diff --git a/dot/network/discovery.go b/dot/network/discovery.go
index 2226cfd2b7..d4773c9c5e 100644
--- a/dot/network/discovery.go
+++ b/dot/network/discovery.go
@@ -35,13 +35,15 @@ var (
 	startDHTTimeout             = time.Second * 10
 	initialAdvertisementTimeout = time.Millisecond
 	tryAdvertiseTimeout         = time.Second * 30
-	connectToPeersTimeout       = time.Minute
+	connectToPeersTimeout       = time.Minute * 5
+	findPeersTimeout            = time.Minute
 )
 
 // discovery handles discovery of new peers via the kademlia DHT
 type discovery struct {
 	ctx                context.Context
 	dht                *dual.DHT
+	rd                 *libp2pdiscovery.RoutingDiscovery
 	h                  libp2phost.Host
 	bootnodes          []peer.AddrInfo
 	ds                 *badger.Datastore
@@ -117,7 +119,7 @@ func (d *discovery) stop() error {
 }
 
 func (d *discovery) discoverAndAdvertise() error {
-	rd := libp2pdiscovery.NewRoutingDiscovery(d.dht)
+	d.rd = libp2pdiscovery.NewRoutingDiscovery(d.dht)
 
 	err := d.dht.Bootstrap(d.ctx)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -126,79 +128,83 @@ func (d *discovery) discoverAndAdvertise() error {
 
 	// wait to connect to bootstrap peers
 	time.Sleep(time.Second)
+	go d.advertise()
+	go d.checkPeerCount()
 
-	go func() {
-		ttl := initialAdvertisementTimeout
+	logger.Debug("DHT discovery started!")
+	return nil
+}
 
-		for {
-			select {
-			case <-time.After(ttl):
-				logger.Debug("advertising ourselves in the DHT...")
-				err := d.dht.Bootstrap(d.ctx)
-				if err != nil {
-					logger.Warn("failed to bootstrap DHT", "error", err)
-					continue
-				}
+func (d *discovery) advertise() {
+	ttl := initialAdvertisementTimeout
+
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-time.After(ttl):
+			logger.Debug("advertising ourselves in the DHT...")
+			err := d.dht.Bootstrap(d.ctx)
+			if err != nil {
+				logger.Warn("failed to bootstrap DHT", "error", err)
+				continue
+			}
 
-				ttl, err = rd.Advertise(d.ctx, string(d.pid))
-				if err != nil {
-					logger.Debug("failed to advertise in the DHT", "error", err)
-					ttl = tryAdvertiseTimeout
-				}
-			case <-d.ctx.Done():
-				return
+			ttl, err = d.rd.Advertise(d.ctx, string(d.pid))
+			if err != nil {
+				logger.Debug("failed to advertise in the DHT", "error", err)
+				ttl = tryAdvertiseTimeout
 			}
+		case <-d.ctx.Done():
+			return
 		}
-	}()
+	}
+}
 
-	go func() {
-		logger.Debug("attempting to find DHT peers...")
-		peerCh, err := rd.FindPeers(d.ctx, string(d.pid))
-		if err != nil {
-			logger.Warn("failed to begin finding peers via DHT", "err", err)
+func (d *discovery) checkPeerCount() {
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-d.ctx.Done():
 			return
+		case <-time.After(connectToPeersTimeout):
+			if len(d.h.Network().Peers()) > d.minPeers {
+				continue
+			}
+
+			ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(d.ctx, findPeersTimeout)
+			defer cancel()
+			d.findPeers(ctx)
 		}
+	}
+}
 
-		peersToTry := make(map[*peer.AddrInfo]struct{})
+func (d *discovery) findPeers(ctx context.Context) {
+	logger.Debug("attempting to find DHT peers...")
+	peerCh, err := d.rd.FindPeers(d.ctx, string(d.pid))
+	if err != nil {
+		logger.Warn("failed to begin finding peers via DHT", "err", err)
+		return
+	}
 
-		for {
-			select {
-			case <-d.ctx.Done():
-				return
-			case <-time.After(connectToPeersTimeout):
-				if len(d.h.Network().Peers()) > d.minPeers {
-					continue
-				}
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			return
+		case peer := <-peerCh:
+			if peer.ID == d.h.ID() || peer.ID == "" {
+				continue
+			}
 
-				// reconnect to peers if peer count is low
-				for p := range peersToTry {
-					err = d.h.Connect(d.ctx, *p)
-					if err != nil {
-						logger.Trace("failed to connect to discovered peer", "peer", p.ID, "err", err)
-						delete(peersToTry, p)
-					}
-				}
-			case peer := <-peerCh:
-				if peer.ID == d.h.ID() || peer.ID == "" {
-					continue
-				}
+			logger.Trace("found new peer via DHT", "peer", peer.ID)
 
-				logger.Trace("found new peer via DHT", "peer", peer.ID)
-
-				// found a peer, try to connect if we need more peers
-				if len(d.h.Network().Peers()) < d.maxPeers {
-					err = d.h.Connect(d.ctx, peer)
-					if err != nil {
-						logger.Trace("failed to connect to discovered peer", "peer", peer.ID, "err", err)
-					}
-				} else {
-					d.h.Peerstore().AddAddrs(peer.ID, peer.Addrs, peerstore.PermanentAddrTTL)
-					peersToTry[&peer] = struct{}{}
+			// found a peer, try to connect if we need more peers
+			if len(d.h.Network().Peers()) < d.maxPeers {
+				err = d.h.Connect(d.ctx, peer)
+				if err != nil {
+					logger.Trace("failed to connect to discovered peer", "peer", peer.ID, "err", err)
 				}
+			} else {
+				d.h.Peerstore().AddAddrs(peer.ID, peer.Addrs, peerstore.PermanentAddrTTL)
+				return
 			}
 		}
-	}()
-
-	logger.Debug("DHT discovery started!")
-	return nil
+	}
 }
diff --git a/dot/network/service.go b/dot/network/service.go
index 5c86e153af..effb2b7506 100644
--- a/dot/network/service.go
+++ b/dot/network/service.go
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ const (
 	blockAnnounceID = "/block-announces/1"
 	transactionsID  = "/transactions/1"
 
