diff --git a/src/util/tcpsocket.cpp b/src/util/tcpsocket.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e6c17fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/util/tcpsocket.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,495 @@
+/*
+ * boblight
+ * Copyright (C) Bob  2009 
+ * 
+ * boblight is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+ * under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
+ * Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ * 
+ * boblight is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+ * WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
+ * See the GNU General Public License for more details.
+ * 
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
+ * with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <sys/socket.h>
+#include <arpa/inet.h>
+#include <iostream> //debug
+#include <string.h>
+#include <sys/unistd.h>
+#include <sys/fcntl.h>
+#include <netdb.h>
+#include <netinet/tcp.h>
+
+#include "tcpsocket.h"
+#include "misc.h"
+
+using namespace std;
+
+void CTcpData::SetData(uint8_t* data, int size, bool append)
+{
+  CopyData(reinterpret_cast<char*>(data), size, append);
+}
+
+/*void CTcpData::SetData(char* data, int size, bool append)
+{
+  CopyData(data, size, append);
+}
+
+void CTcpData::SetData(const uint8_t* data, int size, bool append)
+{
+  CopyData(reinterpret_cast<char*>(const_cast<uint8_t*>(data)), size, append);
+}
+
+void CTcpData::SetData(const char* data, int size, bool append)
+{
+  CopyData(const_cast<char*>(data), size, append);
+}*/
+
+void CTcpData::SetData(std::string data, bool append)
+{
+  CopyData(const_cast<char*>(data.c_str()), data.length(), append);
+}
+
+//store data as c-string
+void CTcpData::CopyData(char* data, int size, bool append)
+{
+  if (append)
+  {
+    int start = m_data.size() - 1;
+    m_data.resize(m_data.size() + size);
+    memcpy(&m_data[start], data, size);
+    m_data.back() = 0;
+  }
+  else
+  {
+    m_data.resize(size + 1);
+    memcpy(&m_data[0], data, size);
+    m_data.back() = 0;
+  }
+}
+
+void CTcpData::Clear()
+{
+  m_data.resize(1);
+  m_data.back() = 0;
+}
+
+CTcpSocket::CTcpSocket()
+{
+  m_sock = -1;
+  m_port = -1;
+}
+
+CTcpSocket::~CTcpSocket()
+{
+  Close();
+}
+
+//can't open int the base class
+int CTcpSocket::Open(std::string address, int port, int usectimeout)
+{
+  return FAIL;
+}
+
+void CTcpSocket::Close()
+{
+  if (m_sock != -1)
+  {
+    SetNonBlock(false);
+    close(m_sock);
+    m_sock = -1;
+  }
+}
+
+int CTcpSocket::SetNonBlock(bool nonblock)
+{
+  //non-blocking socket, because we work with select
+  int flags = fcntl(m_sock, F_GETFL);
+  if (flags == -1)
+  {
+    m_error = "F_GETFL " + GetErrno();
+    return FAIL;
+  }
+
+  if (nonblock)
+    flags |= O_NONBLOCK;
+  else
+    flags &= ~O_NONBLOCK;
+  
+  if (fcntl(m_sock, F_SETFL, flags) == -1)
+  {
+    m_error = "F_SETFL " + GetErrno();
+    return FAIL;
+  }
+
+  return SUCCESS;
+}
+
+int CTcpSocket::SetSockOptions()
+{
+  //set tcp keepalive
+  SetKeepalive();
+
+  //disable nagle algorithm
+  int flag = 1;
+  if (setsockopt(m_sock, IPPROTO_TCP, TCP_NODELAY, &flag, sizeof(flag)) == -1)
+  {
+    m_error = "TCP_NODELAY " + GetErrno();
+    return FAIL;
+  }
+
+  return SUCCESS;
+}
+
+int CTcpSocket::SetKeepalive()
+{
+#if defined(SO_KEEPALIVE) && defined(TCP_KEEPCNT) && defined(TCP_KEEPIDLE) && defined(TCP_KEEPINTVL)
+
+  int flag = 1;
+
+  //turn keepalive on
+  if (setsockopt(m_sock, SOL_SOCKET, SO_KEEPALIVE, &flag, sizeof(flag)) == -1)
+  {
+    m_error = "SO_KEEPALIVE " + GetErrno();
+    return FAIL;
+  }
+
+  //two keepalive probes
+  flag = 2;
+  if (setsockopt(m_sock, IPPROTO_TCP, TCP_KEEPCNT, &flag, sizeof(flag)) == -1)
+  {
+    m_error = "TCP_KEEPCNT " + GetErrno();
+    return FAIL;
+  }
+
+  //20 seconds before we start using keepalive
+  flag = 20;
