diff --git a/lib/net.js b/lib/net.js
index 36416d243d..16826a5a4d 100644
--- a/lib/net.js
+++ b/lib/net.js
@@ -1,36 +1,37 @@
 var debugLevel = 0;
-if ("NODE_DEBUG" in process.ENV) debugLevel = 1;
+if ('NODE_DEBUG' in process.ENV) debugLevel = 1;
 function debug (x) {
   if (debugLevel > 0) {
-    process.stdio.writeError(x + "\n");
+    process.stdio.writeError(x + '\n');
   }
 }
 
-var socket    = process.socket;
-var bind      = process.bind;
-var listen    = process.listen;
-var accept    = process.accept;
-var close     = process.close;
-var shutdown  = process.shutdown;
-var read      = process.read;
-var write     = process.write;
-var toRead    = process.toRead;
-
-var Stream = function (peerInfo) {
+
+var socket      = process.socket;
+var bind        = process.bind;
+var connect     = process.connect;
+var listen      = process.listen;
+var accept      = process.accept;
+var close       = process.close;
+var shutdown    = process.shutdown;
+var read        = process.read;
+var write       = process.write;
+var toRead      = process.toRead;
+var socketError = process.socketError;
+var EINPROGRESS = process.EINPROGRESS;
+
+
+function Stream (peerInfo) {
   process.EventEmitter.call();
 
   var self = this;
 
-  self.fd = peerInfo.fd;
-  self.remoteAddress = peerInfo.remoteAddress;
-  self.remotePort = peerInfo.remotePort;
-
   // Allocated on demand.
   self.recvBuffer = null;
   self.sendQueue = [];
 
   self.readWatcher = new process.IOWatcher(function () {
-    debug("\n" + self.fd + " readable");
+    debug('\n' + self.fd + ' readable');
 
     // If this is the first recv (recvBuffer doesn't exist) or we've used up
     // most of the recvBuffer, allocate a new one.
@@ -39,36 +40,50 @@ var Stream = function (peerInfo) {
       self._allocateNewRecvBuf();
     }
 
-    debug("recvBuffer.used " + self.recvBuffer.used);
+    debug('recvBuffer.used ' + self.recvBuffer.used);
     var bytesRead = read(self.fd,
                          self.recvBuffer,
                          self.recvBuffer.used,
                          self.recvBuffer.length - self.recvBuffer.used);
-    debug("bytesRead " + bytesRead + "\n");
+    debug('bytesRead ' + bytesRead + '\n');
 
     if (bytesRead == 0) {
       self.readable = false;
       self.readWatcher.stop();
-      self.emit("eof");
+      self.emit('eof');
+      if (!self.writable) self.forceClose();  
     } else {
       var slice = self.recvBuffer.slice(self.recvBuffer.used,
                                         self.recvBuffer.used + bytesRead);
       self.recvBuffer.used += bytesRead;
-      self.emit("receive", slice);
+      self.emit('receive', slice);
     }
   });
-  self.readWatcher.set(self.fd, true, false);
-  self.readWatcher.start();
 
-  self.writeWatcher = new process.IOWatcher(function () {
+  self._onWriteFlush = function () {
     self.flush();
-  });
-  self.writeWatcher.set(self.fd, false, true);
+  };
+
+  self.writeWatcher = new process.IOWatcher(self._onWriteFlush);
+
+  self.readable = false;
+  self.writable = false;
 
-  self.readable = true;
-  self.writable = true;
+  if (peerInfo) {
+    self.fd = peerInfo.fd;
+    self.remoteAddress = peerInfo.remoteAddress;
+    self.remotePort = peerInfo.remotePort;
+
+    self.readWatcher.set(self.fd, true, false);
+    self.readWatcher.start();
+    self.writeWatcher.set(self.fd, false, true);
+    self.readable = true;
+    self.writable = true;
+  }
 };
 process.inherits(Stream, process.EventEmitter);
+exports.Stream = Stream;
+
 
 Stream.prototype._allocateNewRecvBuf = function () {
   var self = this;
@@ -95,6 +110,7 @@ Stream.prototype._allocateNewRecvBuf = function () {
   self.recvBuffer.used = 0;
 };
 
