diff --git a/codexvalidator.nimble b/codexvalidator.nimble
index 9d7ce32..efa1d83 100644
--- a/codexvalidator.nimble
+++ b/codexvalidator.nimble
@@ -7,12 +7,21 @@ license = "MIT"
 requires "stew#a6e198132097fb544d04959aeb3b839e1408f942"
 requires "faststreams#cf8d4d22636b8e514caf17e49f9c786ac56b0e85"
 requires "serialization#2086c99608b4bf472e1ef5fe063710f280243396"
+requires "httputils#8bb1acbaa4b86eb866145b0d468eff64a57d1897"
 
 # pinning non-versioned dependencies
 requires "stint#ae665d6546c57b4acaf194e9a8e33ebb6aab5213"
 requires "protobuf_serialization#5a31137a82c2b6a989c9ed979bb636c7a49f570e"
 requires "blscurve#de2d3c79264bba18dbea469c8c5c4b3bb3c8bc55"
 
+# versioned dependencies of dependencies
+requires "results >= 0.5.1 & < 0.6.0"
+requires "bearssl >= 0.2.5 & < 0.3.0"
+
 # versioned dependencies
 requires "https://github.com/codex-storage/nim-mysticeti >= 0.1.0 & < 0.2.0"
 requires "nimcrypto >= 0.6.2 & < 0.7.0"
+requires "chronos >= 4.0.3 & < 5.0.0"
+
+# test dependencies
+taskRequires "test", "asynctest >= 0.5.2 & < 0.6.0"
diff --git a/codexvalidator/basics.nim b/codexvalidator/basics.nim
index 674299e..ca8fe39 100644
--- a/codexvalidator/basics.nim
+++ b/codexvalidator/basics.nim
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 import std/sequtils
 import pkg/stint
+import pkg/chronos
 import pkg/questionable
 import pkg/questionable/results
 
 export sequtils
 export stint
+export chronos
 export questionable
 export results
diff --git a/codexvalidator/network.nim b/codexvalidator/network.nim
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0648021
--- /dev/null
+++ b/codexvalidator/network.nim
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+import ./network/address
+import ./network/server
+import ./network/connection
+
+export address
+export server
+export connection
diff --git a/codexvalidator/network/address.nim b/codexvalidator/network/address.nim
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e2e7550
--- /dev/null
+++ b/codexvalidator/network/address.nim
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+import ../basics
+
+type NetworkAddress* = distinct TransportAddress
+
+func init*(_: type NetworkAddress, address: string): ?!NetworkAddress =
+  NetworkAddress(initTAddress(address)).catch()
+
+func `==`*(a, b: NetworkAddress): bool {.borrow.}
+func `$`*(address: NetworkAddress): string {.borrow.}
diff --git a/codexvalidator/network/connection.nim b/codexvalidator/network/connection.nim
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..10f0e16
--- /dev/null
+++ b/codexvalidator/network/connection.nim
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+import ../basics
+import ./address
+
+type NetworkConnection* = distinct StreamTransport
+
+proc connect*(
+  _: type NetworkConnection,
+  address: NetworkAddress
+): Future[?!NetworkConnection] {.async:(raises:[]).} =
+  NetworkConnection(await TransportAddress(address).connect()).catch()
+
+proc close*(connection: NetworkConnection) {.async:(raises:[]).} =
+  StreamTransport(connection).close()
+  await noCancel StreamTransport(connection).join()
diff --git a/codexvalidator/network/server.nim b/codexvalidator/network/server.nim
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5b8c9de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/codexvalidator/network/server.nim
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+import ../basics
+import ./address
+
+type NetworkServer* = distinct StreamServer
+
+proc open*(_: type NetworkServer): Future[?!NetworkServer] {.async:(raises:[]).} =
+  NetworkServer(createStreamServer(Port(0))).catch()
+
+proc address*(server: NetworkServer): ?!NetworkAddress =
+  NetworkAddress(StreamServer(server).localAddress()).catch()
+
+proc close*(server: NetworkServer) {.async:(raises:[]).} =
+  StreamServer(server).close()
+  await noCancel StreamServer(server).join()
diff --git a/tests/codexvalidator/basics.nim b/tests/codexvalidator/basics.nim
index 38dcb09..a597772 100644
--- a/tests/codexvalidator/basics.nim
+++ b/tests/codexvalidator/basics.nim
@@ -1,15 +1,21 @@
-import std/unittest
 import std/sequtils
-export unittest
+import std/strutils
 export sequtils
+export strutils
 
 import pkg/stint
 export stint
 
+import pkg/chronos
+export chronos
+
 import pkg/questionable
 import pkg/questionable/results
 export questionable
 export results
 
+import pkg/asynctest/chronos/unittest
+export unittest
+
 import ./examples
 export examples
diff --git a/tests/codexvalidator/testNetwork.nim b/tests/codexvalidator/testNetwork.nim
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..899395e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/codexvalidator/testNetwork.nim
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+import ./basics
+import codexvalidator/network
+
+suite "Network communication":
+
+  test "a connection can be made to a server":
+    let server = !await NetworkServer.open()
+    let address = !server.address
+    let connection = !await NetworkConnection.connect(address)
+    await connection.close()
+    await server.close()
+
+  test "connect can fail":
+    let address = !NetworkAddress.init("127.0.0.1:1011") # port reserved by IANA
+    let connection = await NetworkConnection.connect(address)
+    check connection.isFailure
+    check connection.error.msg.contains("Connection refused")
diff --git a/tests/tests.nim b/tests/tests.nim
index 7225b5f..bd3e692 100644
--- a/tests/tests.nim
+++ b/tests/tests.nim
@@ -6,5 +6,6 @@ import ./codexvalidator/transaction/testHashing
 import ./codexvalidator/transaction/testSigning
 import ./codexvalidator/blocks/testBlock
 import ./codexvalidator/blocks/testSerialization
+import ./codexvalidator/testNetwork
 
 {.warning[UnusedImport]:off.}