-	maxMessageSize = 1024 * 1024 // 1mb for now
+	maxMessageSize = 1024 * 63 // 63kb for now
 )
 
 var (
@@ -139,10 +139,10 @@ func NewService(cfg *Config) (*Service, error) {
 	var bufPool *sizedBufferPool
 	if cfg.noPreAllocate {
 		bufPool = &sizedBufferPool{
-			c: make(chan *[maxMessageSize]byte, cfg.MaxPeers*3),
+			c: make(chan *[maxMessageSize]byte, cfg.MinPeers*3),
 		}
 	} else {
-		bufPool = newSizedBufferPool((cfg.MaxPeers-cfg.MinPeers)*3/2, (cfg.MaxPeers+1)*3)
+		bufPool = newSizedBufferPool(cfg.MinPeers*3, cfg.MaxPeers*3)
 	}
 
 	network := &Service{
@@ -474,20 +474,15 @@ func (s *Service) IsStopped() bool {
 
 // SendMessage implementation of interface to handle receiving messages
 func (s *Service) SendMessage(msg NotificationsMessage) {
-	if s.host == nil {
-		return
-	}
-	if s.IsStopped() {
-		return
-	}
-	if msg == nil {
-		logger.Debug("Received nil message from core service")
+	if s.host == nil || msg == nil || s.IsStopped() {
 		return
 	}
+
 	logger.Debug(
-		"Broadcasting message from core service",
+		"gossiping message",
 		"host", s.host.id(),
 		"type", msg.Type(),
+		"message", msg,
 	)
 
 	// check if the message is part of a notifications protocol
diff --git a/dot/network/utils.go b/dot/network/utils.go
index 74935e3e47..771cabda08 100644
--- a/dot/network/utils.go
+++ b/dot/network/utils.go
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 package network
 
 import (
-	"bufio"
 	crand "crypto/rand"
 	"encoding/hex"
 	"errors"
@@ -151,15 +150,20 @@ func uint64ToLEB128(in uint64) []byte {
 	return out
 }
 
-func readLEB128ToUint64(r *bufio.Reader) (uint64, error) {
+func readLEB128ToUint64(r io.Reader, buf []byte) (uint64, error) {
+	if len(buf) == 0 {
+		return 0, errors.New("buffer has length 0")
+	}
+
 	var out uint64
 	var shift uint
 	for {
-		b, err := r.ReadByte()
+		_, err := r.Read(buf)
 		if err != nil {
 			return 0, err
 		}
 
+		b := buf[0]
 		out |= uint64(0x7F&b) << shift
 		if b&0x80 == 0 {
 			break
@@ -175,13 +179,11 @@ func readStream(stream libp2pnetwork.Stream, buf []byte) (int, error) {
 		return 0, errors.New("stream is nil")
 	}
 
-	r := bufio.NewReader(stream)
-
 	var (
 		tot int
 	)
 
-	length, err := readLEB128ToUint64(r)
+	length, err := readLEB128ToUint64(stream, buf[:1])
 	if err == io.EOF {
 		return 0, err
 	} else if err != nil {
@@ -192,21 +194,21 @@ func readStream(stream libp2pnetwork.Stream, buf []byte) (int, error) {
 		return 0, nil // msg length of 0 is allowed, for example transactions handshake
 	}
 
-	// TODO: check if length > len(buf), if so probably log.Crit
+	if length > uint64(len(buf)) {
+		logger.Warn("received message with size greater than allocated message buffer", "length", length, "buffer size", len(buf))
+		_ = stream.Close()
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("message size greater than allocated message buffer: got %d", length)
+	}
+
 	if length > maxBlockResponseSize {
-		logger.Warn("received message with size greater than maxBlockResponseSize, discarding", "length", length)
-		for {
-			_, err = r.Discard(int(maxBlockResponseSize))
-			if err != nil {
-				break
-			}
-		}
+		logger.Warn("received message with size greater than maxBlockResponseSize, closing stream", "length", length)
+		_ = stream.Close()
 		return 0, fmt.Errorf("message size greater than maximum: got %d", length)
 	}
 
 	tot = 0
 	for i := 0; i < maxReads; i++ {
-		n, err := r.Read(buf[tot:])
+		n, err := stream.Read(buf[tot:])
 		if err != nil {
 			return n + tot, err
 		}
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 30a8b0fb26..84bfa0a2dd 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/naoina/toml v0.1.2-0.20170918210437-9fafd6967416
 	github.com/perlin-network/life v0.0.0-20191203030451-05c0e0f7eaea
 	github.com/rs/cors v1.7.0 // indirect
-	github.com/sirupsen/logrus v1.6.0
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.7.0
 	github.com/syndtr/goleveldb v1.0.1-0.20200815110645-5c35d600f0ca // indirect
 	github.com/urfave/cli v1.20.0