diff --git a/AppImage/ProxMenux-1.2.1.1-beta.AppImage b/AppImage/ProxMenux-1.2.1.1-beta.AppImage
index 8e23f573..bac4fdbc 100755
Binary files a/AppImage/ProxMenux-1.2.1.1-beta.AppImage and b/AppImage/ProxMenux-1.2.1.1-beta.AppImage differ
diff --git a/AppImage/ProxMenux-1.2.1.1-beta.AppImage.sha256 b/AppImage/ProxMenux-1.2.1.1-beta.AppImage.sha256
index 065a3188..fc9813ba 100644
--- a/AppImage/ProxMenux-1.2.1.1-beta.AppImage.sha256
+++ b/AppImage/ProxMenux-1.2.1.1-beta.AppImage.sha256
@@ -1 +1 @@
-774332ee537b6c24caadc0a2f8ad5c8952f4a07d7c875ec04e6a310383371c09  /tmp/ProxMenux-1.2.1.1-beta.AppImage
+e1a6ae02b7a8dc65cf31c6b3fecfd3719531377adc0978a12f949edbf3cac8e3  /tmp/ProxMenux-1.2.1.1-beta.AppImage
diff --git a/AppImage/app/page.tsx b/AppImage/app/page.tsx
index 826117f7..f2b8e2a7 100644
--- a/AppImage/app/page.tsx
+++ b/AppImage/app/page.tsx
@@ -29,17 +29,38 @@ export default function Home() {
       const response = await fetch(getApiUrl("/api/auth/status"), {
         headers: token ? { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` } : {},
       })
-      
+
+      // 401 here means the token is present but invalid — typically signed
+      // under a previous jwt_secret (rotated on AppImage upgrade or fresh
+      // install). If we let this fall into the catch below, the dashboard
+      // would render and every authenticated component would fire its own
+      // 401 in parallel, flooding the backend logs and looping reloads.
+      // Drop the dead token and force the Login screen instead.
+      if (response.status === 401) {
+        try {
+          localStorage.removeItem("proxmenux-auth-token")
+        } catch {
+          // private browsing — best-effort
+        }
+        setAuthStatus({
+          loading: false,
+          authEnabled: true,
+          authConfigured: true,
+          authenticated: false,
+        })
+        return
+      }
+
       // Check if response is valid JSON before parsing
       if (!response.ok) {
         throw new Error(`HTTP ${response.status}`)
       }
-      
+
       const contentType = response.headers.get("content-type")
       if (!contentType || !contentType.includes("application/json")) {
         throw new Error("Response is not JSON")
       }
-      
+
       const data = await response.json()
 
       const authenticated = data.auth_enabled ? data.authenticated : true
diff --git a/AppImage/components/login.tsx b/AppImage/components/login.tsx
index f027a7ad..bef41889 100644
--- a/AppImage/components/login.tsx
+++ b/AppImage/components/login.tsx
@@ -76,6 +76,11 @@ export function Login({ onLogin }: LoginProps) {
       }
 
       localStorage.setItem("proxmenux-auth-token", data.token)
+      try {
+        sessionStorage.removeItem("proxmenux-auth-401-handled")
+      } catch {
+        // ignore
+      }
 
