diff --git a/side-node/src/main.rs b/side-node/src/main.rs
index e7c973c..86c3c3a 100644
--- a/side-node/src/main.rs
+++ b/side-node/src/main.rs
@@ -37,30 +37,21 @@ async fn main() {
 
 /// Wire everything up outside the application so we can test more easily later
 async fn setup(name: &String) -> SideNode {
+    // First, load up the keys and create a bft-crdt
     let side_dir = utils::home(name);
     let keys = keys::load_from_file(side_dir);
+    let crdt = BaseCrdt::<TransactionList>::new(&keys);
+
+    // Channels for internal communication, and a tokio task for stdin input
     let (incoming_sender, incoming_receiver) = mpsc::channel::<SignedOp>(32);
-
     let (stdin_sender, stdin_receiver) = std::sync::mpsc::channel();
-
-    let (network_sender, network_receiver) = mpsc::channel::<SignedOp>(32);
-
     task::spawn(async move {
         stdin_input(stdin_sender);
     });
 
-    let crdt = BaseCrdt::<TransactionList>::new(&keys);
-    let node = SideNode::new(
-        crdt,
-        keys,
-        incoming_receiver,
-        stdin_receiver,
-        network_sender,
-    );
-    tokio::spawn(async move {
-        let handle = WebSocketClient::new(incoming_sender, network_receiver).await;
-        handle.call("start".to_string()).unwrap();
-    });
+    // Finally, create the node and return it
+    let handle = WebSocketClient::new(incoming_sender).await;
+    let node = SideNode::new(crdt, keys, incoming_receiver, stdin_receiver, handle);
     println!("Node setup complete.");
     node
 }
diff --git a/side-node/src/node.rs b/side-node/src/node.rs
index 4cd2028..52c7092 100644
--- a/side-node/src/node.rs
+++ b/side-node/src/node.rs
@@ -2,14 +2,14 @@ use bft_json_crdt::json_crdt::{BaseCrdt, SignedOp};
 use fastcrypto::ed25519::Ed25519KeyPair;
 use tokio::sync::mpsc;
 
-use crate::{crdt::TransactionList, utils};
+use crate::{crdt::TransactionList, utils, websocket::WebSocketClient};
 
 pub(crate) struct SideNode {
     crdt: BaseCrdt<TransactionList>,
     keys: fastcrypto::ed25519::Ed25519KeyPair,
     incoming_receiver: mpsc::Receiver<SignedOp>,
     stdin_receiver: std::sync::mpsc::Receiver<String>,
-    network_sender: mpsc::Sender<SignedOp>,
+    handle: ezsockets::Client<WebSocketClient>,
 }
 
 impl SideNode {
@@ -18,14 +18,14 @@ impl SideNode {
         keys: Ed25519KeyPair,
         incoming_receiver: mpsc::Receiver<SignedOp>,
         stdin_receiver: std::sync::mpsc::Receiver<String>,
-        network_sender: mpsc::Sender<SignedOp>,
+        handle: ezsockets::Client<WebSocketClient>,
     ) -> Self {
         let node = Self {
             crdt,
             keys,
             incoming_receiver,
             stdin_receiver,
-            network_sender,
+            handle,
         };
         node
     }
@@ -55,7 +55,8 @@ impl SideNode {
 
     async fn send_to_network(&self, signed_op: SignedOp) {
         println!("sending to network: {:?}", signed_op);
-        self.network_sender.send(signed_op).await.unwrap();
+        let to_send = serde_json::to_string(&signed_op).unwrap();
+        self.handle.call(to_send).unwrap();
     }
 
     fn handle_incoming(&mut self, incoming: &SignedOp) {
diff --git a/side-node/src/websocket.rs b/side-node/src/websocket.rs
index 480da61..67a3f89 100644
--- a/side-node/src/websocket.rs
+++ b/side-node/src/websocket.rs
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ use tokio::sync::mpsc;
 
 pub(crate) struct WebSocketClient {
     incoming_sender: mpsc::Sender<SignedOp>,
-    network_receiver: mpsc::Receiver<SignedOp>,
     handle: ezsockets::Client<WebSocketClient>,
 }
 
@@ -13,14 +12,12 @@ impl WebSocketClient {
     /// Start the websocket client
     pub(crate) async fn new(
         incoming_sender: mpsc::Sender<SignedOp>,
-        network_receiver: mpsc::Receiver<SignedOp>,
     ) -> ezsockets::Client<WebSocketClient> {
         tracing_subscriber::fmt::init();
         let config = ClientConfig::new("ws://localhost:8080/websocket");
         let (handle, future) = ezsockets::connect(
             |client| WebSocketClient {
                 incoming_sender,
-                network_receiver,
                 handle: client,
             },
             config,
@@ -31,18 +28,6 @@ impl WebSocketClient {
         });
         handle
     }
-
-    pub(crate) async fn start(&mut self) {
-        loop {
-            match self.network_receiver.try_recv() {
-                Ok(signed_op) => {
-                    let to_send = serde_json::to_string(&signed_op).unwrap();
-                    self.handle.text(to_send).unwrap();
-                }
-                Err(_) => {} // ignore empty channel errors in this PoC
-            }
-        }
-    }
 }
 
 #[async_trait]
@@ -50,9 +35,9 @@ impl ezsockets::ClientExt for WebSocketClient {
     type Call = String;
 
     async fn on_text(&mut self, text: String) -> Result<(), ezsockets::Error> {
+        tracing::info!("received text: {text:?}");
         let incoming: bft_json_crdt::json_crdt::SignedOp = serde_json::from_str(&text).unwrap();
-        tracing::info!("received signed op: {incoming:?}");
-        self.incoming_sender.send(incoming).await.unwrap();
+        self.incoming_sender.send(incoming).await?;
         Ok(())
     }
 
@@ -62,8 +47,9 @@ impl ezsockets::ClientExt for WebSocketClient {
     }
 
     async fn on_call(&mut self, call: Self::Call) -> Result<(), ezsockets::Error> {
-        println!("received call: {call}");
-        self.start().await;
+        let to_send = serde_json::to_string(&call).unwrap();
+        tracing::info!("sending signed op: {to_send:?}");
+        self.handle.text(to_send)?;
         Ok(())
     }
 }