diff --git a/core/src/main/java/dk/alexandra/fresco/framework/network/socket/Connector.java b/core/src/main/java/dk/alexandra/fresco/framework/network/socket/Connector.java
index bb30b1056..c5de598b0 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/dk/alexandra/fresco/framework/network/socket/Connector.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/dk/alexandra/fresco/framework/network/socket/Connector.java
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ private Map<Integer, Socket> connectClient(final NetworkConfiguration conf)
           } catch (ConnectException e) {
             // A ConnectionException is expected if the opposing side is not listening for our
             // connection attempt yet. We ignore this and try again.
-            Thread.sleep(1L << ++attempts);
+            Thread.sleep(Math.min(1 << attempts++, 5_000));
             // This should probably not busy-wait for each party
           }
         }
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/dk/alexandra/fresco/framework/network/socket/SocketNetwork.java b/core/src/main/java/dk/alexandra/fresco/framework/network/socket/SocketNetwork.java
index 43745da4b..72ce7fc7e 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/dk/alexandra/fresco/framework/network/socket/SocketNetwork.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/dk/alexandra/fresco/framework/network/socket/SocketNetwork.java
@@ -102,7 +102,17 @@ public SocketNetwork(NetworkConfiguration conf, Map<Integer, Socket> socketMap)
    * @param conf the configuration to load the network from.
    */
   public SocketNetwork(NetworkConfiguration conf) {
-    this(conf, new Connector(conf, Duration.of(1, ChronoUnit.MINUTES)).getSocketMap());
+    this(conf, Duration.of(1, ChronoUnit.MINUTES));
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Construct a socket network with a specific timeout.
+   *
+   * @param conf the configuration to load the network from.
+   * @param timeout duration to wait until timeout when connecting the network.
+   */
+  public SocketNetwork(NetworkConfiguration conf, Duration timeout) {
+    this(conf, new Connector(conf, timeout).getSocketMap());
   }
 
   /**