diff --git a/core/Messenger.c b/core/Messenger.c
index 1330e8ed..043700e5 100644
--- a/core/Messenger.c
+++ b/core/Messenger.c
@@ -393,14 +393,18 @@ void m_callback_userstatus(void (*function)(int, uint8_t *, uint16_t))
 
 #define PORT 33445
 /* run this at startup */
-void initMessenger()
+int initMessenger()
 {
     new_keys();
     m_set_userstatus((uint8_t*)"Online", sizeof("Online"));
     initNetCrypto();
     IP ip;
     ip.i = 0;
-    init_networking(ip, PORT);
+
+    if(init_networking(ip,PORT) == -1)
+		return -1;
+	
+	return 0;
 }
 
 static void doFriends()
diff --git a/core/Messenger.h b/core/Messenger.h
index 2484692c..6afe84ac 100644
--- a/core/Messenger.h
+++ b/core/Messenger.h
@@ -132,8 +132,10 @@ void m_callback_namechange(void (*function)(int, uint8_t *, uint16_t));
    you are not responsible for freeing newstatus */
 void m_callback_userstatus(void (*function)(int, uint8_t *, uint16_t));
 
-/* run this at startup */
-void initMessenger();
+/* run this at startup
+   returns 0 if no connection problems
+   returns -1 if there are problems */
+int initMessenger();
 
 
 /* the main loop that needs to be run at least 200 times per second */
diff --git a/core/network.c b/core/network.c
index 6337651a..bc6738ac 100644
--- a/core/network.c
+++ b/core/network.c
@@ -101,8 +101,8 @@ int receivepacket(IP_Port * ip_port, uint8_t * data, uint32_t * length)
    bind to ip and port
    ip must be in network order EX: 127.0.0.1 = (7F000001)
    port is in host byte order (this means don't worry about it)
-   returns 0 if no problems
-   TODO: add something to check if there are errors */
+   returns 0 if no problems 
+   returns -1 if there are problems */
 int init_networking(IP ip ,uint16_t port)
 {
     #ifdef WIN32
@@ -119,7 +119,17 @@ int init_networking(IP ip ,uint16_t port)
     
     /* initialize our socket */
     sock = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_DGRAM, IPPROTO_UDP); 
-    
+
+	/* Check for socket error */
+	#ifdef WIN32
+	if (sock == INVALID_SOCKET) //MSDN recommends this
+		return -1;
+	#else
+	if (sock < 0)
+		return -1;
+	#endif
+
+
     /* Functions to increase the size of the send and receive UDP buffers
        NOTE: uncomment if necessary */
     /*
@@ -146,7 +156,8 @@ int init_networking(IP ip ,uint16_t port)
     
     /* Bind our socket to port PORT and address 0.0.0.0 */
     ADDR addr = {AF_INET, htons(port), ip}; 
-    bind(sock, (struct sockaddr*)&addr, sizeof(addr));   
+    bind(sock, (struct sockaddr*)&addr, sizeof(addr));
+
     return 0;
 
 }
diff --git a/core/network.h b/core/network.h
index 6f140d0c..62169d88 100644
--- a/core/network.h
+++ b/core/network.h
@@ -121,10 +121,9 @@ int receivepacket(IP_Port * ip_port, uint8_t * data, uint32_t * length);
    ip must be in network order EX: 127.0.0.1 = (7F000001)
    port is in host byte order (this means don't worry about it)
    returns 0 if no problems
-   TODO: add something to check if there are errors */
+   returns -1 if there were problems */
 int init_networking(IP ip ,uint16_t port);
 
-
 /* function to cleanup networking stuff(doesn't do much right now) */
 void shutdown_networking();