diff --git a/client/connection.go b/client/connection.go
index e4d474e..a2e3bb3 100644
--- a/client/connection.go
+++ b/client/connection.go
@@ -47,15 +47,18 @@ type Conn struct {
 	Connected bool
 
 	// Control channels to goroutines
-	cSend, cLoop chan bool
+	cSend, cLoop, cPing chan bool
 
 	// Misc knobs to tweak client behaviour:
 	// Are we connecting via SSL? Do we care about certificate validity?
 	SSL       bool
 	SSLConfig *tls.Config
 
-	// Socket timeout, in seconds. Defaulted to 5m in New().
-	Timeout int64
+	// Client->server ping frequency, in seconds. Defaults to 3m.
+	PingFreq int64
+
+	// Socket timeout, in seconds. Default to 5m.
+	Timeout  int64
 
 	// Set this to true to disable flood protection and false to re-enable
 	Flood bool
@@ -95,8 +98,10 @@ func Client(nick, ident, name string,
 		out:        make(chan string, 32),
 		cSend:      make(chan bool),
 		cLoop:      make(chan bool),
+		cPing:      make(chan bool),
 		SSL:        false,
 		SSLConfig:  nil,
+		PingFreq:	180,
 		Timeout:    300,
 		Flood:      false,
 		badness:    0,
@@ -194,6 +199,7 @@ func (conn *Conn) postConnect() {
 	conn.sock.SetTimeout(conn.Timeout * second)
 	go conn.send()
 	go conn.recv()
+	go conn.ping()
 	go conn.runLoop()
 }
 
@@ -236,6 +242,20 @@ func (conn *Conn) recv() {
 	}
 }
 
+// Repeatedly pings the server every PingFreq seconds (no matter what)
+func (conn *Conn) ping() {
+	tick := time.NewTicker(conn.PingFreq * second)
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-tick.C:
+			conn.Raw(fmt.Sprintf("PING :%d", time.Nanoseconds()))
+		case <-conn.cPing:
+			tick.Stop()
+			return
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 // goroutine to dispatch events for lines received on input channel
 func (conn *Conn) runLoop() {
 	for {
@@ -303,6 +323,7 @@ func (conn *Conn) shutdown() {
 		conn.sock.Close()
 		conn.cSend <- true
 		conn.cLoop <- true
+		conn.cPing <- true
 		// reinit datastructures ready for next connection
 		// do this here rather than after runLoop()'s for due to race
 		conn.initialise()
diff --git a/client/connection_test.go b/client/connection_test.go
index b7b4888..1c519ac 100644
--- a/client/connection_test.go
+++ b/client/connection_test.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/fluffle/golog/logging"
 	"github.com/fluffle/goirc/state"
 	"gomock.googlecode.com/hg/gomock"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 )
@@ -260,6 +261,7 @@ func TestRecv(t *testing.T) {
 	// channels manually for recv() to be able to call shutdown correctly.
 	<-c.cSend
 	<-c.cLoop
+	<-c.cPing
 	// Give things time to shake themselves out...
 	<-time.After(1e6)
 	if !exited {
@@ -272,6 +274,74 @@ func TestRecv(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestPing(t *testing.T) {
+	// Passing a second value to setUp inhibits postConnect()
+	c, s := setUp(t, false)
+	// We can't use tearDown here, as it will cause a deadlock in shutdown()
+	// trying to send kill messages down channels to nonexistent goroutines.
+	defer s.ctrl.Finish()
+
+	// Set a low ping frequency for testing.
+	// This still increases testing time by a good few seconds :-/
+	c.PingFreq = 1
+
+	// reader is a helper to do a "non-blocking" read of c.out
+	reader := func() string {
+		select {
+		case <-time.After(1e6):
+		case s := <-c.out:
+			return s
+		}
+		return ""
+	}
+	if s := reader(); s != "" {
+		t.Errorf("Line output before ping started.")
+	}
+
+	// Start ping loop.
+	exited := false
+	go func() {
+		c.ping()
+		exited = true
+	}()
+
+	// The first ping should be after a second,
+	// so we don't expect anything now on c.in
+	if s := reader(); s != "" {
+		t.Errorf("Line output directly after ping started.")
+	}
+
+	<-time.After(1e9)
+	if s := reader(); s == "" || !strings.HasPrefix(s, "PING :") {
+		t.Errorf("Line not output after 1 second.")
+	}
+
+	<-time.After(1e7)
+	if s := reader(); s != "" {
+		t.Errorf("Line output under a second after last ping.")
+	}
+
+	<-time.After(1e9)
+	if s := reader(); s == "" || !strings.HasPrefix(s, "PING :") {
+		t.Errorf("Line not output after another second.")
+	}
+
+	// Now kill the ping loop.
+	if exited {
+		t.Errorf("Exited before signal sent.")
+	}
+
+	c.cPing <- true
+	<-time.After(1e9)
+	if s := reader(); s != "" {
+		t.Errorf("Line output after ping stopped.")
+	}
+
+	if !exited {
+		t.Errorf("Didn't exit after signal.")
+	}
+}
+
 func TestRunLoop(t *testing.T) {
 	// Passing a second value to setUp inhibits postConnect()
 	c, s := setUp(t, false)
@@ -364,6 +434,7 @@ func TestWrite(t *testing.T) {
 	go func() {
 		<-c.cSend
 		<-c.cLoop
+		<-c.cPing
 	}()
 	s.nc.Close()