+
 Stream.prototype._allocateSendBuffer = function () {
   var b = new process.Buffer(1024);
   b.used = 0;
@@ -103,56 +119,62 @@ Stream.prototype._allocateSendBuffer = function () {
   return b;
 };
 
-Stream.prototype.send = function (data, encoding) {
+
+Stream.prototype._sendString = function (data, encoding) {
   var self = this;
-  if (typeof(data) == "string") {
-    var buffer;
-    if (self.sendQueue.length == 0) {
-      buffer = self._allocateSendBuffer();
-    } else {
-      // walk through the sendQueue, find the first empty buffer
-      for (var i = 0; i < self.sendQueue.length; i++) {
-        if (self.sendQueue[i].used == 0) {
-          buffer = self.sendQueue[i];
-          break;
-        }
-      }
-      // if we didn't find one, take the last
-      if (!buffer) {
-        buffer = self.sendQueue[self.sendQueue.length-1];
-        // if last buffer is empty
-        if (buffer.length == buffer.used) buffer = self._allocateSendBuffer();
+  var buffer;
+  if (self.sendQueue.length == 0) {
+    buffer = self._allocateSendBuffer();
+  } else {
+    // walk through the sendQueue, find the buffer with free space
+    for (var i = 0; i < self.sendQueue.length; i++) {
+      if (self.sendQueue[i].used == 0) {
+        buffer = self.sendQueue[i];
+        break;
       }
     }
+    // if we didn't find one, take the last
+    if (!buffer) {
+      buffer = self.sendQueue[self.sendQueue.length-1];
+      // if last buffer is used up
+      if (buffer.length == buffer.used) buffer = self._allocateSendBuffer();
+    }
+  }
 
-    encoding = encoding || "ascii"; // default to ascii since it's faster
+  encoding = encoding || 'ascii'; // default to ascii since it's faster
 
-    var charsWritten;
+  var charsWritten;
 
-    if (encoding.toLowerCase() == "utf8") {
-      charsWritten = buffer.utf8Write(data,
-                                      buffer.used,
-                                      buffer.length - buffer.used);
-      buffer.used += process.Buffer.utf8Length(data.slice(0, charsWritten));
-    } else {
-      // ascii
-      charsWritten = buffer.asciiWrite(data,
-                                       buffer.used,
-                                       buffer.length - buffer.used);
-      buffer.used += charsWritten;
-      debug("ascii charsWritten " + charsWritten);
-      debug("ascii buffer.used " + buffer.used);
-    }
+  if (encoding.toLowerCase() == 'utf8') {
+    charsWritten = buffer.utf8Write(data,
+                                    buffer.used,
+                                    buffer.length - buffer.used);
+    buffer.used += process.Buffer.utf8Length(data.slice(0, charsWritten));
+  } else {
+    // ascii
+    charsWritten = buffer.asciiWrite(data,
+                                     buffer.used,
+                                     buffer.length - buffer.used);
+    buffer.used += charsWritten;
+    debug('ascii charsWritten ' + charsWritten);
+    debug('ascii buffer.used ' + buffer.used);
+  }
 
 
-    // If we didn't finish, then recurse with the rest of the string.
-    if (charsWritten < data.length) {
-      debug("recursive send");
-      self.send(data.slice(charsWritten), encoding);
-    }
+  // If we didn't finish, then recurse with the rest of the string.
+  if (charsWritten < data.length) {
+    debug('recursive send');
+    self._sendString(data.slice(charsWritten), encoding);
+  }
+};
+
+
+Stream.prototype.send = function (data, encoding) {
+  var self = this;
+  if (typeof(data) == 'string') {
+    self._sendString(data, encoding);
   } else {
     // data is a process.Buffer
-   
     // walk through the sendQueue, find the first empty buffer
     var inserted = false;
     data.sent = 0;
@@ -171,6 +193,7 @@ Stream.prototype.send = function (data, encoding) {
   this.flush();
 };
 
