diff --git a/pkg/api/api.go b/pkg/api/api.go
index c8d8148..9e0121a 100644
--- a/pkg/api/api.go
+++ b/pkg/api/api.go
@@ -20,47 +20,37 @@ var (
 	dbClient *bolt.Client
 )
 
-// Options holds the basic configuration of the http server
-// TODO implement reading options from a config file
-type Options struct {
-	Port      string        `json:"port"`
-	RWTimeout int64         `json:"timeout"`
-	Verbose   bool          `json:"verbose"`
-	Debug     bool          `json:"debug"`
-	Database  *bolt.Options `json:"database"`
-}
-
 // Configure takes a http.Server and configures it with the specified Options
 func Configure(server *http.Server, opts *Options) error {
-	// setup router
-	apilog.Println("starting server on :" + opts.Port)
-	server.Addr = ":" + opts.Port
-	server.ReadTimeout = time.Duration(opts.RWTimeout)
-	server.WriteTimeout = time.Duration(opts.RWTimeout)
-
 	// TODO can we move this to pkg/session?
 	dbClient = bolt.NewClient(opts.Database)
 	if err := dbClient.Open(); err != nil {
 		apilog.Println("Error opening database:", err)
 		return err
 	}
-	canvas.Init()
 
+	// initialize canvas service
+	canvas.Init(opts.Verbose)
+
+	// setup router
 	routes, err := setupRoutes(opts)
 	if err != nil {
 		apilog.Println("Error setting up router:", err)
 		return err
 	}
+
+	server.Addr = ":" + opts.Port
+	server.ReadTimeout = time.Duration(opts.RWTimeout)
+	server.WriteTimeout = time.Duration(opts.RWTimeout)
 	server.Handler = routes
 
+	apilog.Println("starting server on :" + opts.Port)
 	return nil
 }
 
 // Cleanup closes the database client
 func Cleanup() error {
-	// TODO notify websocket clients about server shutdown
-	// close db
-	dbClient.Close()
+	dbClient.Close() // close db client
 
 	if r := recover(); r != nil {
 		err, ok := r.(error)
diff --git a/pkg/api/options.go b/pkg/api/options.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..efcb71f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/api/options.go
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+package api
+
+import "github.com/drawr-team/drawrserver/pkg/bolt"
+
+// Options holds the basic configuration of the http server
+// TODO implement reading options from a config file
+type Options struct {
+	Port      string        `json:"port"`
+	RWTimeout int64         `json:"timeout"`
+	Verbose   bool          `json:"verbose"`
+	Debug     bool          `json:"debug"`
+	Database  *bolt.Options `json:"database"`
+}
diff --git a/pkg/canvas/service.go b/pkg/canvas/service.go
index 5310f5a..1336b14 100644
--- a/pkg/canvas/service.go
+++ b/pkg/canvas/service.go
@@ -11,19 +11,30 @@ import (
 var svc canvasService
 
 type canvasService struct {
+	verbose bool
+
 	hubs map[string]*websock.Hub
 }
 
 // Init initializes the message service
-func Init() {
+func Init(verbose bool) {
+	svc.verbose = verbose
 	svc.hubs = make(map[string]*websock.Hub)
 }
 
+// Close notifies all hubs about the server going offline
+func Close() {
+	for _, h := range svc.hubs {
+		h.Close()
+	}
+}
+
 // Connect adds a new client connection to the session hub
 func Connect(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, s service.Session) error {
 	_, ok := svc.hubs[s.ID]
 	if !ok {
 		svc.hubs[s.ID] = websock.NewHub()
+		svc.hubs[s.ID].Verbose = svc.verbose
 	}
 
 	c, err := websock.Upgrade(w, r, w.Header())
diff --git a/pkg/websock/README.md b/pkg/websock/README.md
index e1e0760..97fe8e4 100644
--- a/pkg/websock/README.md
+++ b/pkg/websock/README.md
@@ -3,9 +3,5 @@
 * Hub maps connections to their ID
 * 1 hub per session
 * read and write channels for every connection
-* read and write channel for hub
-* connection worker instead of hub worker
-
-## Ideas:
-
-* 1 Hub per server?
+* broadcast channel for hub
+* connection workers instead of hub worker
diff --git a/pkg/websock/connection.go b/pkg/websock/connection.go
index 97221bb..1e958bd 100644
--- a/pkg/websock/connection.go
+++ b/pkg/websock/connection.go
@@ -8,10 +8,9 @@ import (
 
 // Connection wraps a messenger connection
 type Connection struct {
-	messenger Messenger
-	wg        *sync.WaitGroup
-	done      bool
+	ws *websocket.Conn
 
