diff --git a/cores/esp8266/WMath.cpp b/cores/esp8266/WMath.cpp
index da46a3ddb..d56db8e5c 100644
--- a/cores/esp8266/WMath.cpp
+++ b/cores/esp8266/WMath.cpp
@@ -26,10 +26,11 @@
 extern "C" {
 #include <stdlib.h>
 }
+#include "esp8266_peri.h"
 
 void randomSeed(unsigned long seed) {
     if(seed != 0) {
-        srand(seed);
+        srand((seed ^ RANDOM_REG32));
     }
 }
 
@@ -37,7 +38,7 @@ long random(long howbig) {
     if(howbig == 0) {
         return 0;
     }
-    return rand() % howbig;
+    return (rand() ^ RANDOM_REG32) % howbig;
 }
 
 long random(long howsmall, long howbig) {
diff --git a/libraries/ESP8266HTTPClient/src/ESP8266HTTPClient.cpp b/libraries/ESP8266HTTPClient/src/ESP8266HTTPClient.cpp
index edb09e668..fd11c0360 100644
--- a/libraries/ESP8266HTTPClient/src/ESP8266HTTPClient.cpp
+++ b/libraries/ESP8266HTTPClient/src/ESP8266HTTPClient.cpp
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ void HTTPClient::setAuthorization(const char * auth) {
 
 /**
  * set the timeout for the TCP connection
-  * @param timeout unsigned int
+ * @param timeout unsigned int
  */
 void HTTPClient::setTimeout(uint16_t timeout) {
     _tcpTimeout = timeout;
@@ -273,14 +273,12 @@ void HTTPClient::setTimeout(uint16_t timeout) {
     }
 }
 
-
-
 /**
  * use HTTP1.0
  * @param timeout
  */
 void HTTPClient::useHTTP10(bool useHTTP10) {
-     _useHTTP10 = useHTTP10;
+    _useHTTP10 = useHTTP10;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -305,6 +303,16 @@ int HTTPClient::POST(String payload) {
     return POST((uint8_t *) payload.c_str(), payload.length());
 }
 
+/**
+ * sendRequest
+ * @param type const char *     "GET", "POST", ....
+ * @param payload String        data for the message body
+ * @return
+ */
+int HTTPClient::sendRequest(const char * type, String payload) {
+    return sendRequest(type, (uint8_t *) payload.c_str(), payload.length());
+}
+
 /**
  * sendRequest
  * @param type const char *     "GET", "POST", ....
@@ -382,7 +390,6 @@ int HTTPClient::sendRequest(const char * type, Stream * stream, size_t size) {
     // create buffer for read
     uint8_t * buff = (uint8_t *) malloc(buff_size);
 
-
     if(buff) {
         // read all data from stream and send it to server
         while(connected() && (stream->available() > -1) && (len > 0 || len == -1)) {
@@ -461,8 +468,7 @@ int HTTPClient::sendRequest(const char * type, Stream * stream, size_t size) {
         free(buff);
 
         if(size && (int) size != bytesWritten) {
-            DEBUG_HTTPCLIENT("[HTTP-Client][sendRequest] Stream payload bytesWritten %d and size %d mismatch!.\n", bytesWritten, size);
-            DEBUG_HTTPCLIENT("[HTTP-Client][sendRequest] ERROR SEND PAYLOAD FAILED!");
+            DEBUG_HTTPCLIENT("[HTTP-Client][sendRequest] Stream payload bytesWritten %d and size %d mismatch!.\n", bytesWritten, size); DEBUG_HTTPCLIENT("[HTTP-Client][sendRequest] ERROR SEND PAYLOAD FAILED!");
             return returnError(HTTPC_ERROR_SEND_PAYLOAD_FAILED);
         } else {
             DEBUG_HTTPCLIENT("[HTTP-Client][sendRequest] Stream payload written: %d\n", bytesWritten);
@@ -819,10 +825,12 @@ int HTTPClient::handleHeaderResponse() {
     if(!connected()) {
         return HTTPC_ERROR_NOT_CONNECTED;
     }
+
     String transferEncoding;
     _returnCode = -1;
     _size = -1;
     _transferEncoding = HTTPC_TE_IDENTITY;
+    unsigned long lastDataTime = millis();
 
     while(connected()) {
         size_t len = _tcp->available();
@@ -830,6 +838,8 @@ int HTTPClient::handleHeaderResponse() {
             String headerLine = _tcp->readStringUntil('\n');
             headerLine.trim(); // remove \r
 
+            lastDataTime = millis();
+
             DEBUG_HTTPCLIENT("[HTTP-Client][handleHeaderResponse] RX: '%s'\n", headerLine.c_str());
 
             if(headerLine.startsWith("HTTP/1.")) {
@@ -885,6 +895,9 @@ int HTTPClient::handleHeaderResponse() {
             }
 
         } else {
+            if((millis() - lastDataTime) > _tcpTimeout) {
+                return HTTPC_ERROR_READ_TIMEOUT;
+            }
             delay(0);
         }
     }
@@ -892,8 +905,6 @@ int HTTPClient::handleHeaderResponse() {
     return HTTPC_ERROR_CONNECTION_LOST;
 }
 
-
-
 /**
  * write one Data Block to Stream
  * @param stream Stream *
diff --git a/libraries/ESP8266HTTPClient/src/ESP8266HTTPClient.h b/libraries/ESP8266HTTPClient/src/ESP8266HTTPClient.h
index 704841a8c..0b865c2a6 100644
--- a/libraries/ESP8266HTTPClient/src/ESP8266HTTPClient.h
+++ b/libraries/ESP8266HTTPClient/src/ESP8266HTTPClient.h
@@ -147,6 +147,7 @@ class HTTPClient {
         int GET();
         int POST(uint8_t * payload, size_t size);
         int POST(String payload);
+        int sendRequest(const char * type, String payload);
         int sendRequest(const char * type, uint8_t * payload = NULL, size_t size = 0);
         int sendRequest(const char * type, Stream * stream, size_t size = 0);