       barcodeDebounce = machineId;
       currentScannedMachineId = machineId;
 
+      // Stop the camera scanner before the API call — on mobile browsers
+      // an active camera stream can throttle concurrent fetch requests.
+      stopScanning();
+
       setScanStatus(`Scanned: ${machineId} — looking up...`, 'working');
       document.getElementById('scanResult').style.display = 'none';
       document.getElementById('checkinCard').style.display = 'none';