diff --git a/priv/frontend/package-lock.json b/priv/frontend/package-lock.json
index 9fb3637..f4073ed 100644
--- a/priv/frontend/package-lock.json
+++ b/priv/frontend/package-lock.json
@@ -6926,6 +6926,11 @@
       "integrity": "sha512-bAdJv7fBLhWC+/Bls0Oza+mvTaNQtP+1RyhhhvD95pgUJz6XM5IzgmxOkItJ9tkoCiplvAnXI1tNmmUD/eScyA==",
       "optional": true
     },
+    "nanoevents": {
+      "version": "1.0.5",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/nanoevents/-/nanoevents-1.0.5.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-e6wsmRiGoBKaHHavsaKeVZRfxzH6y7evHdbZMTeRPyA0JKChr32quvabb6qPH6zDfEwy2/v/RABRdz8MuHXLJw=="
+    },
     "nanomatch": {
       "version": "1.2.13",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/nanomatch/-/nanomatch-1.2.13.tgz",
diff --git a/priv/frontend/package.json b/priv/frontend/package.json
index dc6005f..c40c68a 100644
--- a/priv/frontend/package.json
+++ b/priv/frontend/package.json
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
     "@fortawesome/free-solid-svg-icons": "^5.1.0-11",
     "@fortawesome/react-fontawesome": "0.1.0-11",
     "ms": "^2.1.1",
+    "nanoevents": "^1.0.5",
     "prop-types": "^15.6.2",
     "react": "^16.4.0",
     "react-dom": "^16.4.0",
diff --git a/priv/frontend/src/components/App.js b/priv/frontend/src/components/App.js
index f07231c..229085f 100644
--- a/priv/frontend/src/components/App.js
+++ b/priv/frontend/src/components/App.js
@@ -4,14 +4,12 @@ import './App.css'
 import Service from './Service.js'
 import ServicePlaceholder from './ServicePlaceholder.js'
 import DegradedNotice from './DegradedNotice.js'
-import OP from '../ws/op.js'
+import StreamingClient from '../ws/client'
 import { log, objectFromEntries } from '../util.js'
 import { domain as DOMAIN } from '../config.json'
 
 export default class App extends Component {
-  websocket = null
-
-  reconnectionTime = 1000
+  client = null
 
   state = {
     loading: true,
@@ -21,31 +19,15 @@ export default class App extends Component {
 
   async componentDidMount () {
     await this.loadMetrics()
-    this.connect()
-  }
 
-  subscribeToChannels () {
-    if (this.state.metrics == null) {
-      // fetching state failed, bail
-      log('not going to subscribe to realtime updates due to fetch failure')
-      return
-    }
+    const endpoint = `${DOMAIN}/api/streaming`
+      .replace('https', 'wss')
+      .replace('http', 'ws')
+    this.client = new StreamingClient(endpoint, this.state.metrics)
+    this.client.connect()
 
-    const { graph } = this.state.metrics
-
-    const channels = Object.keys(graph).reduce(
-      (channels, name) => [...channels, `latency:${name}`, `status:${name}`],
-      []
-    )
-
-    log(
-      `subscribing to ${channels.length} channels: ${channels.join(', ')}`
-    )
-
-    this._send({
-      op: OP.SUBSCRIBE,
-      channels,
-    })
+    this.client.on('status', this.handleStatus.bind(this))
+    this.client.on('latency', this.handleLatency.bind(this))
   }
 
   handleStatus (name, [, status]) {
@@ -92,68 +74,6 @@ export default class App extends Component {
     })
   }
 
