diff --git a/run/nobody/watchdog.sh b/run/nobody/watchdog.sh
index 53386ab..feb2ec4 100644
--- a/run/nobody/watchdog.sh
+++ b/run/nobody/watchdog.sh
@@ -30,6 +30,15 @@ grep -q 'General\\Locale' "${qbittorrent_config}" || sed -i '/\[Preferences\]/a
 qbittorrent_port="6881"
 qbittorrent_ip="0.0.0.0"
 
+# define sleep period between loops
+sleep_period_secs=30
+
+# define sleep period between incoming port checks
+sleep_period_incoming_port_secs=1800
+
+# sleep period counter - used to limit number of hits to external website to check incoming port
+sleep_period_counter_secs=0
+
 # while loop to check ip and port
 while true; do
 
@@ -103,15 +112,13 @@ while true; do
 
 					if [[ "${qbittorrent_running}" == "true" ]]; then
 
-						# run netcat to identify if port still open, use exit code
-						nc_exitcode=$(/usr/bin/nc -z -w 3 "${vpn_ip}" "${qbittorrent_port}")
+						if [ "${sleep_period_counter_secs}" -ge "${sleep_period_incoming_port_secs}" ]; then
 
-						if [[ "${nc_exitcode}" -ne 0 ]]; then
+							# run script to check incoming port is accessible
+							source /home/nobody/checkextport.sh
 
-							echo "[info] qBittorrent incoming port closed, marking for reconfigure"
-
-							# mark as reconfigure required due to mismatch
-							port_change="true"
+							# reset sleep period counter
+							sleep_period_counter_secs=0
 
 						fi
 
@@ -196,6 +203,9 @@ while true; do
 
 	fi
 
-	sleep 30s
+	# increment sleep period counter - used to limit number of hits to external website to check incoming port
+	sleep_period_counter_secs=$((sleep_period_counter_secs+"${sleep_period_secs}"))
+
+	sleep "${sleep_period_secs}"s
 
 done