diff --git a/superset/assets/javascripts/SqlLab/actions.js b/superset/assets/javascripts/SqlLab/actions.js
index c6d48445fa890..3a3f64e15d31f 100644
--- a/superset/assets/javascripts/SqlLab/actions.js
+++ b/superset/assets/javascripts/SqlLab/actions.js
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ export const SET_ACTIVE_SOUTHPANE_TAB = 'SET_ACTIVE_SOUTHPANE_TAB';
 export const ADD_ALERT = 'ADD_ALERT';
 export const REMOVE_ALERT = 'REMOVE_ALERT';
 export const REFRESH_QUERIES = 'REFRESH_QUERIES';
-export const SET_NETWORK_STATUS = 'SET_NETWORK_STATUS';
 export const RUN_QUERY = 'RUN_QUERY';
 export const START_QUERY = 'START_QUERY';
 export const STOP_QUERY = 'STOP_QUERY';
@@ -173,10 +172,6 @@ export function cloneQueryToNewTab(query) {
   return { type: CLONE_QUERY_TO_NEW_TAB, query };
 }
 
-export function setNetworkStatus(networkOn) {
-  return { type: SET_NETWORK_STATUS, networkOn };
-}
-
 export function addAlert(alert) {
   const o = Object.assign({}, alert);
   o.id = shortid.generate();
diff --git a/superset/assets/javascripts/SqlLab/components/QueryAutoRefresh.jsx b/superset/assets/javascripts/SqlLab/components/QueryAutoRefresh.jsx
index 458845dea85d0..b52128898d82c 100644
--- a/superset/assets/javascripts/SqlLab/components/QueryAutoRefresh.jsx
+++ b/superset/assets/javascripts/SqlLab/components/QueryAutoRefresh.jsx
@@ -14,6 +14,13 @@ class QueryAutoRefresh extends React.PureComponent {
   componentWillUnmount() {
     this.stopTimer();
   }
+  shouldCheckForQueries() {
+    // if there are started or running queries, this method should return true
+    const { queries } = this.props;
+    const queryKeys = Object.keys(queries);
+    const queriesAsArray = queryKeys.map(key => queries[key]);
+    return queriesAsArray.some(q => q.state === 'running' || q.state === 'started');
+  }
   startTimer() {
     if (!(this.timer)) {
       this.timer = setInterval(this.stopwatch.bind(this), QUERY_UPDATE_FREQ);
@@ -24,32 +31,29 @@ class QueryAutoRefresh extends React.PureComponent {
     this.timer = null;
   }
   stopwatch() {
-    const url = '/superset/queries/' + (this.props.queriesLastUpdate - QUERY_UPDATE_BUFFER_MS);
-    // No updates in case of failure.
-    $.getJSON(url, (data) => {
-      if (Object.keys(data).length > 0) {
-        this.props.actions.refreshQueries(data);
-      }
-      this.props.actions.setNetworkStatus(true);
-    })
-    .fail(() => {
-      this.props.actions.setNetworkStatus(false);
-    });
+    // only poll /superset/queries/ if there are started or running queries
+    if (this.shouldCheckForQueries()) {
+      const url = '/superset/queries/' + (this.props.queriesLastUpdate - QUERY_UPDATE_BUFFER_MS);
+      $.getJSON(url, (data) => {
+        if (Object.keys(data).length > 0) {
+          this.props.actions.refreshQueries(data);
+        }
+      });
+    }
   }
   render() {
     return null;
   }
 }
 QueryAutoRefresh.propTypes = {
-  actions: React.PropTypes.object,
-  queriesLastUpdate: React.PropTypes.number,
-};
-QueryAutoRefresh.defaultProps = {
-  // queries: null,
+  queries: React.PropTypes.object.isRequired,
+  actions: React.PropTypes.object.isRequired,
+  queriesLastUpdate: React.PropTypes.number.isRequired,
 };
 
 function mapStateToProps(state) {
   return {
+    queries: state.queries,
     queriesLastUpdate: state.queriesLastUpdate,
   };
 }
diff --git a/superset/assets/javascripts/SqlLab/components/SqlEditor.jsx b/superset/assets/javascripts/SqlLab/components/SqlEditor.jsx
index 92bbb426b6bdf..6765d90121010 100644
--- a/superset/assets/javascripts/SqlLab/components/SqlEditor.jsx
+++ b/superset/assets/javascripts/SqlLab/components/SqlEditor.jsx
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ const propTypes = {
   height: React.PropTypes.string.isRequired,
   database: React.PropTypes.object,
   latestQuery: React.PropTypes.object,
-  networkOn: React.PropTypes.bool,
   tables: React.PropTypes.array.isRequired,
   editorQueries: React.PropTypes.array.isRequired,
   dataPreviewQueries: React.PropTypes.array.isRequired,
@@ -35,7 +34,6 @@ const propTypes = {
 };
 