+	wg *sync.WaitGroup
 	// connection message channels
 	send     chan []byte
 	received chan []byte
@@ -21,40 +20,33 @@ type Connection struct {
 
 // NewConnection constructs a new Connection from a websocket.Conn
 func NewConnection(ws *websocket.Conn) *Connection {
+	println("NewConnection:", ws.LocalAddr())
 	c := &Connection{
-		messenger: WebsocketMessenger{ws},
-		wg:        new(sync.WaitGroup),
-		done:      false,
-		send:      make(chan []byte, 256),
-		received:  make(chan []byte, 256),
+		ws:       ws,
+		wg:       new(sync.WaitGroup),
+		send:     make(chan []byte),
+		received: make(chan []byte),
 	}
 	if ws != nil {
 		c.Addr = ws.RemoteAddr().String()
 	} else {
 		c.Addr = "none"
 	}
-	return c
-}
 
-// RunWorkers starts the reader and writer in seperate goroutines
-// for the connection and returns a sync.WaitGroup
-func (c *Connection) RunWorkers() {
-	go c.Reader()
-	go c.Writer()
-}
+	go c.reader()
+	go c.writer()
 
-// Wait blocks until the Read and Write workers finish
-func (c *Connection) Wait() {
-	c.wg.Wait()
-}
+	c.ws.SetCloseHandler(func(code int, text string) error {
+		switch code {
+		case websocket.CloseGoingAway:
+			println("peer going away")
+		case websocket.CloseNormalClosure:
+			println("peer closing normally")
+		}
+		return nil
+	})
 
-// StopWorkers sends the done signal to the workers
-func (c *Connection) Close() error {
-	close(c.send)
-	c.done = true
-	c.wg.Wait() // wait for Reader to finish
-	close(c.received)
-	return c.messenger.Close()
+	return c
 }
 
 // SendChan returns the send channel
@@ -67,32 +59,58 @@ func (c *Connection) ReceiveChan() chan []byte {
 	return c.received
 }
 
+// Close sends the done signal to the workers
+func (c *Connection) Close() error {
+	println("closing connection", c.Addr)
+
+	payload := websocket.FormatCloseMessage(websocket.CloseGoingAway, "server shutting down")
+	if err := c.ws.WriteMessage(websocket.CloseMessage, payload); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	println("waiting for workers to quit")
+	close(c.send) // closing send channel causes writer to stop
+	c.wg.Wait()
+
+	println("closing connection was successfull")
+	return c.ws.Close()
+}
+
 // Reader reads a message from the websocket connection
-func (c *Connection) Reader() {
+func (c *Connection) reader() {
 	c.wg.Add(1)
-	defer c.wg.Done()
-
-	for !c.done {
-		message, err := c.messenger.ReadMessage()
+	for {
+		t, msg, err := c.ws.ReadMessage()
 		if err != nil {
+			if websocket.IsCloseError(err, websocket.CloseGoingAway) {
+				println("connection to peer closed as expected")
+				break
+			}
 			// TODO handle ReadMessage errors
-			panic(err)
-		} else {
-			c.received <- message
+			panic("Failed to read message: " + err.Error())
+		}
+
+		switch t {
+		case websocket.TextMessage:
+			c.received <- msg
+		case websocket.BinaryMessage:
+			panic("cannot handle binary message")
 		}
 	}
+	c.wg.Done()
+	println("reader ended")
 }
 
-// Writer writes a message to the websocket connection
-func (c *Connection) Writer() {
+// writer writes a message to the websocket connection
+func (c *Connection) writer() {
 	c.wg.Add(1)
-	defer c.wg.Done()
-
-	for message := range c.send {
-		err := c.messenger.WriteMessage(message)
+	for msg := range c.send {
+		err := c.ws.WriteMessage(websocket.TextMessage, msg)
 		if err != nil {
 			// TODO handle WriteMessage errors
-			panic(err)
+			panic("Failed to write message: " + err.Error())
 		}
 	}
+	c.wg.Done()
+	println("writer ended")
 }
diff --git a/pkg/websock/hub.go b/pkg/websock/hub.go
index 8e8ec00..a926c9f 100644
--- a/pkg/websock/hub.go
+++ b/pkg/websock/hub.go
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ import (
 	"log"
 	"os"
 	"sync"
+
+	"github.com/gorilla/websocket"
 )
 
 var ErrConnectionNotFound = errors.New("Connection not found")
@@ -18,9 +20,10 @@ type Hub struct {
 	connectionsMx sync.RWMutex
 
 	// TODO hub-wide message channel?
-	// broadcast chan []byte
+	broadcast chan []byte
 
