diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
index 261cdf06c..f85630a54 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
@@ -261,6 +261,10 @@ proc handleSubscribe*(g: GossipSub,
   trace "gossip peers", peers = g.gossipsub.peers(topic), topic
 
 proc handleControl(g: GossipSub, peer: PubSubPeer, control: ControlMessage) =
+  if control.ping.len in 1..<64:
+    g.send(peer, RPCMsg(control: some(ControlMessage(pong: control.ping))))
+  if control.pong.len in 1..<64:
+    peer.handlePong(control.pong)
   g.handlePrune(peer, control.prune)
 
   var respControl: ControlMessage
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim
index fb7aea13b..b233761ea 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@ proc getOrCreatePeer*(
     p.onPubSubPeerEvent(peer, event)
 
   # create new pubsub peer
-  let pubSubPeer = PubSubPeer.new(peerId, getConn, onEvent, protos[0], p.maxMessageSize)
+  let pubSubPeer = PubSubPeer.new(peerId, getConn, onEvent, protos[0], p.maxMessageSize, p.rng)
   debug "created new pubsub peer", peerId
 
   p.peers[peerId] = pubSubPeer
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsubpeer.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsubpeer.nim
index ecc7e018f..a10a57a9e 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsubpeer.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsubpeer.nim
@@ -61,6 +61,10 @@ type
     handler*: RPCHandler
     observers*: ref seq[PubSubObserver] # ref as in smart_ptr
     gotMsgs*: Table[MessageId, Future[void]]
+    sentData*: seq[(Moment, int)]
+    pings*: Table[seq[byte], Moment]
+    rtts*: seq[int]
+    bandwidth*: int # in bytes per ms
 
     score*: float64
     iWantBudget*: int
@@ -68,6 +72,7 @@ type
     maxMessageSize: int
     appScore*: float64 # application specific score
     behaviourPenalty*: float64 # the eventual penalty score
+    rng*: ref HmacDrbgContext
 
     when defined(libp2p_agents_metrics):
       shortAgent*: string
@@ -103,6 +108,50 @@ func outbound*(p: PubSubPeer): bool =
   else:
     false
 
+proc bufferSizeAtMoment*(p: PubSubPeer, m: Moment): int =
+  var lastSent: Moment
+  for (sent, size) in p.sentData:
+    if sent > m:
+      break
+    let timeGap = (sent - lastSent).milliseconds
+    result -= timeGap * p.bandwidth
+    if result < 0: result = 0
+
+    result += size
+    lastSent = sent
+
+  let timeGap = (m - lastSent).milliseconds
+  result -= timeGap * p.bandwidth
+  return max(0, result)
+
+proc minRtt*(p: PubSubPeer): int =
+  if p.rtts.len > 0:
+    p.rtts.foldl(min(a, b), 10000)
+  else: 100
+
+proc handlePong*(p: PubSubPeer, pong: seq[byte]) =
+  if pong notin p.pings: return
+  let
+    pingMoment = p.pings.getOrDefault(pong)
+    delay = (Moment.now() - pingMoment).milliseconds
+    minRtt = p.minRtt
+
+  p.rtts.add(delay)
+  if delay < minRtt:
+    # can't make bandwidth estimate in this situation
+    return
+
+  let
+    bufferSizeWhenSendingPing = p.bufferSizeAtMoment(pingMoment)
+    estimatedBandwidth =
+      bufferSizeWhenSendingPing / delay
+
+  if bufferSizeWhenSendingPing / p.bandwidth < minRtt / 5:
+    # can't make bandwidth estimate in this situation
+    return
+
+  p.bandwidth = (p.bandwidth * 9 + int(estimatedBandwidth)) div 10
+
 proc recvObservers(p: PubSubPeer, msg: var RPCMsg) =
   # trigger hooks
   if not(isNil(p.observers)) and p.observers[].len > 0:
@@ -253,8 +302,16 @@ proc sendEncoded*(p: PubSubPeer, msg: seq[byte]) {.raises: [Defect], async.} =
 
   trace "sending encoded msgs to peer", conn, encoded = shortLog(msg)
 
+  let startOfSend = Moment.now()
+  p.sentData.add((startOfSend, msg.len))
   try:
-    await conn.writeLp(msg)
+    if p.bufferSizeAtMoment(startOfSend) / p.bandwidth < p.minRtt / 5:
+      # ping it
+      let pingKey = p.rng[].generateBytes(32)
+      p.pings[pingKey] = startOfSend
+      await conn.writeLp(msg & encodeRpcMsg(RPCMsg(control: some(ControlMessage(ping: pingKey))), true))
+    else:
+      await conn.writeLp(msg)
     trace "sent pubsub message to remote", conn
   except CatchableError as exc: # never cancelled
     # Because we detach the send call from the currently executing task using
@@ -293,13 +350,17 @@ proc new*(
   getConn: GetConn,
   onEvent: OnEvent,
   codec: string,
-  maxMessageSize: int): T =
+  maxMessageSize: int,
+  rng: ref HmacDrbgContext = newRng(),
+  ): T =
 
   T(
     getConn: getConn,
     onEvent: onEvent,
     codec: codec,
     peerId: peerId,
+    bandwidth: 6250,
     connectedFut: newFuture[void](),
-    maxMessageSize: maxMessageSize
+    maxMessageSize: maxMessageSize,
+    rng: rng
   )
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/rpc/messages.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/rpc/messages.nim
index 4b6fbebba..ce00ff58b 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/rpc/messages.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/rpc/messages.nim
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ type
       iwant*: seq[ControlIWant]
       graft*: seq[ControlGraft]
       prune*: seq[ControlPrune]
+      ping*: seq[byte]
+      pong*: seq[byte]
 
     ControlIHave* = object
       topicId*: string
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/rpc/protobuf.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/rpc/protobuf.nim
index 5bc940220..1779d2867 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/rpc/protobuf.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/rpc/protobuf.nim
@@ -92,6 +92,10 @@ proc write*(pb: var ProtoBuffer, field: int, control: ControlMessage) =
     ipb.write(4, prune)
   for ihave in control.dontSend:
     ipb.write(5, ihave)
+  if control.ping.len > 0:
+    ipb.write(10, control.ping)
+  if control.pong.len > 0:
+    ipb.write(11, control.pong)
   if len(ipb.buffer) > 0:
     ipb.finish()
     pb.write(field, ipb)
@@ -231,6 +235,8 @@ proc decodeControl*(pb: ProtoBuffer): ProtoResult[Option[ControlMessage]] {.
     if ? cpb.getRepeatedField(5, dontsendpbs):
       for item in dontsendpbs:
         control.dontSend.add(? decodeIHave(initProtoBuffer(item)))
+    discard ? cpb.getField(10, control.ping)
+    discard ? cpb.getField(11, control.pong)
     trace "decodeControl: message statistics", graft_count = len(control.graft),
                                                prune_count = len(control.prune),
                                                ihave_count = len(control.ihave),