Never the same wait twice.

Practical guide

What is a random auto refresh?

Instead of reloading on a fixed beat, a random auto refresh picks a new wait for every cycle, somewhere between a minimum and a maximum you set. Enter 20 and 45 seconds and one refresh might come after 23 seconds, the next after 41.

The countdown always shows the wait chosen for the current round, so you still know exactly when the next reload is due.

Why random beats a fixed timer

• It looks like a person, not a machine. Requests that arrive on the exact same second are easy for a website to flag.
• It is gentler on the site. Spreading reloads out avoids piling onto a busy server at regular intervals.
• It suits long waits. For a restock or a queue you may watch for hours, a range such as 30 to 90 seconds is a sensible default.

Good ranges to start with

Active watching

15 to 40 seconds, with a watch rule so it stops on a change.

Background checking

60 to 180 seconds, with a time limit.

Slow status pages

5 to 10 minutes (300 to 600 seconds).

A worked example: a 30 to 90 second range

You are watching a product page that may restock at any time today. Type 30 into Min and 90 into Max and press Start. The first refresh happens immediately. The counter then shows the wait picked for this round, perhaps 0:52, then 1:14, then 0:37.

Over an hour that averages one request a minute, the same as a fixed 60-second timer, but without the regular rhythm.

Fixed or random: which should you choose?

Choose fixed when

the page is your own tool (a dashboard, a build page, a local site) or when you want a predictable display on a wall screen.

Choose random when

you are checking someone else's website for a long time, especially a shop, a booking page or a results page under load.

Common mistakes

• A range that is too narrow. 29 to 31 seconds is fixed in all but name. Give it room, such as 30 to 90.
• A minimum that is too low. With 1 to 120 seconds, some waits will be only a second or two.
• Assuming it makes you invisible. Sites still count requests. Random timing is politeness, not a disguise.

Smart auto refresh: random timing plus a watch rule

The most useful set-up for waiting on something is a random range together with a page change rule and a time limit. The tab checks at an easy pace, stops the moment the page changes, and gives up by itself if nothing happens.

At a glance

• A range, not a rhythm. Set 20 and 45 and one wait might be 23 seconds, the next 41. A fixed beat is easy for a site to spot; a range is not.
• Free, not locked away. Random intervals are a paid extra in some refresh tools. Here they are part of the basic timer.
• Still fully in control. Limits, page watching and smart pause all work the same with a random range.