diff --git a/libretroshare/src/gxs/rsgxsnetservice.cc b/libretroshare/src/gxs/rsgxsnetservice.cc
index 13d2341be..e58a7c52e 100644
--- a/libretroshare/src/gxs/rsgxsnetservice.cc
+++ b/libretroshare/src/gxs/rsgxsnetservice.cc
@@ -304,6 +304,7 @@ static const uint32_t REJECTED_MESSAGE_RETRY_DELAY            =      24*3600; //
 static const uint32_t GROUP_STATS_UPDATE_DELAY                =          240; // update unsubscribed group statistics every 3 mins
 static const uint32_t GROUP_STATS_UPDATE_NB_PEERS             =            2; // number of peers to which the group stats are asked
 static const uint32_t MAX_ALLOWED_GXS_MESSAGE_SIZE            =       199000; // 200,000 bytes including signature and headers
+static const uint32_t MIN_DELAY_BETWEEN_GROUP_SEARCH          =           40; // dont search same group more than every 40 secs.
 
 static const uint32_t RS_NXS_ITEM_ENCRYPTION_STATUS_UNKNOWN             = 0x00 ;
 static const uint32_t RS_NXS_ITEM_ENCRYPTION_STATUS_NO_ERROR            = 0x01 ;
@@ -380,6 +381,8 @@ RsGxsNetService::RsGxsNetService(uint16_t servType, RsGeneralDataService *gds,
 	mOwnId = mNetMgr->getOwnId();
     mUpdateCounter = 0;
 
+	mLastCacheReloadTS = 0;
+
 	// check the consistency
 
 	if(mDefaultMsgStorePeriod > 0 && mDefaultMsgSyncPeriod > mDefaultMsgStorePeriod)
@@ -5106,7 +5109,25 @@ bool RsGxsNetService::locked_stampMsgServerUpdateTS(const RsGxsGroupId& gid)
 
 TurtleRequestId RsGxsNetService::turtleGroupRequest(const RsGxsGroupId& group_id)
 {
+    time_t now = time(NULL);
+    auto it = mSearchedGroups.find(group_id) ;
+
+    if(mSearchedGroups.end() != it && (it->second.ts + MIN_DELAY_BETWEEN_GROUP_SEARCH > now))
+    {
+        std::cerr << "(WW) Last turtle request was " << now - it->second.ts << " secs ago. Not searching again." << std::endl;
+        return it->second.request_id;
+    }
+
+#ifdef NXS_NET_DEBUG_8
+	GXSNETDEBUG__G(group_id) << "  requesting group id " << group_id << " using turtle" << std::endl;
+#endif
 	TurtleRequestId req = mGxsNetTunnel->turtleGroupRequest(group_id,this) ;
+
+    GroupRequestRecord& rec(mSearchedGroups[group_id]) ;
+
+	rec.request_id = req;
+	rec.ts         = now;
+
     mSearchRequests[req] = group_id;
 
     return req;
@@ -5302,7 +5323,7 @@ bool RsGxsNetService::search(const Sha1CheckSum& hashed_group_id,unsigned char *
 	{
 		// Now check if the last request was too close in time, in which case, we dont retrieve data.
 
-		if(mLastCacheReloadTS + 60 < time(NULL))
+		if(mLastCacheReloadTS + 60 > time(NULL))
 		{
 			std::cerr << "(WW) Not found in cache, and last cache reload less than 60 secs ago. Returning false. " << std::endl;
 			return false ;
@@ -5315,6 +5336,7 @@ bool RsGxsNetService::search(const Sha1CheckSum& hashed_group_id,unsigned char *
 		{
 			RS_STACK_MUTEX(mNxsMutex) ;
 			mDataStore->retrieveNxsGrps(grpDataMap, true, true);
+            mLastCacheReloadTS = time(NULL);
 		}
 
         for(auto it(grpDataMap.begin());it!=grpDataMap.end();++it)
diff --git a/libretroshare/src/gxs/rsgxsnetservice.h b/libretroshare/src/gxs/rsgxsnetservice.h
index 9ab18b4d5..295397ae2 100644
--- a/libretroshare/src/gxs/rsgxsnetservice.h
+++ b/libretroshare/src/gxs/rsgxsnetservice.h
@@ -59,6 +59,14 @@ class RsGroupNetworkStatsRecord
     time_t update_TS ;
 };
 
