diff --git a/lib/interface.py b/lib/interface.py
index db2ad7d9b..cb27b1c4a 100644
--- a/lib/interface.py
+++ b/lib/interface.py
@@ -55,15 +55,12 @@ class TcpInterface(threading.Thread):
         self.daemon = True
         self.config = config if config is not None else SimpleConfig()
         self.lock = threading.Lock()
-
         self.is_connected = False
         self.debug = False # dump network messages. can be changed at runtime using the console
         self.message_id = 0
         self.unanswered_requests = {}
-
         # are we waiting for a pong?
         self.is_ping = False
-
         # parse server
         self.server = server
         self.host, self.port, self.protocol = self.server.split(':')
@@ -72,6 +69,12 @@ class TcpInterface(threading.Thread):
         self.proxy = self.parse_proxy_options(self.config.get('proxy'))
         if self.proxy:
             self.proxy_mode = proxy_modes.index(self.proxy["mode"]) + 1
+            socks.setdefaultproxy(self.proxy_mode, self.proxy["host"], int(self.proxy["port"]))
+            socket.socket = socks.socksocket
+            # prevent dns leaks, see http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13184205/dns-over-proxy
+            def getaddrinfo(*args):
+                return [(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM, 6, '', (args[0], args[1]))]
+            socket.getaddrinfo = getaddrinfo
 
 
     def process_response(self, response):
@@ -116,54 +119,48 @@ class TcpInterface(threading.Thread):
             queue.put((self, {'method':method, 'params':params, 'result':result, 'id':_id}))
 
 
-    def get_socket(self):
+    def get_simple_socket(self):
+        try:
+            l = socket.getaddrinfo(self.host, self.port, socket.AF_UNSPEC, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
+        except socket.gaierror:
+            print_error("error: cannot resolve", self.host)
+            return
+        for res in l:
+            try:
+                s = socket.socket(res[0], socket.SOCK_STREAM)
+                s.connect(res[4])
+                return s
+            except:
+                continue
+        else:
+            print_error("failed to connect", self.host, self.port)
 
-        if self.proxy is not None:
-            socks.setdefaultproxy(self.proxy_mode, self.proxy["host"], int(self.proxy["port"]))
-            socket.socket = socks.socksocket
-            # prevent dns leaks, see http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13184205/dns-over-proxy
-            def getaddrinfo(*args):
-                return [(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM, 6, '', (args[0], args[1]))]
-            socket.getaddrinfo = getaddrinfo
 
+    def get_socket(self):
         if self.use_ssl:
             cert_path = os.path.join( self.config.path, 'certs', self.host)
             if not os.path.exists(cert_path):
                 is_new = True
-                # get server certificate.
-                # Do not use ssl.get_server_certificate because it does not work with proxy
-                try:
-                    l = socket.getaddrinfo(self.host, self.port, socket.AF_UNSPEC, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
-                except socket.gaierror:
-                    print_error("error: cannot resolve", self.host)
+                s = self.get_simple_socket()
+                if s is None:
                     return
 
-                for res in l:
-                    try:
-                        s = socket.socket( res[0], socket.SOCK_STREAM )
-                        s.connect(res[4])
-                    except:
-                        s = None
-                        continue
-
-                    # first try with ca
-                    try:
-                        ca_certs = os.path.join(self.config.path, 'ca', 'ca-bundle.crt')
-                        s = ssl.wrap_socket(s, ssl_version=ssl.PROTOCOL_SSLv3, cert_reqs=ssl.CERT_REQUIRED, ca_certs=ca_certs, do_handshake_on_connect=True)
-                        print_error("SSL with ca:", self.host)
-                        return s
-                    except ssl.SSLError, e:
-                        pass
-
-                    try:
-                        s = ssl.wrap_socket(s, ssl_version=ssl.PROTOCOL_SSLv3, cert_reqs=ssl.CERT_NONE, ca_certs=None)
-                    except ssl.SSLError, e:
-                        print_error("SSL error retrieving SSL certificate:", self.host, e)
-                        s = None
-
-                    break
+                # try with CA first
+                try:
+                    ca_certs = os.path.join(self.config.path, 'ca', 'ca-bundle.crt')
+                    s = ssl.wrap_socket(s, ssl_version=ssl.PROTOCOL_SSLv3, cert_reqs=ssl.CERT_REQUIRED, ca_certs=ca_certs, do_handshake_on_connect=True)
+                    print_error("SSL with ca:", self.host)
+                    return s
+                except ssl.SSLError, e:
+                    pass
 
-                if s is None:
+                # get server certificate.
+                # Do not use ssl.get_server_certificate because it does not work with proxy
+                s = self.get_simple_socket()
+                try:
+                    s = ssl.wrap_socket(s, ssl_version=ssl.PROTOCOL_SSLv3, cert_reqs=ssl.CERT_NONE, ca_certs=None)
+                except ssl.SSLError, e:
+                    print_error("SSL error retrieving SSL certificate:", self.host, e)
                     return
 
                 dercert = s.getpeercert(True)
@@ -174,31 +171,16 @@ class TcpInterface(threading.Thread):
                 temporary_path = cert_path + '.temp'
                 with open(temporary_path,"w") as f:
                     f.write(cert)
-
             else:
                 is_new = False
 
-        try:
-            addrinfo = socket.getaddrinfo(self.host, self.port, socket.AF_UNSPEC, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
-        except socket.gaierror:
-            print_error("error: cannot resolve", self.host)
-            return
-
-        for res in addrinfo:
-            try:
-                s = socket.socket( res[0], socket.SOCK_STREAM )
-                s.settimeout(2)
-                s.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_KEEPALIVE, 1)
-                s.connect(res[4])
-            except:
-                s = None
-                continue
-            break
-
+        s = self.get_simple_socket()
         if s is None:
-            print_error("failed to connect", self.host, self.port)
             return
 
+        s.settimeout(2)
+        s.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_KEEPALIVE, 1)
+
         if self.use_ssl:
             try:
                 s = ssl.wrap_socket(s,