diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a8f5fc94b5484cf9935c22663ad66496a05ada6a..1059af1ee73ab8b1a9d380fa968b5e8a8b2b0fce 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-[PACKAGE]: ../../raw/master/mkp/squid-2.1.1-20240514.mkp "squid-2.1.1-20240514.mkp"
+[PACKAGE]: ../../raw/master/mkp/squid-2.1.2-20250309.mkp "squid-2.1.2-20250309.mkp"
 # Squid Web Proxy
 
 This CheckMK plugin monitors the performance of the _**Squid Web Proxy**_. This plugin is intended to use with the Agent Bakery of CheckMK.
diff --git a/mkp/squid-2.1.2-20250309.mkp b/mkp/squid-2.1.2-20250309.mkp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..29ca326adf5c594d6888fd9c6f8f9b806ccfc820
Binary files /dev/null and b/mkp/squid-2.1.2-20250309.mkp differ
diff --git a/source/agents/plugins/squid b/source/agents/plugins/squid
index a3fb775d6ab89cb18edfb0c6db043c0dd605b831..2f85c6e21b0eb916e41bb267225f53049d0dd824 100755
--- a/source/agents/plugins/squid
+++ b/source/agents/plugins/squid
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
 #             changed section from check_squid to squid
 # 2023-05-22: fixed missing "<" in section name
 # 2023-12-02: added -l "$ip_address" option
+# 2025-03-09: changed to prefer curl/wget over squidclient ThX to  mk-hs@forum.checkm.com
+#             (see: https://bugs.squid-cache.org/show_bug.cgi?id=5283#c10)
 #
 # squidclient mgr:server_list
 # squidclient mgr:info
@@ -38,13 +40,27 @@ if [ -z "$ip_address" ]; then
   ip_address=localhost
 fi
 
-if type squidclient > /dev/null 2>&1 ; then
+if type wget > /dev/null 2>&1 ; then
+  echo "<<<squid_file_descriptors:sep(0)>>>"
+  wget -q -O - http://"$ip_address":"$port"/squid-internal-mgr/info | grep "file descriptors"
+
+  echo "<<<squid:sep(0)>>>"
+  wget -q -O - http://"$ip_address":"$port"/squid-internal-mgr/5min | grep "="
+
+elif type curl > /dev/null 2>&1 ; then
+  echo "<<<squid_file_descriptors:sep(0)>>>"
+  curl http://"$ip_address":"$port"/squid-internal-mgr/info | grep "file descriptors"
+
+  echo "<<<squid:sep(0)>>>"
+  curl http://"$ip_address":"$port"/squid-internal-mgr/5min | grep "="
+
+elif type squidclient > /dev/null 2>&1 ; then
   echo "<<<squid_file_descriptors:sep(0)>>>"
   squidclient -p "$port" -l "$ip_address" -T2 mgr:info | grep "file descriptors"
 
   echo "<<<squid:sep(0)>>>"
   # one squid instance
-  squidclient -p "$port" -l "$ip_address" -T2 mgr:5min | grep =
+  squidclient -p "$port" -l "$ip_address" -T2 mgr:5min | grep "="
 
   # multiple squid instances
   # instance names must be without spaces and with colon char at the end
diff --git a/source/gui/wato/check_parameters/squid_bakery.py b/source/gui/wato/check_parameters/squid_bakery.py
index a028355a2bfe965e11b07806482512d71f6dd9d0..232faffe5b6214e0cb3743f5123e128e228d31f4 100644
--- a/source/gui/wato/check_parameters/squid_bakery.py
+++ b/source/gui/wato/check_parameters/squid_bakery.py
@@ -20,21 +20,26 @@
 #             add available_number_of_file_descriptors for check section
 # 2024-05-14: moved to check_parameters
 #             separated WATO for bakery and check in two files
+# 2025-03-08: added option to decide if the plugin should be installed
 
 from cmk.gui.i18n import _
 from cmk.gui.valuespec import (
     Dictionary,
     Integer,
     TextInput,
+    DropdownChoice,
 )
 from cmk.gui.plugins.wato.utils import (
     HostRulespec,
     rulespec_registry,
 )
 
-from cmk.gui.cee.plugins.wato.agent_bakery.rulespecs.utils import (
-    RulespecGroupMonitoringAgentsAgentPlugins,
-)
+try:
+    from cmk.gui.cee.plugins.wato.agent_bakery.rulespecs.utils import (
+        RulespecGroupMonitoringAgentsAgentPlugins,
+    )
+except ImportError:
+    exit()
 
 
 def _valuespec_agent_squid():
@@ -42,6 +47,15 @@ def _valuespec_agent_squid():
         help=_('The plugin <tt>squid</tt> allows monitoring of Squid Web Proxies.'),
         title=_('Squid Web Proxy (Linux)'),
         elements=[
+            ('install_plugin',
+             DropdownChoice(
+                 title=_('Install the plugin'),
+                 choices=[
+                     ('true', _('Install the plugin')),
+                     ('false', _('Don\'t install the plugin'))
+                 ],
+                 default='true',
+             )),
             ('ip_address',
              TextInput(
                  title=_('IP Address/Hostname'),
diff --git a/source/lib/python3/cmk/base/cee/plugins/bakery/squid.py b/source/lib/python3/cmk/base/cee/plugins/bakery/squid.py
index 05189f7429ba15994015d97a55d6b182b6898576..3b285e92e88cb25a599cbbf2af794a587f7395ae 100644
--- a/source/lib/python3/cmk/base/cee/plugins/bakery/squid.py
+++ b/source/lib/python3/cmk/base/cee/plugins/bakery/squid.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 # 2023-09-21: moved file to ~/local/lib/check_mk/base/cee/plugins/bakery
 #             fix crash if port not configured in wato
 # 2023-12-02: added IP-Address option
+# 2025-03-08: added option to decide if the plugin should be installed
 
 from pathlib import Path
 from cmk.base.cee.plugins.bakery.bakery_api.v1 import (
@@ -29,6 +30,8 @@ from cmk.base.cee.plugins.bakery.bakery_api.v1 import (
 
 
 def get_squid_files(conf) -> FileGenerator:
+    if conf.get('install_plugin') == 'false':
+        return
     yield Plugin(
         base_os=OS.LINUX,
         source=Path('squid'),
diff --git a/source/packages/squid b/source/packages/squid
index 9d4835c9df05830d76bfb2b262fc0f40a244988a..508805b9601c2dc38aa5e764842454c9ce86d0eb 100644
--- a/source/packages/squid
+++ b/source/packages/squid
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
            'lib': ['python3/cmk/base/cee/plugins/bakery/squid.py']},
  'name': 'squid',
  'title': 'Squid3 Health Check',
- 'version': '2.1.1-20240514',
+ 'version': '2.1.2-20250309',
  'version.min_required': '2.1.0b1',
  'version.packaged': 'cmk-mkp-tool 0.2.0',
  'version.usable_until': '2.4.0b1'}