diff --git a/WebSocketTextClient/WebSocketTextClient.cs b/WebSocketTextClient/WebSocketTextClient.cs
index b78a83c..2954180 100644
--- a/WebSocketTextClient/WebSocketTextClient.cs
+++ b/WebSocketTextClient/WebSocketTextClient.cs
@@ -11,45 +11,33 @@
     /// <seealso cref="System.Net.WebSockets.ClientWebSocket"/>
     public sealed class WebSocketTextClient : IDisposable
     {
-        private readonly CancellationTokenSource tokenSource;
-        private readonly ClientWebSocket socket;
-        private readonly Task recieveTask;
         private readonly int initialRecieveBufferSize;
+
         private readonly bool autoIncreaseRecieveBuffer;
 
-        /// <summary>Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="WebSocketTextClient"/> class.</summary>
-        /// <param name="initialRecieveBufferSize">The initial buffer size for incoming messages in bytes.</param>
-        /// <param name="autoIncreaseRecieveBuffer">True to double the buffer on overflow. Otherwise an <see cref="InvalidOperationException"/> will be thrown.</param>
-        public WebSocketTextClient(int initialRecieveBufferSize = 1024, bool autoIncreaseRecieveBuffer = true)
-            : this(CancellationToken.None, initialRecieveBufferSize, autoIncreaseRecieveBuffer)
-        {
-        }
+        private readonly Task recieveTask;
+
+        private CancellationTokenSource tokenSource;
 
         /// <summary>Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="WebSocketTextClient"/> class.</summary>
-        /// <param name="cancellationToken">Cancels pending send and receive operations</param>
         /// <param name="initialRecieveBufferSize">The initial buffer size for incoming messages in bytes.</param>
         /// <param name="autoIncreaseRecieveBuffer">True to double the buffer on overflow. Otherwise an <see cref="InvalidOperationException"/> will be thrown.</param>
-        public WebSocketTextClient(CancellationToken cancellationToken, int initialRecieveBufferSize = 1024, bool autoIncreaseRecieveBuffer = true)
+        public WebSocketTextClient(int initialRecieveBufferSize = 1024, bool autoIncreaseRecieveBuffer = true)
         {
             if (initialRecieveBufferSize <= 0)
             {
                 throw new ArgumentException("Receive buffer size should be greater than zero", nameof(initialRecieveBufferSize));
             }
 
-            var internalTokenSource = new CancellationTokenSource();
-            this.tokenSource = cancellationToken != CancellationToken.None
-                ? CancellationTokenSource.CreateLinkedTokenSource(internalTokenSource.Token, cancellationToken)
-                : internalTokenSource;
-
-            // Register the disconnect method as a fire and forget method to run when the user requests cancellation
-            this.tokenSource.Token.Register(() => Task.Run(this.DisconnectAsync));
-
-
             this.initialRecieveBufferSize = initialRecieveBufferSize;
             this.autoIncreaseRecieveBuffer = autoIncreaseRecieveBuffer;
 
-            socket = new ClientWebSocket();
-            recieveTask = this.RecieveLoopAsync(this.tokenSource.Token);
+            this.Socket = new ClientWebSocket();
+            this.tokenSource = new CancellationTokenSource();
+
+            // Store the receive task with the a cancellation token.
+            // This is a fire and forget task that runs completely in the background
+            this.recieveTask = this.RecieveLoopAsync(this.tokenSource.Token);
         }
 
         /// <summary>Signals that response message fully received and ready to process.</summary>
@@ -64,23 +52,45 @@ public WebSocketTextClient(CancellationToken cancellationToken, int initialRecie
         /// <summary>Signals that the socket has opened a connection.</summary>
         public event EventHandler Opened;
 