 const defaultProps = {
-  networkOn: true,
   database: null,
   latestQuery: null,
   hideLeftBar: false,
@@ -190,7 +188,6 @@ class SqlEditor extends React.PureComponent {
                 style={{ height: this.props.height }}
                 queryEditor={this.props.queryEditor}
                 tables={this.props.tables}
-                networkOn={this.props.networkOn}
                 actions={this.props.actions}
               />
             </Col>
diff --git a/superset/assets/javascripts/SqlLab/components/SqlEditorLeftBar.jsx b/superset/assets/javascripts/SqlLab/components/SqlEditorLeftBar.jsx
index 5a2c2d312ee5e..422c47d7899f8 100644
--- a/superset/assets/javascripts/SqlLab/components/SqlEditorLeftBar.jsx
+++ b/superset/assets/javascripts/SqlLab/components/SqlEditorLeftBar.jsx
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 const $ = window.$ = require('jquery');
 import React from 'react';
-import { Label, Button } from 'react-bootstrap';
+import { Button } from 'react-bootstrap';
 import TableElement from './TableElement';
 import AsyncSelect from '../../components/AsyncSelect';
 import Select from 'react-virtualized-select';
@@ -10,12 +10,10 @@ const propTypes = {
   queryEditor: React.PropTypes.object.isRequired,
   tables: React.PropTypes.array,
   actions: React.PropTypes.object,
-  networkOn: React.PropTypes.bool,
 };
 
 const defaultProps = {
   tables: [],
-  networkOn: true,
   actions: {},
 };
 
@@ -27,7 +25,6 @@ class SqlEditorLeftBar extends React.PureComponent {
       schemaOptions: [],
       tableLoading: false,
       tableOptions: [],
-      networkOn: true,
     };
   }
   componentWillMount() {
@@ -125,17 +122,12 @@ class SqlEditorLeftBar extends React.PureComponent {
     this.refs[ref].hide();
   }
   render() {
-    let networkAlert = null;
-    if (!this.props.networkOn) {
-      networkAlert = <p><Label bsStyle="danger">OFFLINE</Label></p>;
-    }
     const shouldShowReset = window.location.search === '?reset=1';
     const options = this.state.tableOptions;
     const filterOptions = createFilterOptions({ options });
     return (
       <div className="scrollbar-container">
         <div className="clearfix sql-toolbar scrollbar-content">
-          {networkAlert}
           <div>
             <AsyncSelect
               dataEndpoint="/databaseasync/api/read?_flt_0_expose_in_sqllab=1"
diff --git a/superset/assets/javascripts/SqlLab/components/TabbedSqlEditors.jsx b/superset/assets/javascripts/SqlLab/components/TabbedSqlEditors.jsx
index 9d437f588fd6c..a6eea4bceba27 100644
--- a/superset/assets/javascripts/SqlLab/components/TabbedSqlEditors.jsx
+++ b/superset/assets/javascripts/SqlLab/components/TabbedSqlEditors.jsx
@@ -15,12 +15,10 @@ const propTypes = {
   queryEditors: React.PropTypes.array,
   tabHistory: React.PropTypes.array.isRequired,
   tables: React.PropTypes.array.isRequired,
-  networkOn: React.PropTypes.bool,
   editorHeight: React.PropTypes.string.isRequired,
 };
 const defaultProps = {
   queryEditors: [],
-  networkOn: true,
 };
 
 let queryCount = 1;
@@ -199,7 +197,6 @@ class TabbedSqlEditors extends React.PureComponent {
                   latestQuery={latestQuery}
                   database={database}
                   actions={this.props.actions}
-                  networkOn={this.props.networkOn}
                   hideLeftBar={this.state.hideLeftBar}
                 />
               }
@@ -235,7 +232,6 @@ function mapStateToProps(state) {
     queryEditors: state.queryEditors,
     queries: state.queries,
     tabHistory: state.tabHistory,
-    networkOn: state.networkOn,
     tables: state.tables,
     defaultDbId: state.defaultDbId,
   };
diff --git a/superset/assets/javascripts/SqlLab/reducers.js b/superset/assets/javascripts/SqlLab/reducers.js
index e6eb073ce6579..7204a1cfa4eee 100644
--- a/superset/assets/javascripts/SqlLab/reducers.js
+++ b/superset/assets/javascripts/SqlLab/reducers.js
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ export function getInitialState(defaultDbId) {
 
   return {
     alerts: [],
-    networkOn: true,
     queries: {},
     databases: {},
     queryEditors: [defaultQueryEditor],
@@ -230,12 +229,6 @@ export const sqlLabReducer = function (state, action) {
     [actions.REMOVE_ALERT]() {
       return removeFromArr(state, 'alerts', action.alert);
     },
-    [actions.SET_NETWORK_STATUS]() {
-      if (state.networkOn !== action.networkOn) {
-        return Object.assign({}, state, { networkOn: action.networkOn });
-      }
-      return state;
-    },
     [actions.REFRESH_QUERIES]() {
       let newQueries = Object.assign({}, state.queries);
       // Fetch the updates to the queries present in the store.
diff --git a/superset/assets/spec/javascripts/sqllab/fixtures.js b/superset/assets/spec/javascripts/sqllab/fixtures.js
index f9587492f0c86..fb854da67de73 100644
--- a/superset/assets/spec/javascripts/sqllab/fixtures.js
+++ b/superset/assets/spec/javascripts/sqllab/fixtures.js
@@ -250,7 +250,6 @@ export const queries = [
 
 export const initialState = {
   alerts: [],
-  networkOn: true,
   queries: {},
   databases: {},
   queryEditors: [defaultQueryEditor],