+  if (setsockopt(m_sock, IPPROTO_TCP, TCP_KEEPIDLE, &flag, sizeof(flag)) == -1)
+  {
+    m_error = "TCP_KEEPIDLE " + GetErrno();
+    return FAIL;
+  }
+
+  //20 seconds timeout of each keepalive packet
+  flag = 20;
+  if (setsockopt(m_sock, IPPROTO_TCP, TCP_KEEPINTVL, &flag, sizeof(flag)) == -1)
+  {
+    m_error = "TCP_KEEPINTVL " + GetErrno();
+    return FAIL;
+  }
+
+#else
+
+#warning keepalive support not compiled in
+
+#endif
+
+  return SUCCESS;
+}
+
+//wait until the socket becomes readable or writeable
+int CTcpSocket::WaitForSocket(bool write, std::string timeoutstr)
+{
+  int returnv;
+  fd_set rwsock;
+  struct timeval *tv = NULL;
+
+  //add the socket to the fd_set
+  FD_ZERO(&rwsock);
+  FD_SET(m_sock, &rwsock);
+
+  //set the timeout
+  struct timeval timeout;
+  if (m_usectimeout > 0)
+  {
+    timeout.tv_sec = m_usectimeout / 1000000;
+    timeout.tv_usec = m_usectimeout % 1000000;
+    tv = &timeout;
+  }
+
+  if (write)
+    returnv = select(m_sock + 1, NULL, &rwsock, NULL, tv);
+  else
+    returnv = select(m_sock + 1, &rwsock, NULL, NULL, tv);
+  
+  if (returnv == 0) //select timed out
+  {
+    m_error = m_address + ":" + ToString(m_port) + " " + timeoutstr + " timed out"; 
+    return TIMEOUT;
+  }
+  else if (returnv == -1) //select had an error
+  {
+    m_error = "select() " + GetErrno();
+    return FAIL;
+  }
+
+  //check if the socket had any errors, connection refused is a common one
+  int sockstate, sockstatelen = sizeof(sockstate);
+  returnv = getsockopt(m_sock, SOL_SOCKET, SO_ERROR, &sockstate, reinterpret_cast<socklen_t*>(&sockstatelen));
+  
+  if (returnv == -1) //getsockopt had an error
+  {
+    m_error = "getsockopt() " + GetErrno();
+    return FAIL;
+  }
+  else if (sockstate) //socket had an error
+  {
+    m_error = "SO_ERROR " + m_address + ":" + ToString(m_port) + " " + GetErrno(sockstate);
+    return FAIL;
+  }
+
+  return SUCCESS;
+}
+
+//open a client socket
+int CTcpClientSocket::Open(std::string address, int port, int usectimeout /*= -1*/)
+{
+  Close(); //close it if it was opened
+
+  //store address, port and timeout
+  m_address = address;
+  m_port = port;
+  m_usectimeout = usectimeout;
+  
+  m_sock = socket(PF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_TCP);
+
+  if (m_sock == -1) //can't make socket
+  {
+    m_error = "socket() " + GetErrno();
+    return FAIL;
+  }
+
+  if (SetNonBlock() != SUCCESS)
+  {
+    return FAIL;
+  }
+  
+  struct sockaddr_in server; //where we connect to
+  memset(&server, 0, sizeof(server));
+
+  server.sin_family = AF_INET;
+  server.sin_addr.s_addr = inet_addr(address.c_str());
+  server.sin_port = htons(port);
+
+  struct hostent *host = gethostbyname(address.c_str());
+  if (!host) //can't find host
+  {
+    m_error = "gethostbyname() " + address + ":" + ToString(m_port) + " " + GetErrno();
+    return FAIL;
+  }
+  server.sin_addr.s_addr = *reinterpret_cast<in_addr_t*>(host->h_addr);
+
+  if (connect(m_sock, reinterpret_cast<struct sockaddr*>(&server), sizeof(server)) < 0)
+  {
+    if (errno != EINPROGRESS) //because of the non blocking socket, this means we're still connecting
+    {
+      m_error = "connect() " + address + ":" + ToString(port) + " " + GetErrno();
+      return FAIL;
+    }
+  }
+
+  int returnv = WaitForSocket(true, "Connect");//wait for the socket to become writeable, that means the connection is established
+
+  if (returnv == FAIL || returnv == TIMEOUT)
+    return returnv;
+
+  //if this fails the socket might still work, so don't return an error
+  SetSockOptions();
+  
+  return SUCCESS;
+}
+
+int CTcpClientSocket::Read(CTcpData& data)
+{
+  uint8_t buff[1000];
+  
+  if (m_sock == -1)
+  {
+    m_error = "socket closed";
+    return FAIL;
+  }
+
+  int returnv = WaitForSocket(false, "Read");//wait until the socket has something to read
