diff --git a/SocketIOClientSwift/SocketEngine.swift b/SocketIOClientSwift/SocketEngine.swift
index d2a34f9..f714059 100644
--- a/SocketIOClientSwift/SocketEngine.swift
+++ b/SocketIOClientSwift/SocketEngine.swift
@@ -214,6 +214,7 @@ public final class SocketEngine: NSObject, SocketEngineSpec, WebSocketDelegate {
         let wsUrl = urlWebSocket + (sid == "" ? "" : "&sid=\(sid)")
 
         ws = WebSocket(url: NSURL(string: wsUrl)!)
+        
         if cookies != nil {
             let headers = NSHTTPCookie.requestHeaderFieldsWithCookies(cookies!)
             for (key, value) in headers {
@@ -268,10 +269,8 @@ public final class SocketEngine: NSObject, SocketEngineSpec, WebSocketDelegate {
         }
     }
 
-    private func handleClose() {
-        if let client = client where polling == true {
-            client.engineDidClose("Disconnect")
-        }
+    private func handleClose(reason: String) {
+        client?.engineDidClose(reason)
     }
 
     private func handleMessage(message: String) {
@@ -419,7 +418,7 @@ public final class SocketEngine: NSObject, SocketEngineSpec, WebSocketDelegate {
             message.removeAtIndex(message.startIndex)
             handleOpen(message)
         case .Close:
-            handleClose()
+            handleClose(message)
         default:
             DefaultSocketLogger.Logger.log("Got unknown packet type", type: logType)
         }
@@ -540,11 +539,12 @@ extension SocketEngine {
             guard let this = self else {return}
             
             if err != nil || data == nil {
+                DefaultSocketLogger.Logger.error(err?.localizedDescription ?? "Error", type: this.logType)
+
                 if this.polling {
                     this.handlePollingFailed(err?.localizedDescription ?? "Error")
-                } else {
-                    DefaultSocketLogger.Logger.error(err?.localizedDescription ?? "Error", type: this.logType)
                 }
+                
                 return
             }
             
@@ -602,22 +602,24 @@ extension SocketEngine {
         DefaultSocketLogger.Logger.log("POSTing: %@", type: logType, args: postStr)
         
         doRequest(req) {[weak self] data, res, err in
-            if let this = self {
-                if err != nil && this.polling {
+            guard let this = self else {return}
+            
+            if err != nil {
+                DefaultSocketLogger.Logger.error(err?.localizedDescription ?? "Error", type: this.logType)
+                
+                if this.polling {
                     this.handlePollingFailed(err?.localizedDescription ?? "Error")
-                    return
-                } else if err != nil {
-                    DefaultSocketLogger.Logger.error(err?.localizedDescription ?? "Error", type: this.logType)
-                    return
                 }
                 
-                this.waitingForPost = false
-                
-                dispatch_async(this.emitQueue) {[weak this] in
-                    if !(this?.fastUpgrade ?? true) {
-                        this?.flushWaitingForPost()
-                        this?.doPoll()
-                    }
+                return
+            }
+            
+            this.waitingForPost = false
+            
+            dispatch_async(this.emitQueue) {[weak this] in
+                if !(this?.fastUpgrade ?? true) {
+                    this?.flushWaitingForPost()
+                    this?.doPoll()
                 }
             }
         }
diff --git a/SocketIOClientSwift/WebSocket.swift b/SocketIOClientSwift/WebSocket.swift
index 21245cb..4af04fa 100644
--- a/SocketIOClientSwift/WebSocket.swift
+++ b/SocketIOClientSwift/WebSocket.swift
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ public class WebSocket : NSObject, NSStreamDelegate {
         //B-F reserved.
     }
     
-    enum CloseCode : UInt16 {
+    public enum CloseCode : UInt16 {
         case Normal                 = 1000
         case GoingAway              = 1001
         case ProtocolError          = 1002
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ public class WebSocket : NSObject, NSStreamDelegate {
         case MessageTooBig          = 1009
     }
     
+    public static let ErrorDomain = "WebSocket"
+    
     enum InternalErrorCode : UInt16 {
         // 0-999 WebSocket status codes not used
         case OutputStreamWriteError  = 1
@@ -138,9 +140,29 @@ public class WebSocket : NSObject, NSStreamDelegate {
             })
     }
     
-    ///disconnect from the websocket server
-    public func disconnect() {
-        writeError(CloseCode.Normal.rawValue)
+    /**
+     Disconnect from the server. I send a Close control frame to the server, then expect the server to respond with a Close control frame and close the socket from its end. I notify my delegate once the socket has been closed.
+     
+     If you supply a non-nil `forceTimeout`, I wait at most that long (in seconds) for the server to close the socket. After the timeout expires, I close the socket and notify my delegate.
+     
+     If you supply a zero (or negative) `forceTimeout`, I immediately close the socket (without sending a Close control frame) and notify my delegate.
+     
+     - Parameter forceTimeout: Maximum time to wait for the server to close the socket.
+     */
+    public func disconnect(forceTimeout forceTimeout: NSTimeInterval? = nil) {
+        switch forceTimeout {
+        case .Some(let seconds) where seconds > 0:
+            dispatch_after(dispatch_time(DISPATCH_TIME_NOW, Int64(seconds * Double(NSEC_PER_SEC))), queue, { [unowned self] in
+                self.disconnectStream(nil)
+                })
+            fallthrough
+        case .None:
+            writeError(CloseCode.Normal.rawValue)
+            
+        default:
+            self.disconnectStream(nil)
+            break
+        }
     }
     
     ///write a string to the websocket. This sends it as a text frame.
@@ -400,9 +422,10 @@ public class WebSocket : NSObject, NSStreamDelegate {
         }
         if let cfHeaders = CFHTTPMessageCopyAllHeaderFields(response) {
             let headers = cfHeaders.takeRetainedValue() as NSDictionary
-            let acceptKey = headers[headerWSAcceptName] as! NSString
-            if acceptKey.length > 0 {
-                return true
+            if let acceptKey = headers[headerWSAcceptName] as? NSString {
+                if acceptKey.length > 0 {
+                    return true
+                }
             }
         }
         return false
@@ -632,7 +655,7 @@ public class WebSocket : NSObject, NSStreamDelegate {
     private func errorWithDetail(detail: String, code: UInt16) -> NSError {
         var details = Dictionary<String,String>()
         details[NSLocalizedDescriptionKey] =  detail
-        return NSError(domain: "Websocket", code: Int(code), userInfo: details)
+        return NSError(domain: WebSocket.ErrorDomain, code: Int(code), userInfo: details)
     }
     
     ///write a an error to the socket