+
 // returns true if flushed without getting EAGAIN
 // false if it got EAGAIN
 Stream.prototype.flush = function () {
@@ -194,51 +217,124 @@ Stream.prototype.flush = function () {
       return false;
     }
     b.sent += bytesWritten;
-    debug("bytes sent: " + b.sent);
+    debug('bytes sent: ' + b.sent);
   }
   this.writeWatcher.stop();
   return true;
 };
 
-Stream.prototype.close = function () {
-  this.readable = false;
-  this.writable = false;
 
-  this.writeWatcher.stop();
-  this.readWatcher.stop();
-  close(this.fd);
-  debug("close peer " + this.fd);
-  this.fd = null;
+// var stream = new Stream();
+// stream.connect(80)               - TCP connect to port 80 on the localhost
+// stream.connect(80, 'nodejs.org') - TCP connect to port 80 on nodejs.org
+// stream.connect('/tmp/socket')    - UNIX connect to socket specified by path
+Stream.prototype.connect = function () {
+  var self = this;
+  if (self.fd) throw new Error('Stream already opened');
+
+  if (typeof(arguments[0]) == 'string' && arguments.length == 1) {
+    self.fd = process.socket('UNIX');
+    // TODO check if sockfile exists?
+  } else {
+    self.fd = process.socket('TCP');
+    // TODO dns resolution on arguments[1]
+  }
+
+  try {
+    connect(self.fd, arguments[0], arguments[1]);
+  } catch (e) {
+    close(self.fd);
+    throw e;
+  }
+
+  // Don't start the read watcher until connection is established
+  self.readWatcher.set(self.fd, true, false);
+
+  // How to connect on POSIX: Wait for fd to become writable, then call
+  // socketError() if there isn't an error, we're connected. AFAIK this a
+  // platform independent way determining when a non-blocking connection
+  // is established, but I have only seen it documented in the Linux
+  // Manual Page connect(2) under the error code EINPROGRESS.
+  self.writeWatcher.set(self.fd, false, true);
+  self.writeWatcher.start();
+  self.writeWatcher.callback = function () {
+    var errno = socketError(self.fd);
+    if (errno == 0) {
+      // connection established
+      self.emit('connect');
+      self.readWatcher.start();
+      self.readable = true;
+      self.writable = true;
+      self.writeWatcher.callback = self._onWriteFlush;
+    } else if (errno != EINPROGRESS) {
+      var e = new Error('connection error');
+      e.errno = errno;
+      self.readWatcher.stop();
+      self.writeWatcher.stop();
+      close(self.fd);
+    }
+  };
+};
+
+
+Stream.prototype.forceClose = function (exception) {
+  if (this.fd) {
+    this.readable = false;
+    this.writable = false;
+
+    this.writeWatcher.stop();
+    this.readWatcher.stop();
+    close(this.fd);
+    debug('close peer ' + this.fd);
+    this.fd = null;
+    this.emit('close', exception); 
+  }
 };
 
-var Server = function (listener) {
+
+Stream.prototype.close = function () {
+  if (this.readable && this.writable) {
+    this.writable = false;
+    shutdown(this.fd, "write");
+  } else if (!this.readable && this.writable) {
+    // already got EOF
+    this.forceClose(this.fd);
+  }
+  // In the case we've already shutdown write side, 
+  // but haven't got EOF: ignore. In the case we're
+  // fully closed already: ignore.
+};
+
+
+function Server (listener) {
   var self = this;
 
   if (listener) {
-    self.addListener("connection", listener);
+    self.addListener('connection', listener);
   }
 
   self.watcher = new process.IOWatcher(function (readable, writeable) {
     while (self.fd) {
       var peerInfo = accept(self.fd);
-      debug("accept: " + JSON.stringify(peerInfo));
+      debug('accept: ' + JSON.stringify(peerInfo));
       if (!peerInfo) return;
       var peer = new Stream(peerInfo);
-      self.emit("connection", peer);
+      self.emit('connection', peer);
     }
   });
 };
 process.inherits(Server, process.EventEmitter);
+exports.Server = Server;
+
 
