diff --git a/lib/tftpy.py b/lib/tftpy.py
index ca9b98a..1c9fcf1 100755
--- a/lib/tftpy.py
+++ b/lib/tftpy.py
@@ -11,13 +11,13 @@ verlist = sys.version_info
 if not verlist[0] >= 2 or not verlist[1] >= 4:
     raise AssertionError, "Requires at least Python 2.4"
 
-# Change this as desired. FIXME - make this a command-line arg
 LOG_LEVEL = logging.NOTSET
 MIN_BLKSIZE = 8
 DEF_BLKSIZE = 512
 MAX_BLKSIZE = 65536
 SOCK_TIMEOUT = 5
 MAX_DUPS = 20
+TIMEOUT_RETRIES = 5
 
 # Initialize the logger.
 logging.basicConfig(
@@ -521,9 +521,15 @@ class TftpClient(TftpSession):
         
     host = property(gethost, sethost)
 
-    def download(self, filename, output, packethook=None):
+    def download(self, filename, output, packethook=None, timeout=SOCK_TIMEOUT):
         """This method initiates a tftp download from the configured remote
-        host, requesting the filename passed."""
+        host, requesting the filename passed. It saves the file to a local
+        file specified in the output parameter. If a packethook is provided,
+        it must be a function that takes a single parameter, which will be a
+        copy of each DAT packet received in the form of a TftpPacketDAT
+        object. The timeout parameter may be used to override the default
+        SOCK_TIMEOUT setting, which is the amount of time that the client will
+        wait for a receive packet to arrive."""
         # Open the output file.
         # FIXME - need to support alternate return formats than files?
         outputfile = open(output, "wb")
@@ -535,7 +541,7 @@ class TftpClient(TftpSession):
 
         tftp_factory = TftpPacketFactory()
         sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_DGRAM)
-        sock.settimeout(SOCK_TIMEOUT)
+        sock.settimeout(timeout)
 
         logger.info("Sending tftp download request to %s" % self.host)
         logger.info("    filename -> %s" % filename)
@@ -546,8 +552,18 @@ class TftpClient(TftpSession):
         sock.sendto(pkt.encode().buffer, (self.host, self.port))
         self.state.state = 'rrq'
         
+        timeouts = 0
         while True:
-            (buffer, (raddress, rport)) = sock.recvfrom(MAX_BLKSIZE)
+            try:
+                (buffer, (raddress, rport)) = sock.recvfrom(MAX_BLKSIZE)
+            except socket.timeout, err:
+                timeouts += 1
+                if timeouts >= TIMEOUT_RETRIES:
+                    raise TftpException, "Hit max timeouts, giving up."
+                else:
+                    logger.warn("Timeout waiting for traffic, retrying...")
+                    continue
+
             recvpkt = tftp_factory.parse(buffer)
 
             logger.debug("Received %d bytes from %s:%s"