diff --git a/conn/Makefile b/conn/Makefile
index c341f15..d68bc26 100644
--- a/conn/Makefile
+++ b/conn/Makefile
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ CC = gcc
 CFLAGS = -O0 -I../include -I../../c-protobuf -I../../c-multihash/include -I../../c-multiaddr/include -g3
 LFLAGS =
 DEPS = 
-OBJS = dialer.o transport_dialer.o connection.o
+OBJS = dialer.o transport_dialer.o connection.o tcp_transport_dialer.o
 
 %.o: %.c $(DEPS)
 	$(CC) -c -o $@ $< $(CFLAGS)
diff --git a/conn/connection.c b/conn/connection.c
index 4fc5d79..e91c7ad 100644
--- a/conn/connection.c
+++ b/conn/connection.c
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ struct Connection* libp2p_conn_connection_new(struct TransportDialer* transport_
 
 void libp2p_conn_connection_free(struct Connection* connection) {
 	if (connection != NULL) {
-		fclose(connection->socket_handle);
+		//close(connection->socket_handle);
 		free(connection);
 	}
 }
diff --git a/conn/dialer.c b/conn/dialer.c
index b842036..1fb2094 100644
--- a/conn/dialer.c
+++ b/conn/dialer.c
@@ -9,10 +9,13 @@
 #include "libp2p/crypto/key.h"
 #include "libp2p/utils/linked_list.h"
 
+struct TransportDialer* libp2p_conn_tcp_transport_dialer_new();
+
 /**
  * Create a Dialer with the specified local information
  */
 struct Dialer* libp2p_conn_dialer_new(char* peer_id, struct PrivateKey* private_key) {
+	int success = 0;
 	struct Dialer* dialer = (struct Dialer*)malloc(sizeof(struct Dialer));
 	if (dialer != NULL) {
 		dialer->peer_id = malloc(strlen(peer_id) + 1);
@@ -21,8 +24,9 @@ struct Dialer* libp2p_conn_dialer_new(char* peer_id, struct PrivateKey* private_
 			dialer->private_key = (struct PrivateKey*)malloc(sizeof(struct PrivateKey));
 			if (dialer->private_key != NULL) {
 				libp2p_crypto_private_key_copy(private_key, dialer->private_key);
-				dialer->fallback_dialer = NULL;
+				//TODO: build transport dialers
 				dialer->transport_dialers = NULL;
+				dialer->fallback_dialer = libp2p_conn_tcp_transport_dialer_new(peer_id, private_key);
 				return dialer;
 			}
 		}
@@ -32,7 +36,9 @@ struct Dialer* libp2p_conn_dialer_new(char* peer_id, struct PrivateKey* private_
 }
 
 /**
- * free resources from the Dialer
+ * Free resources from the Dialer
+ * NOTE: this frees the fallback dialer too (should we be doing this?
+ * @param in the Dialer struct to free
  */
 void libp2p_conn_dialer_free(struct Dialer* in) {
 	if (in != NULL) {
@@ -47,6 +53,7 @@ void libp2p_conn_dialer_free(struct Dialer* in) {
 		}
 		if (in->fallback_dialer != NULL)
 			libp2p_conn_transport_dialer_free((struct TransportDialer*)in->fallback_dialer);
+		free(in);
 	}
 	return;
 }
diff --git a/conn/tcp_transport_dialer.c b/conn/tcp_transport_dialer.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9286459
--- /dev/null
+++ b/conn/tcp_transport_dialer.c
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <netdb.h>
+#include <arpa/inet.h>
+
+#include "multiaddr/multiaddr.h"
+#include "libp2p/net/p2pnet.h"
+#include "libp2p/conn/connection.h"
+#include "libp2p/conn/transport_dialer.h"
+
+/**
+ * An implementation of a tcp transport dialer
+ */
+
+
+struct TcpIp {
+	char* ip;
+	int port;
+};
+
+struct TcpIp* libp2p_conn_parse_ip_multiaddress(struct MultiAddress* addr) {
+	struct TcpIp* out = (struct TcpIp*)malloc(sizeof(struct TcpIp));
+	char* address = malloc(strlen(addr->string) + 1);
+	strcpy(address, addr->string);
+	char* tok = strtok(address, "/");
+	int pos = 0;
+	while (tok != NULL) {
+		switch (pos) {
+			case 2: {
+				out->ip = malloc(strlen(tok) + 1);
+				strcpy(out->ip, tok);
+				break;
+			}
+			case 4: {
+				out->port = strtol(tok, NULL, 10);
+				break;
+			}
+		}
+		tok = strtok(NULL, "/");
+		pos++;
+	}
+	//TODO: do a better job of parsing the results
+	return out;
+}
+
+int libp2p_conn_tcp_can_handle(struct MultiAddress* addr) {
+	return 1;
+}
+
+
+
+struct Connection* libp2p_conn_tcp_dial(struct TransportDialer* transport_dialer, struct MultiAddress* addr) {
+	struct Connection* conn = (struct Connection*) malloc(sizeof(struct Connection*));
+	conn->socket_handle = socket_open4();
+	struct TcpIp* results = libp2p_conn_parse_ip_multiaddress(addr);
+	struct hostent* host = gethostbyname(results->ip);
+	struct in_addr** addr_list = (struct in_addr**)host->h_addr_list;
+	socket_connect4(conn->socket_handle, (*addr_list[0]).s_addr, results->port);
+	return conn;
+}
+
+struct TransportDialer* libp2p_conn_tcp_transport_dialer_new(char* peer_id, struct PrivateKey* private_key) {
+	struct TransportDialer* out = libp2p_conn_transport_dialer_new(peer_id, private_key);
+	out->can_handle = libp2p_conn_tcp_can_handle;
+	out->dial = libp2p_conn_tcp_dial;
+	return out;
+}
diff --git a/conn/transport_dialer.c b/conn/transport_dialer.c
index 7b8e3ed..2c59696 100644
--- a/conn/transport_dialer.c
+++ b/conn/transport_dialer.c
@@ -1,19 +1,15 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 
+#include "libp2p/crypto/key.h"
 #include "libp2p/conn/transport_dialer.h"
 
