diff --git a/libraries/ESP8266HTTPClient/src/ESP8266HTTPClient.cpp b/libraries/ESP8266HTTPClient/src/ESP8266HTTPClient.cpp
index 7a409e025..36545fcbb 100644
--- a/libraries/ESP8266HTTPClient/src/ESP8266HTTPClient.cpp
+++ b/libraries/ESP8266HTTPClient/src/ESP8266HTTPClient.cpp
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ HTTPClient::HTTPClient() {
     _returnCode = 0;
     _size = -1;
     _canReuse = false;
+	_tcpTimeout = HTTPCLIENT_DEFAULT_TCP_TIMEOUT;
 
 }
 
@@ -252,6 +253,17 @@ void HTTPClient::setAuthorization(const char * auth) {
     }
 }
 
+/**
+ * set the timeout for the TCP connection
+  * @param timeout unsigned int
+ */
+void HTTPClient::setTimeout(uint16_t timeout) {
+    _tcpTimeout = timeout;
+    if(connected()) {
+        _tcp->setTimeout(timeout);
+    }
+}
+
 /**
  * send a GET request
  * @return http code
@@ -673,7 +685,7 @@ bool HTTPClient::connect(void) {
     }
 
     // set Timeout for readBytesUntil and readStringUntil
-    _tcp->setTimeout(HTTPCLIENT_TCP_TIMEOUT);
+    _tcp->setTimeout(_tcpTimeout);
 
 #ifdef ESP8266
     _tcp->setNoDelay(true);
diff --git a/libraries/ESP8266HTTPClient/src/ESP8266HTTPClient.h b/libraries/ESP8266HTTPClient/src/ESP8266HTTPClient.h
index 74a27af5d..43c6b19ac 100644
--- a/libraries/ESP8266HTTPClient/src/ESP8266HTTPClient.h
+++ b/libraries/ESP8266HTTPClient/src/ESP8266HTTPClient.h
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 #define DEBUG_HTTPCLIENT(...)
 #endif
 
-#define HTTPCLIENT_TCP_TIMEOUT (1000)
+#define HTTPCLIENT_DEFAULT_TCP_TIMEOUT (1000)
 
 /// HTTP client errors
 #define HTTPC_ERROR_CONNECTION_REFUSED  (-1)
@@ -127,6 +127,7 @@ class HTTPClient {
         void setUserAgent(const char * userAgent);
         void setAuthorization(const char * user, const char * password);
         void setAuthorization(const char * auth);
+        void setTimeout(uint16_t timeout);
 
         /// request handling
         int GET();
@@ -170,7 +171,7 @@ class HTTPClient {
         String _host;
         uint16_t _port;
         bool _reuse;
-
+        uint16_t _tcpTimeout;
 
         String _url;
         bool _https;