-	log log.Logger
+	quit chan chan struct{}
+	log  log.Logger
 }
 
 // NewHub creates a new hub
@@ -29,22 +32,41 @@ func NewHub() *Hub {
 		Verbose:       false,
 		connections:   make(map[string]Connection),
 		connectionsMx: sync.RWMutex{},
-		// broadcast:     make(chan []byte, 2048),
-		log: *log.New(os.Stdout, "[websock]", log.LstdFlags),
+		broadcast:     make(chan []byte),
+		quit:          make(chan chan struct{}),
+		log:           *log.New(os.Stdout, "[ws]\t", log.LstdFlags),
 	}
+	go h.broadcaster()
 	return h
 }
 
+func (h *Hub) BroadcastChan() chan []byte {
+	return h.broadcast
+}
+
+// Close sends the quit signal to the monitor worker
+func (h *Hub) Close() {
+	h.log.Println("closing hub")
+	q := make(chan struct{})
+	h.quit <- q
+
+	for cID := range h.connections {
+		h.RemoveConnection(cID)
+	}
+	<-q
+}
+
 // AddConnection remembers a connection
 func (h *Hub) AddConnection(id string, c Connection) {
 	h.connectionsMx.Lock()
 	defer h.connectionsMx.Unlock()
 
+	h.connections[id] = c
+
 	if h.Verbose {
-		h.log.Println("new connection:", id)
+		h.log.Printf("add connection: %v (%v)", id, c.Addr)
 	}
 
-	h.connections[id] = c
 }
 
 // RemoveConnection forgets a connection
@@ -52,16 +74,18 @@ func (h *Hub) RemoveConnection(id string) {
 	h.connectionsMx.Lock()
 	defer h.connectionsMx.Unlock()
 
-	if h.Verbose {
-		h.log.Println("remove connection:", id)
-	}
-
-	if c, ok := h.connections[id]; ok {
+	c, ok := h.connections[id]
+	if ok {
 		if err := c.Close(); err != nil {
-			panic(err)
+			panic("Failed to remove connection" + id + " from hub: " + err.Error())
 		}
 		delete(h.connections, id)
 	}
+
+	if h.Verbose {
+		h.log.Printf("remove connection: %v (%v)", id, c.Addr)
+	}
+
 }
 
 func (h *Hub) GetConnection(id string) (*Connection, error) {
@@ -72,9 +96,31 @@ func (h *Hub) GetConnection(id string) (*Connection, error) {
 	return &c, nil
 }
 
-// Broadcast sends a message to all connections
-func (h *Hub) Broadcast(m []byte) {
-	for _, conn := range h.connections {
-		conn.SendChan() <- m
+// broadcast sends a message to all connections
+func (h *Hub) sendBroadcastMessage(m []byte) error {
+	for cID, conn := range h.connections {
+		h.log.Println("notified:", cID)
+		pm, err := websocket.NewPreparedMessage(websocket.TextMessage, m)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if err := conn.ws.WritePreparedMessage(pm); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (h *Hub) broadcaster() {
+	h.log.Println("starting broadcaster worker...")
+	for {
+		select {
+		case msg := <-h.broadcast:
+			h.log.Println("broadcasting:", string(msg))
+			h.sendBroadcastMessage(msg)
+		case q := <-h.quit:
+			close(q)
+			return
+		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/pkg/websock/messenger.go b/pkg/websock/messenger.go
deleted file mode 100644
index a05392e..0000000
--- a/pkg/websock/messenger.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,44 +0,0 @@
-package websock
-
-import (
-	"io"
-
-	"github.com/gorilla/websocket"
-)
-
-// MessageReader can receive []byte messages
-type MessageReader interface {
-	ReadMessage() ([]byte, error)
-}
-
-// MessageWriter can send []byte messages
-type MessageWriter interface {
-	WriteMessage([]byte) error
-}
-
-// Messenger implements MessageReader and MessageWriter
-type Messenger interface {
-	MessageReader
-	MessageWriter
-	io.Closer
-}
-
-// WebsocketMessenger implements the the Messenger interface for websocket.Conn
-type WebsocketMessenger struct{ *websocket.Conn }
-
-// ReadMessage implements MessageReader for websocket.Conn
-func (wsm WebsocketMessenger) ReadMessage() (b []byte, err error) {
-	_, b, err = wsm.Conn.ReadMessage()
-	return
-}
-
-// WriteMessage implements MessageWriter for websocket.Conn
-func (wsm WebsocketMessenger) WriteMessage(b []byte) (err error) {
-	err = wsm.Conn.WriteMessage(websocket.TextMessage, b)
-	return
-}
-
-// Close implements Closer for websocket.Close
-func (wsm WebsocketMessenger) Close() error {
-	return wsm.Conn.Close()
-}