diff --git a/src/network_worker.cpp b/src/network_worker.cpp
index 52ba3a9d48f..f21d724ca5b 100644
--- a/src/network_worker.cpp
+++ b/src/network_worker.cpp
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #include "wassert.hpp"
 //#include "wesconfig.h"
 #include "serialization/binary_wml.hpp"
+#include "serialization/binary_or_text.hpp"
 
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <cerrno>
@@ -128,7 +129,59 @@ threading::condition* cond = NULL;
 std::map<Uint32,threading::thread*> threads;
 std::vector<Uint32> to_clear;
 
+int receive_bytes(TCPsocket s, char* buf, size_t nbytes)
+{
+#ifdef NETWORK_USE_RAW_SOCKETS
+	const _TCPsocket* sock = reinterpret_cast<const _TCPsocket*>(s);
+	return recv(sock->channel, buf, nbytes, MSG_DONTWAIT|MSG_ERRQUEUE);
+#else
+	return SDLNet_TCP_Recv(s, buf, nbytes);
+#endif
+}
+
+bool receive_with_timeout(TCPsocket s, char* buf, size_t nbytes, bool update_stats=false, int timeout_ms=60000)
+{
+	int nsleeps = 0;
+	while(nbytes > 0) {
+		const int bytes_read = receive_bytes(s, buf, nbytes);
+		if(bytes_read == 0) {
+			return false;
+		} else if(bytes_read < 0) {
+#if defined(EAGAIN) && !defined(__BEOS__) && !defined(_WIN32)
+			if(errno == EAGAIN)
+#elif defined(EWOULDBLOCK)
+			if(errno == EWOULDBLOCK)
+#else
+			if(false)
+#endif
+			{
+				//TODO: consider replacing this with a select call
+				if(++nsleeps == timeout_ms) {
+					return false;
+				}
+				usleep(1000);
+			} else {
+				return false;
+			}
+		} else {
+			if(bytes_read > static_cast<int>(nbytes)) {
+				return false;
+			}
+
+			nbytes -= bytes_read;
+			buf += bytes_read;
+			if(update_stats) {
+				const threading::lock lock(*global_mutex);
+				transfer_stats[s].second.transfer(static_cast<size_t>(bytes_read));
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return true;
+}
+
 static SOCKET_STATE send_buf(TCPsocket sock, config& config_in) {
+	write_possibly_compressed(std::cerr, config_in, false);
 #ifdef __BEOS__
 	int timeout = 15000;
 #endif
@@ -223,13 +276,13 @@ static SOCKET_STATE send_buf(TCPsocket sock, config& config_in) {
 static SOCKET_STATE receive_buf(TCPsocket sock, std::vector<char>& buf)
 {
 	char num_buf[4];
-	int len = SDLNet_TCP_Recv(sock,num_buf,4);
+	bool res = receive_with_timeout(sock,num_buf,4,false);
 
-	if(len != 4) {
+	if(!res) {
 		return SOCKET_ERRORED;
 	}
 
-	len = SDLNet_Read32(num_buf);
+	const int len = SDLNet_Read32(num_buf);
 
 	if(len < 1 || len > 100000000) {
 		return SOCKET_ERRORED;
@@ -244,61 +297,11 @@ static SOCKET_STATE receive_buf(TCPsocket sock, std::vector<char>& buf)
 		transfer_stats[sock].second.fresh_current(len);
 	}
 
-	while(beg != end) {
-		{
-			// if we are receiving the socket is in sockets_locked
-			// check if it is still locked
-			const threading::lock lock(*global_mutex);
-			if(sockets_locked[sock] != SOCKET_LOCKED) {
-				return SOCKET_ERRORED;
-			}
-		}
-
-		const int res = SDLNet_TCP_Recv(sock, beg, end - beg);
-		if(res <= 0) {
-#if defined(EAGAIN) && !defined(__BEOS__) && !defined(_WIN32)
-			if(errno == EAGAIN)
-#elif defined(EWOULDBLOCK)
-			if(errno == EWOULDBLOCK)
-#endif
-			{
-
-#ifdef USE_POLL
-				struct pollfd fd = { ((_TCPsocket*)sock)->channel, POLLIN, 0 };
-				int poll_res;
-				do {
-					poll_res = poll(&fd, 1, 15000);
-				} while(poll_res == -1 && errno == EINTR);
-
-				if(poll_res > 0)
-					continue;
-#elif defined(USE_SELECT)
-				fd_set readfds;
-				FD_ZERO(&readfds);
-				FD_SET(((_TCPsocket*)sock)->channel, &readfds);
-				int retval;
-				struct timeval tv;
-				tv.tv_sec = 15;
-				tv.tv_usec = 0;
-
-				do {
-					retval = select(((_TCPsocket*)sock)->channel + 1, &readfds, NULL, NULL, &tv);
-				} while(retval == -1 && errno == EINTR);
-
-				if(retval > 0)
-					continue;
-#endif
-			}
-
-			return SOCKET_ERRORED;
-		}
-
-		beg += res;
-		{
-			const threading::lock lock(*global_mutex);
-			transfer_stats[sock].second.transfer(static_cast<size_t>(res));
-		}
+	res = receive_with_timeout(sock, beg, end - beg, true);
+	if(!res) {
+		return SOCKET_ERRORED;
 	}
+
 	return SOCKET_READY;
 }