diff --git a/minimateplus/client.py b/minimateplus/client.py
index 3f5c9d2..d35c541 100644
--- a/minimateplus/client.py
+++ b/minimateplus/client.py
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ class MiniMateClient:
         log.info("count_events: %d event(s) found via 1E/1F chain", count)
         return count
 
-    def get_events(self, full_waveform: bool = False, debug: bool = False) -> list[Event]:
+    def get_events(self, full_waveform: bool = False, debug: bool = False, stop_after_index: Optional[int] = None) -> list[Event]:
         """
         Download all stored events from the device using the confirmed
         1E → 0A → 0C → 5A → 1F event-iterator protocol.
@@ -439,6 +439,15 @@ class MiniMateClient:
                 events.append(ev)
                 idx += 1
 
+                # Early exit: if the caller only wants events up to a specific
+                # index, stop iterating once we've collected it.
+                if stop_after_index is not None and idx > stop_after_index:
+                    log.info(
+                        "get_events: reached stop_after_index=%d — stopping early",
+                        stop_after_index,
+                    )
+                    break
+
             else:
                 # Partial/failed record — skip 5A, just advance with 1F.
                 log.info(
diff --git a/minimateplus/protocol.py b/minimateplus/protocol.py
index 9a2041f..5e65924 100644
--- a/minimateplus/protocol.py
+++ b/minimateplus/protocol.py
@@ -520,7 +520,7 @@ class MiniMateProtocol:
             self._send(build_5a_frame(_BULK_CHUNK_OFFSET, params))
             self._parser.reset()        # reset bytes_fed for accurate per-chunk count
             try:
-                rsp = self._recv_one(expected_sub=rsp_sub, reset_parser=False)
+                rsp = self._recv_one(expected_sub=rsp_sub, reset_parser=False, timeout=10.0)
             except TimeoutError:
                 raw = self._parser.bytes_fed
                 log.warning(
diff --git a/sfm/server.py b/sfm/server.py
index 10c2a1d..5e9dd77 100644
--- a/sfm/server.py
+++ b/sfm/server.py
@@ -380,7 +380,7 @@ def device_event(
         def _do():
             with _build_client(port, baud, host, tcp_port) as client:
                 client.connect()
-                return client.get_events()
+                return client.get_events(stop_after_index=index)
         events = _run_with_retry(_do, is_tcp=_is_tcp(host))
     except HTTPException:
         raise
@@ -433,9 +433,8 @@ def device_event_waveform(
         def _do():
             with _build_client(port, baud, host, tcp_port, timeout=120.0) as client:
                 info = client.connect()
-                # full_waveform=True fetches the complete 5A stream inside the
-                # 1E→0A→0C→5A→1F loop.  Issuing a second 5A after 1F times out.
-                events = client.get_events(full_waveform=True)
+                # stop_after_index avoids downloading events beyond the one requested.
+                events = client.get_events(full_waveform=True, stop_after_index=index)
                 matching = [ev for ev in events if ev.index == index]
                 return matching[0] if matching else None, info
         ev, info = _run_with_retry(_do, is_tcp=_is_tcp(host))