+        /// <summary>Gets whether the underlying socket has an open connection.</summary>
+        public bool Connected
+        {
+            get
+            {
+                return this.Socket.State == WebSocketState.Open;
+            }
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>Gets the underlying <see cref="ClientWebSocket" /> object.</summary>
+        public ClientWebSocket Socket { get; }
+
         /// <summary>Asynchronously connects to WebSocket server and start receiving income messages in separate Task.</summary>
         /// <param name="url">The <see cref="Uri"/> of the WebSocket server to connect to.</param>
-        public async Task ConnectAsync(Uri url)
+        /// <param name="cancellationToken">The token used to close the socket connection.</param>
+        public async Task ConnectAsync(Uri url, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
         {
-            await socket.ConnectAsync(url, this.tokenSource.Token);
-            recieveTask.Start();
+            // Create a new token source, since we can't reuse an existing and cancelled one.
+            var internalTokenSource = new CancellationTokenSource();
+            this.tokenSource = cancellationToken != CancellationToken.None
+                ? CancellationTokenSource.CreateLinkedTokenSource(internalTokenSource.Token, cancellationToken)
+                : internalTokenSource;
 
+            // Register the disconnect method as a fire and forget method to run when the user requests cancellation
+            // Don't pass in the cancellation token from the token source, since the token is cancelling the request.
+            this.tokenSource.Token.Register(() => Task.Run(this.DisconnectAsync));
+
+            // Open the connection and raise the opened event.
+            await Socket.ConnectAsync(url, this.tokenSource.Token);
             this.Opened?.Invoke(this, EventArgs.Empty);
         }
 
         /// <summary>Disconnects the WebSocket gracefully from the server.</summary>
         public async Task DisconnectAsync()
         {
-            await this.socket.CloseAsync(WebSocketCloseStatus.NormalClosure, "Client closed the connection", CancellationToken.None);
+            await this.Socket.CloseAsync(WebSocketCloseStatus.NormalClosure, "Client closed the connection", CancellationToken.None);
 
             // Check if cancellation is already requested, 
-            // i.e. the user requested cancellation from outside the class.
+            // e.g. the user requested cancellation from outside the class.
             if (!this.tokenSource.IsCancellationRequested)
             {
                 this.tokenSource.Cancel();
@@ -95,7 +105,7 @@ public void AddHeaders(params KeyValuePair<string, string>[] headers)
         {
             foreach (var header in headers)
             {
-                this.socket.Options.SetRequestHeader(header.Key, header.Value);
+                this.Socket.Options.SetRequestHeader(header.Key, header.Value);
             }
         }
 
@@ -104,7 +114,7 @@ public void AddHeaders(params KeyValuePair<string, string>[] headers)
         public Task SendAsync(string str)
         {
             var bytes = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(str);
-            return socket.SendAsync(new ArraySegment<byte>(bytes), WebSocketMessageType.Text, true, tokenSource.Token);
+            return Socket.SendAsync(new ArraySegment<byte>(bytes), WebSocketMessageType.Text, true, tokenSource.Token);
         }
 
         private async Task RecieveLoopAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
@@ -113,13 +123,14 @@ private async Task RecieveLoopAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
 
             try
             {
-                while (true)
+                // Only process any messages when the socket has an open connection.
+                while (this.Connected)
                 {
                     var writeSegment = new ArraySegment<byte>(buffer);
                     WebSocketReceiveResult result;
                     do
                     {
-                        result = await socket.ReceiveAsync(writeSegment, cancellationToken);
+                        result = await Socket.ReceiveAsync(writeSegment, CancellationToken.None);
                         writeSegment = new ArraySegment<byte>(buffer, writeSegment.Offset + result.Count, writeSegment.Count - result.Count);
 
                         // check buffer overflow
@@ -139,7 +150,6 @@ private async Task RecieveLoopAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
                     } while (!result.EndOfMessage);
 
                     var responce = Encoding.UTF8.GetString(buffer, 0, writeSegment.Offset);
-
                     this.MessageReceived?.Invoke(this, new MessageReceivedEventArgs { Message = responce });
                 }
             }
@@ -156,7 +166,7 @@ private async Task RecieveLoopAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
         /// </remarks>
         public void Dispose()
         {
-            socket.Dispose();
+            this.Socket.Dispose();
             recieveTask.Dispose();
         }
     }