diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6f78513..a3308e0 100755
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -12,14 +12,15 @@ Unlike other zipkin instrumentation packages, appmetrics-zipkin will automatical
 ## Configure Zipkin Endpoint
 Connecting to a [Zipkin](https://github.com/openzipkin/zipkin) endpoint is done by adding the desired hostname and port to `appmetrics-zipkin.properties` file.
 
-Alternatively, the hostname, port and service name (used by Zipkin to identify your application) can be added when including appmetrics-zipkin into your application:
+Alternatively, the hostname, port, timeout (optional) and service name (used by Zipkin to identify your application) can be added when including appmetrics-zipkin into your application:
 
 ```js
 var appzip = require('appmetrics-zipkin')({
   host: 'localhost',
   port: 9411,
   serviceName:'frontend',
-  sampleRate: 1.0
+  sampleRate: 1.0,
+  timeout: 5000
 });
 ```
 
diff --git a/appmetrics-zipkin.js b/appmetrics-zipkin.js
index 54efd22..237e2e8 100755
--- a/appmetrics-zipkin.js
+++ b/appmetrics-zipkin.js
@@ -53,13 +53,14 @@ module.exports = function(options) {
 
 function start(options) {
   // Set up the zipkin
-  var host, port, serviceName, sampleRate;
+  var host, port, serviceName, sampleRate, timeout;
 
   if (options) {
     host = options['host'];
     port = options['port'];
     serviceName = options['serviceName'];
     sampleRate = options['sampleRate'];
+    timeout = options['timeout'];
   }
 
   // Uses properties from file if present
@@ -76,6 +77,9 @@ function start(options) {
     if (properties.get('sampleRate')) {
       sampleRate = properties.get('sampleRate');
     }
+    if (properties.get('timeout')) {
+      timeout = properties.get('timeout');
+    }
   }
 
   if (!serviceName) {
@@ -90,17 +94,25 @@ function start(options) {
   if (!sampleRate) {
     sampleRate = 1.0;
   }
+  if (!timeout) {
+    timeout = 5000;
+  }
 
   // Test if the host & port are valid
-  tcpp.probe(host, port, function(err, available) {
-    if (err) {
-      console.log('Unable to contact Zipkin at ' + host + ':' + port);
-      return;
-    }
-    if (!available) {
-      console.log('Unable to contact Zipkin at ' + host + ':' + port);
-    }
-  });
+  tcpp.ping(
+    {
+      address: host,
+      port,
+      timeout,
+      attempts: 1,
+    },
+    function(_err, data) {
+      var available = data.min !== undefined;
+
+      if (!available) {
+        console.log('Unable to contact Zipkin at ' + host + ':' + port);
+      }
+    });
 
   const zipkinUrl = `http://${host}:${port}`;
   const recorder = new BatchRecorder({
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 0f5fcbe..c01df97 100755
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
   "scripts": {
     "test": "npm run test:unit && npm run test:integration",
     "test:unit": "mocha test/unit/",
-    "test:integration": "mocha -t 3000 test/integration/",
+    "test:integration": "mocha -t 5000 test/integration/",
     "pretest": "eslint .",
     "pretravis": "eslint .",
     "travis": ""
diff --git a/test/integration/request.test.js b/test/integration/request.test.js
index ce53109..46262c2 100644
--- a/test/integration/request.test.js
+++ b/test/integration/request.test.js
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ function waitAndGetTraces() {
   return new Promise(resolve => {
     setTimeout(() => { // We want to let all background requests going to zipkin complete
       resolve(getTraces({ zipkinHost, zipkinPort, serviceName }));
-    }, 1000);
+    }, 2000);
   });
 }
 
@@ -23,19 +23,28 @@ describe('http requests', () => {
     let server;
     let http;
 
+    const startupDelay = 2000;
+
     before(() => {
-      require('../../')({
-        host: zipkinHost,
-        port: zipkinPort,
-        sampleRate: zipkinSampleRate,
-        serviceName
-      });
+      return new Promise((resolve) => {
 
-      http = require('http');
-      return createServer({ http, port: 3000 })
-        .then(createdServer => {
-          server = createdServer;
+        require('../../')({
+          host: zipkinHost,
+          port: zipkinPort,
+          sampleRate: zipkinSampleRate,
+          serviceName
         });
+
+        http = require('http');
+        createServer({ http, port: 3000 })
+          .then(createdServer => {
+            server = createdServer;
+
+            setTimeout(() => {
+              return resolve();
+            }, startupDelay);
+          });
+      });
     });
     after(() => {
       if (server) server.close();