+  if (returnv == FAIL || returnv == TIMEOUT)
+    return returnv;  
+  
+  //clear the tcpdata
+  data.Clear();
+
+  //loop until the socket has nothing more in its buffer
+  while(1)
+  {
+    int size = recv(m_sock, buff, sizeof(buff), 0);
+
+    if (errno == EAGAIN && size == -1) //we're done here, no more data, the call to WaitForSocket made sure there was at least some data to read
+    {
+      return SUCCESS;
+    }    
+    else if (size == -1) //socket had an error
+    {
+      m_error = "recv() " + m_address + ":" + ToString(m_port) + " " + GetErrno();
+      return FAIL;
+    }
+    else if (size == 0 && data.GetSize() == 0) //socket closed and no data received
+    {
+      m_error = m_address + ":" + ToString(m_port) + " Connection closed";
+      return FAIL;
+    }
+    else if (size == 0) //socket closed but data received
+    {
+      return SUCCESS;
+    }
+
+    data.SetData(buff, size, true); //append the data
+  }
+
+  return SUCCESS;
+}
+
+int CTcpClientSocket::Write(CTcpData& data)
+{
+  if (m_sock == -1)
+  {
+    m_error = "socket closed";
+    return FAIL;
+  }
+
+  int bytestowrite = data.GetSize();
+  int byteswritten = 0;
+
+  //loop until we've written all bytes
+  while (byteswritten < bytestowrite)
+  {
+    //wait until socket becomes writeable
+    int returnv = WaitForSocket(true, "Write");
+
+    if (returnv == FAIL || returnv == TIMEOUT)
+      return returnv;
+
+    int size = send(m_sock, data.GetData() + byteswritten, data.GetSize() - byteswritten, 0);
+    
+    if (size == -1)
+    {
+      m_error = "send() " + m_address + ":" + ToString(m_port) + " " + GetErrno();
+      return FAIL;
+    }
+
+    byteswritten += size;
+  }
+  return SUCCESS;
+}
+
+int CTcpClientSocket::SetInfo(std::string address, int port, int sock)
+{
+  m_address = address;
+  m_port = port;
+  m_sock = sock;
+
+  int returnv = SetNonBlock();
+  if (returnv == FAIL || returnv == TIMEOUT)
+    return returnv;
+
+  returnv = SetSockOptions();
+  
+  return returnv;
+}
+
+int CTcpServerSocket::Open(std::string address, int port, int usectimeout)
+{
+  struct sockaddr_in bindaddr;
+
+  Close();
+  
+  if (address.empty())
+    m_address = "*";
+  else
+    m_address = address;
+  
+  m_port = port;
+  m_usectimeout = usectimeout;
+  m_sock = socket(PF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_TCP);
+
+  if (m_sock == -1)
+  {
+    m_error = "socket() " + m_address + ":" + ToString(m_port) + " " + GetErrno();
+    return FAIL;
+  }
+
+  int opt = 1;
+  setsockopt(m_sock, SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEADDR, &opt, sizeof(opt));
+  
+  //bind the socket
+  memset(&bindaddr, 0, sizeof(bindaddr));
+  bindaddr.sin_family = AF_INET;
+  bindaddr.sin_port = htons(m_port);
+  if (address.empty())
+  {
+    bindaddr.sin_addr.s_addr = htonl(INADDR_ANY);
+  }
+  else
+  {
+    struct hostent *host = gethostbyname(address.c_str());
+    if (host == NULL)
+    {
+      m_error = "gethostbyname() " + m_address + ":" + ToString(m_port) + " " + GetErrno();
+      return FAIL;
+    }
+    bindaddr.sin_addr.s_addr = *reinterpret_cast<in_addr_t*>(host->h_addr);
+  }
+
+  if (bind(m_sock, reinterpret_cast<struct sockaddr*>(&bindaddr), sizeof(bindaddr)) < 0)
+  {
+    m_error = "bind() " + m_address + ":" + ToString(m_port) + " " + GetErrno();
+    return FAIL;
+  }
+
+  if (listen(m_sock, SOMAXCONN) < 0)
+  {
+    m_error = "listen() " + m_address + ":" + ToString(m_port) + " " + GetErrno();
+    return FAIL;
+  }
+
+  if (SetNonBlock() != SUCCESS)
+  {
+    return FAIL;
+  }
+  
+  return SUCCESS;
+}
+
+int CTcpServerSocket::Accept(CTcpClientSocket& socket)
+{
+  struct sockaddr_in client;
+  socklen_t clientlen = sizeof(client);
+
+  if (m_sock == -1)
+  {
+    m_error = "socket closed";
+    return FAIL;
+  }
+
+  int returnv = WaitForSocket(false, "Accept");  //wait for socket to become readable