-struct TransportDialer* libp2p_conn_transport_dialer_new(struct MultiAddress* multiaddr) {
+struct TransportDialer* libp2p_conn_transport_dialer_new(char* peer_id, struct PrivateKey* private_key) {
 	struct TransportDialer* out = (struct TransportDialer*)malloc(sizeof(struct TransportDialer));
 	if (out != NULL) {
-		out->multiaddr = (struct MultiAddress*)malloc(sizeof(struct MultiAddress));
-		if (out->multiaddr == NULL) {
-			libp2p_conn_transport_dialer_free(out);
-			return NULL;
-		}
-		if (multiaddress_copy(multiaddr, out->multiaddr) == 0) {
-			libp2p_conn_transport_dialer_free(out);
-			return NULL;
-		}
+		out->peer_id = malloc(strlen(peer_id) + 1);
+		strcpy(out->peer_id, peer_id);
+		out->private_key = (struct PrivateKey*)malloc(sizeof(struct PrivateKey));
+		libp2p_crypto_private_key_copy(private_key, out->private_key);
 	}
 	return out;
 }
@@ -23,7 +19,12 @@ struct TransportDialer* libp2p_conn_transport_dialer_new(struct MultiAddress* mu
  * @param in the struct to be freed
  */
 void libp2p_conn_transport_dialer_free(struct TransportDialer* in) {
-	free(in);
+	if (in != NULL) {
+		if (in->peer_id != NULL)
+			free(in->peer_id);
+		libp2p_crypto_private_key_free(in->private_key);
+		free(in);
+	}
 }
 
 /**
@@ -33,6 +34,19 @@ void libp2p_conn_transport_dialer_free(struct TransportDialer* in) {
  * @returns a connection, or NULL if no appropriate dialer was found
  */
 struct Connection* libp2p_conn_transport_dialer_get(struct Libp2pLinkedList* transport_dialers, struct MultiAddress* multiaddr) {
-	//TODO: implement this method
+	struct Libp2pLinkedList* current = transport_dialers;
+	struct TransportDialer* t_dialer = NULL;
+	while (current != NULL) {
+		t_dialer = (struct TransportDialer*)current->item;
+		if (t_dialer->can_handle(multiaddr))
+			break;
+		current = current->next;
+		t_dialer = NULL;
+	}
+
+	if (t_dialer != NULL) {
+		return t_dialer->dial(t_dialer, multiaddr);
+	}
+
 	return NULL;
 }
diff --git a/include/libp2p/conn/connection.h b/include/libp2p/conn/connection.h
index 49d32bf..d4da1c9 100644
--- a/include/libp2p/conn/connection.h
+++ b/include/libp2p/conn/connection.h
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 #include "multiaddr/multiaddr.h"
 
 struct Connection {
-	FILE* socket_handle;
+	int socket_handle;
 	/**
 	 * Read from the stream
 	 * @param socket_handle the socket to read from
diff --git a/include/libp2p/conn/transport_dialer.h b/include/libp2p/conn/transport_dialer.h
index f8bb581..b75f5a1 100644
--- a/include/libp2p/conn/transport_dialer.h
+++ b/include/libp2p/conn/transport_dialer.h
@@ -4,10 +4,13 @@
 #include "libp2p/utils/linked_list.h"
 
 struct TransportDialer {
-	struct MultiAddress* multiaddr;
+	char* peer_id;
+	struct PrivateKey* private_key;
+	int (*can_handle)(struct MultiAddress* multiaddr);
+	struct Connection* (*dial)(struct TransportDialer* transport_dialer, struct MultiAddress* multiaddr);
 };
 
-struct TransportDialer* libp2p_conn_transport_dialer_new(struct MultiAddress* multiaddr);
+struct TransportDialer* libp2p_conn_transport_dialer_new(char* peer_id, struct PrivateKey* private_key);
 void libp2p_conn_transport_dialer_free(struct TransportDialer* in);
 
 struct Connection* libp2p_conn_transport_dialer_get(struct Libp2pLinkedList* transport_dialers, struct MultiAddress* multiaddr);
diff --git a/test/test_conn.h b/test/test_conn.h
index 64db0d9..2eb724e 100644
--- a/test/test_conn.h
+++ b/test/test_conn.h
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ int test_dialer_new() {
 int test_dialer_dial() {
 	int retVal = 0;
 	char* config_dir = "/home/parallels/.ipfs/config";
-	char* destination_string = "/ip/192.210.179.217/tcp/4001";
+	char* destination_string = "/ip4/192.210.179.217/tcp/4001/";
 	char* peer_id = NULL;
 	struct PrivateKey* private_key = NULL;
 	struct Dialer* dialer = NULL;
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ int test_dialer_dial() {
 	exit:
 	if (result != NULL)
 		free(result);
+	free(peer_id);
 	multiaddress_free(destination_address);
 	libp2p_conn_dialer_free(dialer);
 	libp2p_crypto_private_key_free(private_key);
diff --git a/test/test_helper.h b/test/test_helper.h
index 1ac8431..c723e8a 100644
--- a/test/test_helper.h
+++ b/test/test_helper.h
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ struct PrivateKey* base64ToPrivateKey(char* base64) {
 		libp2p_crypto_private_key_free(out);
 		out = NULL;
 	}
+	if (decode_base64 != NULL)
+		free(decode_base64);
 	return out;
 }