diff --git a/ble_serial/bluetooth/ble_interface.py b/ble_serial/bluetooth/ble_interface.py
index b178d2d..d6183cd 100644
--- a/ble_serial/bluetooth/ble_interface.py
+++ b/ble_serial/bluetooth/ble_interface.py
@@ -6,10 +6,13 @@
 from typing import Optional
 
 class BLE_interface():
-    async def start(self, addr_str, addr_type, adapter, write_uuid, read_uuid,):
-        self.dev = BleakClient(addr_str, adapter=adapter, address_type=addr_type) # address_type used only in Windows .NET currently
+    async def start(self, addr_str, addr_type, adapter, timeout, write_uuid, read_uuid,):
         self._send_queue = asyncio.Queue()
+
+        # address_type used only in Windows .NET currently
+        self.dev = BleakClient(addr_str, adapter=adapter, address_type=addr_type, timeout=timeout)
         self.dev.set_disconnected_callback(self.handle_disconnect)
+
         logging.info(f'Trying to connect with {addr_str}')
         await self.dev.connect()
         logging.info(f'Device {self.dev.address} connected')
diff --git a/ble_serial/main.py b/ble_serial/main.py
index d0cf852..e8eaf2b 100644
--- a/ble_serial/main.py
+++ b/ble_serial/main.py
@@ -24,7 +24,9 @@ def parse_args(self):
             help='Increase verbosity to log all data going through')
         parser.add_argument('-d', '--dev', dest='device', required=True,
             help='BLE device address to connect (hex format, can be seperated by colons)')
-        parser.add_argument('-t', '--address-type', dest='addr_type', required=False, choices=['public', 'random'], default='public',
+        parser.add_argument('-t', '--timeout', dest='timeout', required=False, default=5.0, type=float, metavar='SEC',
+            help='BLE connect/discover timeout in seconds')
+        parser.add_argument('-a', '--address-type', dest='addr_type', required=False, choices=['public', 'random'], default='public',
             help='BLE address type, either public or random')
         parser.add_argument('-i', '--interface', dest='adapter', required=False, default='hci0',
             help='BLE host adapter number to use')
@@ -59,7 +61,8 @@ async def _run(self):
                 self.uart.set_receiver(self.bt.queue_send)
 
             self.uart.start()
-            await self.bt.start(args.device, args.addr_type, args.adapter, args.write_uuid, args.read_uuid)
+            await self.bt.start(args.device, args.addr_type, args.adapter, args.timeout,
+                args.write_uuid, args.read_uuid)
             logging.info('Running main loop!')
             self.main_loop = asyncio.gather(self.bt.send_loop(), self.uart.run_loop())
             await self.main_loop