-  handlePacket (packet) {
-    const { op, c: channel, d: data } = packet
-
-    if (op !== OP.DATA) {
-      return
-    }
-
-    const [type, name] = channel.split(':')
-
-    log('updating from channel:', channel)
-
-    if (type === 'latency') {
-      this.handleLatency(name, data)
-    } else if (type === 'status') {
-      this.handleStatus(name, data)
-    }
-  }
-
-  connect () {
-    log('connecting to ws')
-
-    const endpoint = `${DOMAIN}/api/streaming`
-      .replace('https', 'wss')
-      .replace('http', 'ws')
-
-    this.websocket = new WebSocket(endpoint)
-
-    this.websocket.onopen = () => {
-      log('ws opened')
-      this.subscribeToChannels()
-    }
-
-    this.websocket.onclose = ({ code, reason }) => {
-      log(`ws closed with code ${code} (reason: ${reason || '<none>'}); ` +
-          `attempting to reconnect in ${this.reconnectionTime}ms`)
-      setTimeout(() => this.connect(), this.reconnectionTime)
-      this.reconnectionTime *= 2
-    }
-
-    this.websocket.onmessage = (message) => {
-      const { data } = message
-      const parsed = JSON.parse(data)
-
-      console.log(
-        '%c>>>%c',
-        'color: hsla(320, 100%, 50%, 1); font-weight: bold',
-        'color: inherit; font-weight: inherit',
-        parsed,
-      )
-
-      this.handlePacket(parsed)
-    }
-
-    this.websocket.onerror = (event) => {
-      log('ws error:', event)
-    }
-  }
-
-  _send (payload) {
-    this.websocket.send(JSON.stringify(payload))
-  }
-
   async loadMetrics () {
     log('loading metrics')
 
diff --git a/priv/frontend/src/util.js b/priv/frontend/src/util.js
index fc9bec2..ba96c3e 100644
--- a/priv/frontend/src/util.js
+++ b/priv/frontend/src/util.js
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
-export function log (...args) {
+export const logger = ({ name, color }) => (...args) =>
   console.log(
-    '%c[elstat]%c',
-    'color: purple; font-weight: bold',
+    `%c[${name}]%c`,
+    `color: ${color}; font-weight: bold`,
     'color: inherit; font-weight: inherit',
-    ...args,
+    ...args
   )
-}
+
+export const log = logger({ name: 'elstat', color: 'purple' })
 
 export function objectFromEntries (entries) {
   return entries.reduce(
diff --git a/priv/frontend/src/ws/client.js b/priv/frontend/src/ws/client.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fd773be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/priv/frontend/src/ws/client.js
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+import NanoEvents from 'nanoevents'
+
+import OP from './op'
+import { logger } from '../util'
+const log = logger({ name: 'ws', color: 'green' })
+
+export default class StreamingClient extends NanoEvents {
+  constructor (url, metrics) {
+    super()
+
+    this.url = url
+    this.metrics = metrics
+    this.ws = null
+    this.delay = 1000
+  }
+
+  send (packet) {
+    this.ws.send(JSON.stringify(packet))
+  }
+
+  subscribe () {
+    if (!this.metrics) {
+      log('not subscribing to channels -- no initial metrics')
+      return
+    }
+
+    log('subscribing to channels')
+
+    const { status } = this.metrics
+    const channels = Object.keys(status).reduce(
+      (channels, name) => [...channels, `latency:${name}`, `status:${name}`],
+      []
+    )
+
+    log(`subscribing to ${channels.length} channels: ${channels.join(', ')}`)
+    this.send({ op: OP.SUBSCRIBE, channels })
+  }
+
+  handle (packet) {
+    const { op, c: channel, d: data } = packet
+
+    if (op !== OP.DATA) {
+      return
+    }
+
+    const [type, name] = channel.split(':')
+
+    this.emit(type, name, data)
+  }
+
+  connect () {
+    log('connecting')
+
+    const ws = this.ws = new WebSocket(this.url)
+    window.ws = ws
+
+    ws.onopen = () => {
+      log('connected')
+      this.subscribe()
+    }
+
+    ws.onclose = ({ code, reason }) => {
+      log(
+        `ws closed with code ${code} (reason: ${reason || '<none>'}); ` +
+        `attempting to reconnect in ${this.delay}ms`
+      )
+
+      setTimeout(() => this.connect(), this.delay)
+      this.delay *= 2
+    }
+
+    ws.onmessage = ({ data }) => {
+      log(`recv: ${data}`)
+      const packet = JSON.parse(data)
+
+      this.emit('packet', packet)
+      this.handle(packet)
+    }
+
+    ws.onerror = (err) => {
+      log(`error: ${err}`)
+    }
+  }
+}