diff --git a/easywsclient.cpp b/easywsclient.cpp
index 6516193..0e47a69 100644
--- a/easywsclient.cpp
+++ b/easywsclient.cpp
@@ -57,7 +57,10 @@ struct _DummyWebSocket : public WebSocket
 {
     void poll() { }
     void send(std::string message) { }
-    void close() { } void _dispatch(Callback & callable) { }
+    void close() { } 
+    void _dispatch(Callback & callable) { }
+    const readyStateValues getReadyState() {}
+
 };
 
 
@@ -107,17 +110,17 @@ struct _RealWebSocket : public WebSocket
     std::vector<char> txbuf;
 
     int sockfd;
-    /* I suppose we should add the others websocket status. 
-     * Right now only this two are used, so, to avoid problems,
-     * I've added a dummy status that includes all the non "closing" ones */
-    enum clientStatusValues { CLOSING, CLOSE, DUMMYSTATUS } clientStatus;
+    readyStateValues readyState;
 
+    _RealWebSocket(int sockfd) : sockfd(sockfd), readyState(OPEN) {
+    }
 
-    _RealWebSocket(int sockfd) : sockfd(sockfd), clientStatus(DUMMYSTATUS) {
+    const readyStateValues getReadyState() {
+      return readyState;
     }
 
     void poll() {
-        if(clientStatus==CLOSE) { return; }
+        if(readyState==CLOSED) { return; }
         while (true) {
             // FD_ISSET(0, &rfds) will be true
             int N = rxbuf.size();
@@ -132,7 +135,8 @@ struct _RealWebSocket : public WebSocket
             else if (ret == 0) {
                 rxbuf.resize(N);
                 ::close(sockfd);
-                clientStatus = CLOSE;
+                readyState = CLOSED;
+                fprintf(stderr, "Connection closed!\n");
                 break;
             }
             else {
@@ -211,10 +215,7 @@ struct _RealWebSocket : public WebSocket
             else if (ws.opcode == wsheader_type::PING) { }
             else if (ws.opcode == wsheader_type::PONG) { }
             else if (ws.opcode == wsheader_type::CLOSE) {
-              if(clientStatus != CLOSING) { close(); }
-              ::close(sockfd);
-              clientStatus = CLOSE;
-              fprintf(stderr, "Connection closed!\n");
+              if(readyState != CLOSING) { close(); }
             }
             else { fprintf(stderr, "ERROR: Got unexpected WebSocket message.\n"); close(); }
 
@@ -224,7 +225,7 @@ struct _RealWebSocket : public WebSocket
 
     void send(std::string message) {
         // TODO: consider acquiring a lock on txbuf...
-        if(clientStatus == CLOSING || clientStatus == CLOSE) { return; }
+        if(readyState == CLOSING || readyState == CLOSED) { return; }
         std::vector<uint8_t> header;
         header.assign(2 + (message.size() >= 126 ? 2 : 0) + (message.size() >= 65536 ? 6 : 0), 0);
         header[0] = 0x80 | wsheader_type::TEXT_FRAME;
@@ -253,8 +254,8 @@ struct _RealWebSocket : public WebSocket
     }
 
     void close() {
-        if(clientStatus == CLOSING || clientStatus == CLOSE) { return; }
-        clientStatus = CLOSING;
+        if(readyState == CLOSING || readyState == CLOSED) { return; }
+        readyState = CLOSING;
         char closeFrame[4] = {0x88, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00};
         std::vector<char> header(closeFrame, closeFrame+4);
         txbuf.insert(txbuf.end(), header.begin(), header.end());
diff --git a/easywsclient.hpp b/easywsclient.hpp
index f62ca28..799c648 100644
--- a/easywsclient.hpp
+++ b/easywsclient.hpp
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ namespace easywsclient {
 
 struct WebSocket {
     typedef WebSocket * pointer;
+    typedef enum readyStateValues { CLOSING, CLOSED, CONNECTING, OPEN } readyStateValues;
 
     // Factories:
     static pointer create_dummy();
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@ struct WebSocket {
     virtual void poll() = 0;
     virtual void send(std::string message) = 0;
     virtual void close() = 0;
+    virtual const readyStateValues getReadyState() = 0;
     template<class Callable>
     void dispatch(Callable callable) { // N.B. this is compatible with both C++11 lambdas, functors and C function pointers
         struct _Callback : public Callback {
diff --git a/example-client.cpp b/example-client.cpp
index 58e52ac..5de4d71 100644
--- a/example-client.cpp
+++ b/example-client.cpp
@@ -17,7 +17,8 @@ int main()
     ws->send("goodbye");
     ws->send("hello");
     ws->close();
-    while(true) {
+    while(ws->getReadyState() != WebSocket::CLOSED) 
+    {
       ws->poll();
       ws->dispatch(handle_message);
     }