diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/floodsub.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/floodsub.nim
index 77c8c4390..2be053c49 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/floodsub.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/floodsub.nim
@@ -97,13 +97,9 @@ method rpcHandler*(f: FloodSub,
                   trace "exception in message handler", exc = exc.msg
 
         # forward the message to all peers interested in it
-        let (published, failed) = await f.sendHelper(toSendPeers, m.messages)
-        for p in failed:
-          let peer = f.peers.getOrDefault(p)
-          if not(isNil(peer)):
-            f.handleDisconnect(peer) # cleanup failed peers
+        let published = await f.publishHelper(toSendPeers, m.messages)
 
-        trace "forwared message to peers", peers = published.len
+        trace "forwared message to peers", peers = published
 
 method init*(f: FloodSub) =
   proc handler(conn: Connection, proto: string) {.async.} =
@@ -139,18 +135,15 @@ method publish*(f: FloodSub,
   trace "publishing on topic", name = topic
   inc f.msgSeqno
   let msg = Message.init(f.peerInfo, data, topic, f.msgSeqno, f.sign)
+
   # start the future but do not wait yet
-  let (published, failed) = await f.sendHelper(f.floodsub.getOrDefault(topic), @[msg])
-  for p in failed:
-    let peer = f.peers.getOrDefault(p)
-    if not isNil(peer):
-      f.handleDisconnect(peer) # cleanup failed peers
+  let published = await f.publishHelper(f.floodsub.getOrDefault(topic), @[msg])
 
   libp2p_pubsub_messages_published.inc(labelValues = [topic])
 
-  trace "published message to peers", peers = published.len,
+  trace "published message to peers", peers = published,
                                       msg = msg.shortLog()
-  return published.len
+  return published
 
 method unsubscribe*(f: FloodSub,
                     topics: seq[TopicPair]) {.async.} =
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
index 6e41e0eb1..0c848771e 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
@@ -422,13 +422,9 @@ method rpcHandler*(g: GossipSub,
                 trace "exception in message handler", exc = exc.msg
 
       # forward the message to all peers interested in it
-      let (published, failed) = await g.sendHelper(toSendPeers, m.messages)
-      for p in failed:
-        let peer = g.peers.getOrDefault(p)
-        if not isNil(peer):
-          g.handleDisconnect(peer) # cleanup failed peers
+      let published = await g.publishHelper(toSendPeers, m.messages)
 
-      trace "forwared message to peers", peers = published.len
+      trace "forwared message to peers", peers = published
 
     var respControl: ControlMessage
     if m.control.isSome:
@@ -501,18 +497,13 @@ method publish*(g: GossipSub,
   if msgId notin g.mcache:
     g.mcache.put(msgId, msg)
 
-  let (published, failed) = await g.sendHelper(peers, @[msg])
-  for p in failed:
-    let peer = g.peers.getOrDefault(p)
-    if not isNil(peer):
-      g.handleDisconnect(peer) # cleanup failed peers
-
-  if published.len > 0:
+  let published = await g.publishHelper(peers, @[msg])
+  if published > 0:
     libp2p_pubsub_messages_published.inc(labelValues = [topic])
 
-  trace "published message to peers", peers = published.len,
+  trace "published message to peers", peers = published,
                                       msg = msg.shortLog()
-  return published.len
+  return published
 
 method start*(g: GossipSub) {.async.} =
   trace "gossipsub start"
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/peertable.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/peertable.nim
index 810a1fad3..eda623168 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/peertable.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/peertable.nim
@@ -8,20 +8,22 @@
 ## those terms.
 
 import tables, sequtils, sets
-import pubsubpeer
+import pubsubpeer, ../../peerid
 
 type
-  PeerTable* = Table[string, HashSet[PubSubPeer]]
+  PeerTable* = Table[string, HashSet[PubSubPeer]] # topic string to peer map
 
 proc hasPeerID*(t: PeerTable, topic, peerId: string): bool =
-  # unefficient but used only in tests!
   let peers = toSeq(t.getOrDefault(topic))
   peers.any do (peer: PubSubPeer) -> bool:
     peer.id == peerId
 
 func addPeer*(table: var PeerTable, topic: string, peer: PubSubPeer): bool =
-  # returns true if the peer was added, false if it was already in the collection
-  not table.mgetOrPut(topic, initHashSet[PubSubPeer]()).containsOrIncl(peer)
+  # returns true if the peer was added,
+  # false if it was already in the collection
+  not table.mgetOrPut(topic,
+    initHashSet[PubSubPeer]())
+    .containsOrIncl(peer)
 
 func removePeer*(table: var PeerTable, topic: string, peer: PubSubPeer) =
   table.withValue(topic, peers):
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim
index d94eec1d9..3cf027126 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim
@@ -48,12 +48,13 @@ type
     handler*: seq[TopicHandler]
 