+struct GroupRequestRecord
+{
+    GroupRequestRecord(): ts(0), request_id(0) {}
+
+    time_t ts ;
+    TurtleRequestId request_id;
+};
+
 /*!
  * This class implements the RsNetWorkExchangeService
  * using transactions to handle synchrnisation of Nxs items between
@@ -615,6 +623,7 @@ private:
 
     std::map<Sha1CheckSum, RsNxsGrp*> mGroupHashCache;
     std::map<TurtleRequestId,RsGxsGroupId> mSearchRequests;
+    std::map<RsGxsGroupId,GroupRequestRecord> mSearchedGroups ;
     time_t mLastCacheReloadTS ;
 };
 
diff --git a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/gxs/GxsGroupFrameDialog.cpp b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/gxs/GxsGroupFrameDialog.cpp
index 1f2d2fc00..2ac49df42 100644
--- a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/gxs/GxsGroupFrameDialog.cpp
+++ b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/gxs/GxsGroupFrameDialog.cpp
@@ -767,6 +767,9 @@ void GxsGroupFrameDialog::changedCurrentGroup(const QString &groupId)
 		return;
 	}
 
+    // send a request for the group, if it has been distant-searched.
+    checkRequestGroup(mGroupId) ;
+
 	/* search exisiting tab */
 	GxsMessageFrameWidget *msgWidget = messageWidget(mGroupId, true);
 
diff --git a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/gxs/GxsGroupFrameDialog.h b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/gxs/GxsGroupFrameDialog.h
index bcfbabe78..7908f8b5b 100644
--- a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/gxs/GxsGroupFrameDialog.h
+++ b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/gxs/GxsGroupFrameDialog.h
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ protected:
 	virtual RetroShareLink::enumType getLinkType() = 0;
 	virtual GroupFrameSettings::Type groupFrameSettingsType() { return GroupFrameSettings::Nothing; }
 	virtual void groupInfoToGroupItemInfo(const RsGroupMetaData &groupInfo, GroupItemInfo &groupItemInfo, const RsUserdata *userdata);
+    virtual void checkRequestGroup(const RsGxsGroupId& grpId) {}
 
 private slots:
 	void todo();
diff --git a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/gxschannels/GxsChannelDialog.cpp b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/gxschannels/GxsChannelDialog.cpp
index 160119ee2..f839a0a3f 100644
--- a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/gxschannels/GxsChannelDialog.cpp
+++ b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/gxschannels/GxsChannelDialog.cpp
@@ -346,3 +346,14 @@ bool GxsChannelDialog::getDistantSearchResults(TurtleRequestId id, std::map<RsGx
 {
     return rsGxsChannels->retrieveDistantSearchResults(id,group_infos);
 }
+
+void GxsChannelDialog::checkRequestGroup(const RsGxsGroupId& grpId)
+{
+    RsGxsChannelGroup distant_group;
+
+	if( rsGxsChannels->retrieveDistantGroup(grpId,distant_group)) // normally we should also check that the group meta is not already here.
+    {
+        std::cerr << "GxsChannelDialog::checkRequestGroup() sending turtle request for group data for group " << grpId << std::endl;
+        rsGxsChannels->turtleGroupRequest(grpId);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/gxschannels/GxsChannelDialog.h b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/gxschannels/GxsChannelDialog.h
index 38b27d805..43a81aca5 100644
--- a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/gxschannels/GxsChannelDialog.h
+++ b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/gxschannels/GxsChannelDialog.h
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ protected:
     virtual bool getDistantSearchResults(TurtleRequestId id, std::map<RsGxsGroupId,RsGxsGroupSummary>& group_infos);
 
 	virtual TurtleRequestId distantSearch(const QString& search_string) ;
+    virtual void checkRequestGroup(const RsGxsGroupId& grpId) ;
+
 private slots:
 	void toggleAutoDownload();
         void setDefaultDirectory();