diff --git a/hscontrol/grpcv1.go b/hscontrol/grpcv1.go
index 8b516c3e..38cc6ff6 100644
--- a/hscontrol/grpcv1.go
+++ b/hscontrol/grpcv1.go
@@ -544,6 +544,7 @@ func nodesToProto(polMan policy.PolicyManager, isLikelyConnected *xsync.MapOf[ty
 		// currently connected nodes.
 		if val, ok := isLikelyConnected.Load(node.ID); ok && val {
 			resp.Online = true
+			resp.LastSeen = timestamppb.New(time.Now())
 		}
 
 		var tags []string
diff --git a/hscontrol/mapper/mapper.go b/hscontrol/mapper/mapper.go
index d7deb0a5..455271fa 100644
--- a/hscontrol/mapper/mapper.go
+++ b/hscontrol/mapper/mapper.go
@@ -504,7 +504,7 @@ func (m *Mapper) ListPeers(nodeID types.NodeID, peerIDs ...types.NodeID) (types.
 
 	for _, peer := range peers {
 		online := m.notif.IsLikelyConnected(peer.ID)
-		peer.IsOnline = &online
+		peer.IsOnline = online
 	}
 
 	return peers, nil
@@ -520,7 +520,7 @@ func (m *Mapper) ListNodes(nodeIDs ...types.NodeID) (types.Nodes, error) {
 
 	for _, node := range nodes {
 		online := m.notif.IsLikelyConnected(node.ID)
-		node.IsOnline = &online
+		node.IsOnline = online
 	}
 
 	return nodes, nil
diff --git a/hscontrol/mapper/mapper_test.go b/hscontrol/mapper/mapper_test.go
index dfce60bb..61403786 100644
--- a/hscontrol/mapper/mapper_test.go
+++ b/hscontrol/mapper/mapper_test.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import (
 	"tailscale.com/tailcfg"
 	"tailscale.com/types/dnstype"
 	"tailscale.com/types/key"
+	"tailscale.com/types/ptr"
 )
 
 var iap = func(ipStr string) *netip.Addr {
@@ -184,6 +185,7 @@ func Test_fullMapResponse(t *testing.T) {
 		}),
 		Created:           created,
 		Tags:              []string{},
+		Online:            ptr.To(false),
 		LastSeen:          &lastSeen,
 		MachineAuthorized: true,
 
@@ -239,6 +241,7 @@ func Test_fullMapResponse(t *testing.T) {
 		Hostinfo:          hiview(tailcfg.Hostinfo{}),
 		Created:           created,
 		Tags:              []string{},
+		Online:            ptr.To(false),
 		LastSeen:          &lastSeen,
 		MachineAuthorized: true,
 
diff --git a/hscontrol/mapper/tail.go b/hscontrol/mapper/tail.go
index eae70e96..03cb901f 100644
--- a/hscontrol/mapper/tail.go
+++ b/hscontrol/mapper/tail.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/samber/lo"
 	"tailscale.com/net/tsaddr"
 	"tailscale.com/tailcfg"
+	"tailscale.com/types/ptr"
 )
 
 func tailNodes(
@@ -107,7 +108,7 @@ func tailNode(
 		Hostinfo:         node.Hostinfo.View(),
 		Created:          node.CreatedAt.UTC(),
 
-		Online: node.IsOnline,
+		Online: ptr.To(node.IsOnline),
 
 		Tags: tags,
 
@@ -125,7 +126,10 @@ func tailNode(
 		tNode.CapMap[tailcfg.NodeAttrRandomizeClientPort] = []tailcfg.RawMessage{}
 	}
 
-	if node.IsOnline == nil || !*node.IsOnline {
+	if node.IsOnline {
+		// If the node is online, return the current time.
+		tNode.LastSeen = ptr.To(time.Now())
+	} else {
 		// LastSeen is only set when node is
 		// not connected to the control server.
 		tNode.LastSeen = node.LastSeen
diff --git a/hscontrol/mapper/tail_test.go b/hscontrol/mapper/tail_test.go
index cacc4930..e0b35467 100644
--- a/hscontrol/mapper/tail_test.go
+++ b/hscontrol/mapper/tail_test.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	"tailscale.com/net/tsaddr"
 	"tailscale.com/tailcfg"
 	"tailscale.com/types/key"
+	"tailscale.com/types/ptr"
 )
 
 func TestTailNode(t *testing.T) {
@@ -73,6 +74,7 @@ func TestTailNode(t *testing.T) {
 				Tags:              []string{},
 				MachineAuthorized: true,
 
+				Online: ptr.To(false),
 				CapMap: tailcfg.NodeCapMap{
 					tailcfg.CapabilityFileSharing: []tailcfg.RawMessage{},
 					tailcfg.CapabilityAdmin:       []tailcfg.RawMessage{},
@@ -158,6 +160,7 @@ func TestTailNode(t *testing.T) {
 
 				Tags: []string{},
 
+				Online:            ptr.To(false),
 				LastSeen:          &lastSeen,
 				MachineAuthorized: true,
 
@@ -186,6 +189,7 @@ func TestTailNode(t *testing.T) {
 				Hostinfo:          hiview(tailcfg.Hostinfo{}),
 				Tags:              []string{},
 				MachineAuthorized: true,
+				Online:            ptr.To(false),
 
 				CapMap: tailcfg.NodeCapMap{
 					tailcfg.CapabilityFileSharing: []tailcfg.RawMessage{},
diff --git a/hscontrol/types/node.go b/hscontrol/types/node.go
index da185563..22c9b474 100644
--- a/hscontrol/types/node.go
+++ b/hscontrol/types/node.go
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ type Node struct {
 	UpdatedAt time.Time
 	DeletedAt *time.Time
 
-	IsOnline *bool `gorm:"-"`
+	IsOnline bool `gorm:"-"`
 }
 
 type Nodes []*Node
@@ -512,7 +512,7 @@ func (node *Node) ApplyPeerChange(change *tailcfg.PeerChange) {
 	}
 
 	if change.Online != nil {
-		node.IsOnline = change.Online
+		node.IsOnline = *change.Online
 	}
 
 	if change.Endpoints != nil {