   PubSub* = ref object of LPProtocol
-    peerInfo*: PeerInfo               # this peer's info
-    topics*: Table[string, Topic]     # local topics
-    peers*: Table[string, PubSubPeer] # peerid to peer map
-    triggerSelf*: bool                # trigger own local handler on publish
-    verifySignature*: bool            # enable signature verification
-    sign*: bool                       # enable message signing
+    peerInfo*: PeerInfo                             # this peer's info
+    topics*: Table[string, Topic]                   # local topics
+    peers*: Table[string, PubSubPeer]               # peerid to peer map
+    conns*: Table[PeerInfo, HashSet[Connection]]  # peers connections
+    triggerSelf*: bool                              # trigger own local handler on publish
+    verifySignature*: bool                          # enable signature verification
+    sign*: bool                                     # enable message signing
     cleanupLock: AsyncLock
     validators*: Table[string, HashSet[ValidatorHandler]]
     observers: ref seq[PubSubObserver] # ref as in smart_ptr
@@ -63,8 +64,7 @@ type
 method handleDisconnect*(p: PubSub, peer: PubSubPeer) {.base.} =
   ## handle peer disconnects
   ##
-  if not isNil(peer.peerInfo) and
-    peer.id in p.peers and not peer.inUse():
+  if not(isNil(peer)) and peer.peerInfo notin p.conns:
     trace "deleting peer", peer = peer.id
     p.peers.del(peer.id)
     trace "peer disconnected", peer = peer.id
@@ -72,6 +72,24 @@ method handleDisconnect*(p: PubSub, peer: PubSubPeer) {.base.} =
     # metrics
     libp2p_pubsub_peers.set(p.peers.len.int64)
 
+proc onConnClose(p: PubSub, conn: Connection) {.async.} =
+  try:
+    let peer = conn.peerInfo
+    await conn.closeEvent.wait()
+
+    if peer in p.conns:
+      p.conns[peer].excl(conn)
+      if p.conns[peer].len <= 0:
+        p.conns.del(peer)
+
+    if peer.id in p.peers:
+      p.handleDisconnect(p.peers[peer.id])
+
+  except CancelledError as exc:
+    raise exc
+  except CatchableError as exc:
+    trace "exception in onConnClose handler", exc = exc.msg
+
 proc sendSubs*(p: PubSub,
                peer: PubSubPeer,
                topics: seq[string],
@@ -87,11 +105,14 @@ proc sendSubs*(p: PubSub,
 
     await peer.sendSubOpts(topics, subscribe)
   except CancelledError as exc:
-    p.handleDisconnect(peer)
+    if not(isNil(peer)) and not(isNil(peer.conn)):
+      await peer.conn.close()
+
     raise exc
   except CatchableError as exc:
     trace "unable to send subscriptions", exc = exc.msg
-    p.handleDisconnect(peer)
+    if not(isNil(peer)) and not(isNil(peer.conn)):
+      await peer.conn.close()
 
 method subscribeTopic*(p: PubSub,
                        topic: string,
@@ -150,11 +171,19 @@ method handleConn*(p: PubSub,
     await conn.close()
     return
 
+  # track connection
+  p.conns.mgetOrPut(conn.peerInfo,
+    initHashSet[Connection]())
+    .incl(conn)
+
+  asyncCheck p.onConnClose(conn)
+
   proc handler(peer: PubSubPeer, msgs: seq[RPCMsg]) {.async.} =
     # call pubsub rpc handler
     await p.rpcHandler(peer, msgs)
 
   let peer = p.getOrCreatePeer(conn.peerInfo, proto)
+
   let topics = toSeq(p.topics.keys)
   if topics.len > 0:
     await p.sendSubs(peer, topics, true)
@@ -168,13 +197,20 @@ method handleConn*(p: PubSub,
   except CatchableError as exc:
     trace "exception ocurred in pubsub handle", exc = exc.msg
   finally:
-    p.handleDisconnect(peer)
     await conn.close()
 
 method subscribePeer*(p: PubSub, conn: Connection) {.base.} =
   if not(isNil(conn)):
-    let peer = p.getOrCreatePeer(conn.peerInfo, p.codec)
     trace "subscribing to peer", peerId = conn.peerInfo.id
+
+    # track connection
+    p.conns.mgetOrPut(conn.peerInfo,
+      initHashSet[Connection]())
+      .incl(conn)
+
+    asyncCheck p.onConnClose(conn)
+
+    let peer = p.getOrCreatePeer(conn.peerInfo, p.codec)
     if not peer.connected:
       peer.conn = conn
 