 Server.prototype.listen = function () {
   var self = this;
-
-  if (self.fd) throw new Error("Already running");
+  if (self.fd) throw new Error('Server already opened');
 
   var backlogIndex;
-  if (typeof(arguments[0]) == "string" && arguments.length == 1) {
+  if (typeof(arguments[0]) == 'string' && arguments.length == 1) {
     // the first argument specifies a path
-    self.fd = process.socket("UNIX");
+    self.fd = process.socket('UNIX');
     // TODO unlink sockfile if exists?
     // if (lstat(SOCKFILE, &tstat) == 0) {
     //   assert(S_ISSOCK(tstat.st_mode));
@@ -248,46 +344,24 @@ Server.prototype.listen = function () {
     backlogIndex = 1;
   } else {
     // the first argument is the port, the second an IP
-    self.fd = process.socket("TCP");
+    self.fd = process.socket('TCP');
     // TODO dns resolution on arguments[1]
     bind(self.fd, arguments[0], arguments[1]);
-    backlogIndex = typeof(arguments[1]) == "string" ? 2 : 1;
+    backlogIndex = typeof(arguments[1]) == 'string' ? 2 : 1;
   }
   listen(self.fd, arguments[backlogIndex] ? arguments[backlogIndex] : 128);
 
+  self.emit("listening");
+
   self.watcher.set(self.fd, true, false); 
   self.watcher.start();
 };
 
+
 Server.prototype.close = function () {
   var self = this;
-  if (!self.fd) throw new Error("Not running");
+  if (!self.fd) throw new Error('Not running');
   self.watcher.stop();
   close(self.fd);
   self.fd = null;
 };
-
-///////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-
-process.Buffer.prototype.toString = function () {
-  return this.utf8Slice(0, this.length);
-};
-
-var sys = require("sys");
-
-var server = new Server(function (peer) {
-  sys.puts("connection (" + peer.fd + "): " 
-          + peer.remoteAddress 
-          + " port " 
-          + peer.remotePort
-          );
-  sys.puts("server fd: " + server.fd);
-
-  peer.addListener("receive", function (b) {
-    sys.puts("recv (" + b.length + "): " + b);
-    peer.send("pong\r\n");
-  });
-});
-//server.listen(8000);
-server.listen(8000);
-sys.puts("server fd: " + server.fd);
diff --git a/src/node_net2.cc b/src/node_net2.cc
index 7b4a788ca7..af96216e20 100644
--- a/src/node_net2.cc
+++ b/src/node_net2.cc
@@ -377,7 +377,7 @@ static Handle<Value> Accept(const Arguments& args) {
 }
 
 
-static Handle<Value> GetSocketError(const Arguments& args) {
+static Handle<Value> SocketError(const Arguments& args) {
   HandleScope scope;
 
   FD_ARG(args[0])
@@ -515,7 +515,7 @@ void InitNet2(Handle<Object> target) {
   NODE_SET_METHOD(target, "bind", Bind);
   NODE_SET_METHOD(target, "listen", Listen);
   NODE_SET_METHOD(target, "accept", Accept);
-  NODE_SET_METHOD(target, "getSocketError", GetSocketError);
+  NODE_SET_METHOD(target, "socketError", SocketError);
   NODE_SET_METHOD(target, "toRead", ToRead);
 
 
diff --git a/test-net-server.js b/test-net-server.js
index 5b9fbd085c..aabd7f2b2e 100644
--- a/test-net-server.js
+++ b/test-net-server.js
@@ -18,6 +18,25 @@ var server = new net.Server(function (stream) {
     stream.send(b);
     stream.send("pong utf8\r\n", "utf8");
   });
+
+  stream.addListener("eof", function () {
+    sys.puts("server peer eof");
+    stream.close();
+  });
 });
 server.listen(8000);
 sys.puts("server fd: " + server.fd);
+
+
+var stream = new net.Stream();
+stream.addListener('connect', function () {
+  sys.puts("!!!client connected");
+  stream.send("hello\n");
+});
+
+stream.addListener('receive', function (d) {
+  sys.puts("!!!client got: " + JSON.stringify(d.toString()));
+});
+
+stream.connect(8000);
+