diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index defda8c..0c41b45 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ find_package(Qt6 REQUIRED COMPONENTS
     Qml
     Quick
     QuickControls2
+    Network
 )
 
 set(ROOT_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR})
diff --git a/client/CMakeLists.txt b/client/CMakeLists.txt
index 396da3a..9e433b9 100644
--- a/client/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/client/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ target_link_libraries(accordion-client PRIVATE
     Qt6::Gui
     Qt6::Quick
     Qt6::QuickControls2
+    Qt6::Network
     accordion-common
 )
 
diff --git a/client/src/TcpClient.cpp b/client/src/TcpClient.cpp
index 916b37b..759c04d 100644
--- a/client/src/TcpClient.cpp
+++ b/client/src/TcpClient.cpp
@@ -12,10 +12,10 @@ TcpClient::TcpClient(ConfigService* config, LoggerService* logger, QObject* pare
     }
 
     // connect sockets
-    connect(&socket_, &QTcpSocket::connected, this, &TcpClient::onConnected());
-    connect(&socket_, &QTcpSocket::disconnected, this, &TcpClient::onDisconnected());
-    connect(&socket_, &QTcpSocket::readyRead, this, &TcpClient::onReadyRead());
-    connect(&socket_, &QTcpSocket::errorOccured, this, [this](QAbstractSocket::SocketError) { emit errorOccured(socket_.errorString()); }); // lazy
+    connect(&socket_, &QTcpSocket::connected, this, &TcpClient::onConnected);
+    connect(&socket_, &QTcpSocket::disconnected, this, &TcpClient::onDisconnected);
+    connect(&socket_, &QTcpSocket::readyRead, this, &TcpClient::onReadyRead);
+    connect(&socket_, &QTcpSocket::errorOccurred, this, [this](QAbstractSocket::SocketError) { emit errorOccurred(socket_.errorString()); }); // lazy
 
     logger_->log("TcpClient", LogFlag::Info, "TcpClient initialized.");
 
@@ -25,11 +25,11 @@ TcpClient::~TcpClient() {
     // close port
 }
 
-ErrorCode TcpClient::connect() {
-    socket_.connectToHost(configuration_.hostname, configuration_.port);
+void TcpClient::connectServer() {
+    socket_.connectToHost(QString::fromStdString(configuration_.hostname), configuration_.port);
 }
 
-ssize_t send(const char* data, size_t numBytes) {
+void TcpClient::send(const char* data, size_t numBytes) {
     socket_.write(data, numBytes);
 }
 
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ void TcpClient::handleMessage() {
         QByteArray message = receiveBuffer_.mid(kHeaderSize, msgSize);
         receiveBuffer_.remove(0, msgSize + kHeaderSize);
 
-        emit messageRecieved(message);
+        emit messageReceived(message);
 
     }
 
diff --git a/client/src/TcpClient.hpp b/client/src/TcpClient.hpp
index d09e9b8..4cfa55b 100644
--- a/client/src/TcpClient.hpp
+++ b/client/src/TcpClient.hpp
@@ -9,27 +9,33 @@
 #include <sys/time.h> // TODO replace with chrono
 #include <pthread.h>
 
+#include <QObject>
+#include <QByteArray>
+#include <QTcpSocket>
+
 #include "common/config/ConfigService.hpp"
 #include "common/LoggerService.hpp"
 #include "common/ErrorCodes.hpp"
 #include "common/TcpBase.hpp"
 #include "config/ClientConfig.hpp"
 
-class TcpClient : TcpBase {
+class TcpClient : public QObject {
+
+    Q_OBJECT
 
 public:
 
-    TcpClient(ConfigService* config, LoggerService* logger);
+    TcpClient(ConfigService* config, LoggerService* logger, QObject* parent = nullptr);
     ~TcpClient();
 
-    void connect(); // asynchronous so no errorcode return
-    ssize_t send(const char* data, size_t numBytes);
+    void connectServer(); // asynchronous so no errorcode return
+    void send(const char* data, size_t numBytes);
 
 signals:
     void connected();
     void disconnected();
     void messageReceived(QByteArray message);
-    void error(QString error);
+    void errorOccurred(QString error);
 
 private slots:
     void onConnected();
@@ -40,8 +46,10 @@ private:
 
     void handleMessage();
 
+    LoggerService* logger_;
     ClientParams configuration_;
     QTcpSocket socket_;
-    QByteArray receiveBuffer_[1024];
+    QByteArray receiveBuffer_;
 
+    static constexpr size_t kHeaderSize = 8; // 4 bytes for length, 4 bytes for type
 };
diff --git a/client/src/config/ClientConfig.hpp b/client/src/config/ClientConfig.hpp
index 5367bf2..20a8304 100644
--- a/client/src/config/ClientConfig.hpp
+++ b/client/src/config/ClientConfig.hpp
@@ -23,7 +23,10 @@ public:
         }
 
         setting.lookupValue("Hostname", params_->hostname);
-        setting.lookupValue("Port", params_->port);
+
+        uint32_t portLong;
+        setting.lookupValue("Port", portLong);
+        params_->port = static_cast<uint16_t>(portLong & 0xFFFF);
 
         return true;
     }
diff --git a/client/src/main.cpp b/client/src/main.cpp
index 7ee24b7..96a8f9b 100644
--- a/client/src/main.cpp
+++ b/client/src/main.cpp
@@ -25,14 +25,18 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
 
     ConfigService config { centralConfigPath };
     LoggerService logger {&config, "main"};
+    TcpClient client {&config, &logger};
+
+    client.connectServer();
+    const char data[] = "hi hello I would like some beans on toast";
+    client.send(data, sizeof(data));
 
     // attach backend gui components
     qmlRegisterType<TimerComponent>("accordion", 1, 0, "TimerComponent");
+    engine.rootContext()->setContextProperty("tcpClient", &client);
     // alternative is engine.rootContext()->setContextProperty("timerComponent", &timerComponent);
     // which basically gives qml access to a singleton reference (qmlRegisterSingletonType is preferred)
 
-    //TcpClient client {&config, &logger};
-
     // load qml
     engine.load(QUrl::fromLocalFile("client/ui/Main.qml")); // ugh
 
diff --git a/common/TcpBase.hpp b/common/TcpBase.hpp
index edfdf65..5a61666 100644
--- a/common/TcpBase.hpp
+++ b/common/TcpBase.hpp
@@ -6,13 +6,11 @@
 
 // TcpBase contains common tcp I/O operations for the tcp client and tcp server
 // Abstracts away the networking methods into an accordion common protocol (ACP)
-class TcpBase : public QObject{
-
-    Q_OBJECT
+class TcpBase {
 
 public:
 
-    TcpBase(LoggerService* logger, QObject* parent = nullptr);
+    TcpBase(LoggerService* logger);
     ~TcpBase();
 
     // read from a tcp socket, blocking