@@ -183,11 +219,9 @@ method unsubscribePeer*(p: PubSub, peerInfo: PeerInfo) {.base, async.} =
     let peer = p.peers[peerInfo.id]
 
     trace "unsubscribing from peer", peerId = $peerInfo
-    if not(isNil(peer.conn)):
+    if not(isNil(peer)) and not(isNil(peer.conn)):
       await peer.conn.close()
 
-    p.handleDisconnect(peer)
-
 proc connected*(p: PubSub, peerInfo: PeerInfo): bool =
   if peerInfo.id in p.peers:
     let peer = p.peers[peerInfo.id]
@@ -269,6 +303,18 @@ proc sendHelper*(p: PubSub,
 
   return (published, failed)
 
+proc publishHelper*(p: PubSub,
+                     sendPeers: HashSet[PubSubPeer],
+                     msgs: seq[Message]): Future[int] {.async.} =
+  # send messages and cleanup failed peers
+  let (published, failed) = await p.sendHelper(sendPeers, msgs)
+  for f in failed:
+    let peer = p.peers.getOrDefault(f)
+    if not(isNil(peer)) and not(isNil(peer.conn)):
+      await peer.conn.close()
+
+  return published.len
+
 method publish*(p: PubSub,
                 topic: string,
                 data: seq[byte]): Future[int] {.base, async.} =
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsubpeer.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsubpeer.nim
index 8515a7165..f223ee06c 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsubpeer.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsubpeer.nim
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@ type
     recvdRpcCache: TimedCache[string]   # cache for already received messages
     onConnect*: AsyncEvent
     observers*: ref seq[PubSubObserver] # ref as in smart_ptr
-    refs: int                           # how many active connections this peer has
 
   RPCHandler* = proc(peer: PubSubPeer, msg: seq[RPCMsg]): Future[void] {.gcsafe.}
 
@@ -50,9 +49,6 @@ func hash*(p: PubSubPeer): Hash =
 
 proc id*(p: PubSubPeer): string = p.peerInfo.id
 
-proc inUse*(p: PubSubPeer): bool =
-  p.refs > 0
-
 proc connected*(p: PubSubPeer): bool =
   not(isNil(p.sendConn))
 
@@ -61,7 +57,6 @@ proc `conn=`*(p: PubSubPeer, conn: Connection) =
     trace "attaching send connection for peer", peer = p.id
     p.sendConn = conn
     p.onConnect.fire()
-    p.refs.inc()
 
 proc conn*(p: PubSubPeer): Connection =
   p.sendConn
@@ -86,7 +81,6 @@ proc handle*(p: PubSubPeer, conn: Connection) {.async.} =
   debug "starting pubsub read loop for peer", closed = conn.closed
   try:
     try:
-      p.refs.inc()
       while not conn.closed:
         trace "waiting for data", closed = conn.closed
         let data = await conn.readLp(64 * 1024)
@@ -124,8 +118,6 @@ proc handle*(p: PubSubPeer, conn: Connection) {.async.} =
   except CatchableError as exc:
     trace "Exception occurred in PubSubPeer.handle", exc = exc.msg
     raise exc
-  finally:
-    p.refs.dec()
 
 proc send*(p: PubSubPeer, msg: RPCMsg) {.async.} =
   logScope:
@@ -172,7 +164,6 @@ proc send*(p: PubSubPeer, msg: RPCMsg) {.async.} =
       p.sendConn = nil
       p.onConnect.clear()
 
-    p.refs.dec()
     raise exc
 
 proc sendSubOpts*(p: PubSubPeer, topics: seq[string], subscribe: bool): Future[void] =
diff --git a/libp2p/standard_setup.nim b/libp2p/standard_setup.nim
index 702673f7a..9ab8c262c 100644
--- a/libp2p/standard_setup.nim
+++ b/libp2p/standard_setup.nim
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ proc newStandardSwitch*(privKey = none(PrivateKey),
                         msgIdProvider: MsgIdProvider = defaultMsgIdProvider,
                         rng = newRng(),
                         inTimeout: Duration = 1.minutes,
-                        outTimeout: Duration = 5.minutes): Switch =
+                        outTimeout: Duration = 1.minutes): Switch =
   proc createMplex(conn: Connection): Muxer =
     Mplex.init(
       conn,
diff --git a/tests/testmplex.nim b/tests/testmplex.nim
index 82664ccfe..3f84794fe 100644
--- a/tests/testmplex.nim
+++ b/tests/testmplex.nim
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ suite "Mplex":
     check:
       waitFor(testResetWrite()) == true
 
-    test "timeout, channel should reset":
+    test "reset - channel should reset on timeout":
       proc testResetWrite(): Future[bool] {.async.} =
         proc writeHandler(data: seq[byte]) {.async, gcsafe.} = discard
         let