+  if (returnv == FAIL || returnv == TIMEOUT)
+    return returnv;
+  
+  int sock = accept(m_sock, reinterpret_cast<struct sockaddr*>(&client), &clientlen);
+  if (sock < 0)
+  {
+    m_error = "accept() " + GetErrno();
+    return FAIL;
+  }
+
+  if (socket.SetInfo(inet_ntoa(client.sin_addr), ntohs(client.sin_port), sock) != SUCCESS)
+  {
+    m_error = socket.GetError();
+    return FAIL;
+  }
+  
+  return SUCCESS;
+}
+
diff --git a/src/util/tcpsocket.h b/src/util/tcpsocket.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d8113dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/util/tcpsocket.h
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+/*
+ * boblight
+ * Copyright (C) Bob  2009 
+ * 
+ * boblight is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+ * under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
+ * Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ * 
+ * boblight is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+ * WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
+ * See the GNU General Public License for more details.
+ * 
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
+ * with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#ifndef TCP
+#define TCP
+
+#include <string>
+#include <netinet/in.h>
+#include <vector>
+
+#define FAIL    0
+#define SUCCESS 1
+#define TIMEOUT 2
+
+class CTcpData
+{
+  public:
+    void SetData(uint8_t* data, int size, bool append = false);
+    /*void SetData(char* data, int size, bool append = false);
+    void SetData(const uint8_t* data, int size, bool append = false);
+    void SetData(const char* data, int size, bool append = false);*/
+    void SetData(std::string data, bool append = false);
+
+    int   GetSize() { return m_data.size() - 1; }
+    char* GetData() { return &m_data[0]; }
+                                                                                          
+    void Clear();
+
+  private:
+    std::vector<char> m_data;
+    void CopyData(char* data, int size, bool append);
+};
+
+class CTcpSocket //base class
+{
+  public:
+    CTcpSocket();
+    ~CTcpSocket();
+
+    virtual int Open(std::string address, int port, int usectimeout = -1);
+    void Close();
+    bool IsOpen() { return m_sock != -1; }
+
+    std::string GetError()   { return m_error; }
+    std::string GetAddress() { return m_address; }
+    int         GetPort()    { return m_port; }
+    int         GetSock()    { return m_sock; }
+
+    void        SetTimeout(int usectimeout) { m_usectimeout = usectimeout; }
+    
+  protected:
+    std::string m_address;
+    std::string m_error;
+
+    int     m_sock;
+    int     m_usectimeout;
+    int     m_port;
+
+    int SetNonBlock(bool nonblock = true);
+    int SetSockOptions();
+    int SetKeepalive();
+    int WaitForSocket(bool write, std::string timeoutstr);
+};
+
+class CTcpClientSocket : public CTcpSocket
+{
+  public:
+    int Open(std::string address, int port, int usectimeout = -1);
+    int Read(CTcpData& data);
+    int Write(CTcpData& data);
+    int SetInfo(std::string address, int port, int sock);
+};
+
+class CTcpServerSocket : public CTcpSocket
+{
+  public:
+    int Open(std::string address, int port, int usectimeout = -1); //empty string for interface means bind to *
+    int Accept(CTcpClientSocket& socket);
+};
+#endif //TCP
diff --git a/wscript b/wscript
index e42c6bd..a448456 100644
--- a/wscript
+++ b/wscript
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ def build(bld):
                       src/util/mutex.cpp\
                       src/util/timeutils.cpp\
                       src/util/condition.cpp\
+                      src/util/tcpsocket.cpp\
                       src/fft.cpp',
               use=['m','pthread','rt', 'jack', 'fftw3', 'fftw3f', 'samplerate'],
               includes='./src',