       if (rememberMe) {
         localStorage.setItem("proxmenux-saved-username", username)
diff --git a/AppImage/lib/api-config.ts b/AppImage/lib/api-config.ts
index 1927654c..afeb2be7 100644
--- a/AppImage/lib/api-config.ts
+++ b/AppImage/lib/api-config.ts
@@ -92,19 +92,28 @@ export async function fetchApi<T>(endpoint: string, options?: RequestInit): Prom
     if (!response.ok) {
       if (response.status === 401) {
         // Token is missing, expired, or signed under a previous JWT_SECRET
-        // (audit Tier 4 #22 rotates per-install). Drop the stale token and
-        // bounce the user to login — the previous behavior just threw and
-        // left the dashboard stuck on a blank state. Audit Tier 2 residual.
+        // (rotated per-install). Drop the stale token and force a single
+        // reload so the page-level auth gate (`app/page.tsx`) can render
+        // <Login> instead of cascading 401s from every authenticated
+        // component on mount. The sessionStorage flag is essential: a
+        // page like Hardware/Storage fires 10-20 SWR fetches in parallel,
+        // and without dedup each of them would race to reload the tab —
+        // observed in the wild as ~180 "Invalid token" log lines per
+        // second from a single browser running an upgraded Monitor.
         if (typeof window !== "undefined") {
           try {
             localStorage.removeItem("proxmenux-auth-token")
           } catch {
             // localStorage might be unavailable in private browsing — ignore.
           }
-          // Avoid redirect loops if we're already on the auth page.
-          const path = window.location.pathname
-          if (!path.startsWith("/auth") && !path.startsWith("/login")) {
-            window.location.assign("/")
+          try {
+            if (!sessionStorage.getItem("proxmenux-auth-401-handled")) {
+              sessionStorage.setItem("proxmenux-auth-401-handled", "1")
+              window.location.reload()
+            }
+          } catch {
+            // sessionStorage unavailable — fall back to a plain reload.
+            window.location.reload()
           }
         }
         throw new Error(`Unauthorized: ${endpoint}`)
diff --git a/AppImage/scripts/auth_manager.py b/AppImage/scripts/auth_manager.py
index 3bed9fc7..d080f366 100644
--- a/AppImage/scripts/auth_manager.py
+++ b/AppImage/scripts/auth_manager.py
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ import hashlib
 import hmac
 import secrets
 import base64
+import threading
+import time
 from datetime import datetime, timedelta
 from pathlib import Path
 
@@ -341,6 +343,40 @@ def verify_token_full(token):
         return None, None
 
 
+_AUTH_LOG_RATE = {'last_ts': 0.0, 'suppressed': 0, 'last_msg': ''}
+_AUTH_LOG_LOCK = threading.Lock()
+
+
+def _log_auth_failure_throttled(msg):
+    """Log a JWT verification failure at most once every 30 seconds.
+
+    A browser whose token was invalidated by a jwt_secret rotation can
+    fire dozens of authenticated requests per page load (SWR fetches +
+    WebSocket reconnects); without throttling this floods the journal
+    with hundreds of identical 'Invalid token: Signature verification
+    failed' lines per second and stalls journald. We keep the first
+    occurrence verbatim and emit one summary line every 30s with the
+    suppressed count, so the operator still has visibility of the
+    issue without the cascade.
+    """
+    now = time.time()
+    with _AUTH_LOG_LOCK:
+        elapsed = now - _AUTH_LOG_RATE['last_ts']
+        if elapsed >= 30:
+            if _AUTH_LOG_RATE['suppressed']:
+                print(f"[auth] {_AUTH_LOG_RATE['last_msg']} "
+                      f"(+{_AUTH_LOG_RATE['suppressed']} more in last "
+                      f"{int(elapsed)}s)")
+            else:
+                print(f"[auth] {msg}")
+            _AUTH_LOG_RATE['last_ts'] = now
+            _AUTH_LOG_RATE['suppressed'] = 0
+            _AUTH_LOG_RATE['last_msg'] = msg
+        else:
+            _AUTH_LOG_RATE['suppressed'] += 1
+            _AUTH_LOG_RATE['last_msg'] = msg
+
+
 def verify_token(token):
     """
     Verify a JWT token
@@ -376,10 +412,10 @@ def verify_token(token):
             payload = jwt.decode(token, _get_jwt_secret(), algorithms=[JWT_ALGORITHM])
         return payload.get('username')
     except jwt.ExpiredSignatureError:
-        print("Token has expired")
+        _log_auth_failure_throttled("Token has expired")
         return None
     except jwt.InvalidTokenError as e:
-        print(f"Invalid token: {e}")
+        _log_auth_failure_throttled(f"Invalid token: {e}")
         return None