diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 14adf20..1098286 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ auto-reconnecting jetstream proxy with a default pool that should work
 NOTES:
 - this should run as close to your infrastructure as possible. you then
   would connect to `ws://localhost:6969/subscribe`
+- no cursor support. since there will be multiple jetstream upstreams that
+  run at separate cursor timelines, it would be pretty hard to rewrite cursors
+  in such a way that everything works. if your application relies on cursors,
+  then it's probably best for your application to deal with multi-upstream support.
 
 ```
 go build
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 5744e20..69af466 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
+	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/gorilla/websocket"
@@ -26,6 +27,7 @@ var DEFAULT_POOL = []string{
 type Broadcaster struct {
 	listeners []chan []byte
 	mu        sync.Mutex
+	connected atomic.Bool
 }
 
 // Subscribe returns a new channel that will receive Jetstream events
@@ -84,6 +86,8 @@ func measureLatency(url string) (time.Duration, error) {
 	}
 
 	start := time.Now()
+	// jetstream instances return the "Welcome to jetstream!" banner on / which
+	// should be useful enough for latency
 	resp, err := client.Get(url)
 	if err != nil {
 		return 0, err
@@ -99,6 +103,19 @@ var upgrader = websocket.Upgrader{
 	},
 }
 
+// handleHealth returns 200 if connected to upstream
+func handleHealth(broadcaster *Broadcaster) http.HandlerFunc {
+	return func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		if broadcaster.connected.Load() {
+			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
+			w.Write([]byte("Welcome to jetstream!"))
+		} else {
+			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusServiceUnavailable)
+			w.Write([]byte("Not connected to upstream"))
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 // handleSubscribe upgrades HTTP connection to websocket and streams events
 func handleSubscribe(broadcaster *Broadcaster) http.HandlerFunc {
 	return func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
@@ -130,8 +147,8 @@ func handleSubscribe(broadcaster *Broadcaster) http.HandlerFunc {
 
 // connectToUpstream maintains a connection to the upstream websocket and broadcasts messages
 func connectToUpstream(pool []string, broadcaster *Broadcaster) {
-	backoff := time.Second
-	maxBackoff := time.Minute
+	backoff := 50 * time.Millisecond
+	maxBackoff := 20 * time.Second
 	var currentUpstream string
 
 	for {
@@ -157,6 +174,7 @@ func connectToUpstream(pool []string, broadcaster *Broadcaster) {
 		conn, _, err := websocket.DefaultDialer.Dial(currentUpstream+"/subscribe", nil)
 		if err != nil {
 			slog.Error("Failed to connect to upstream", slog.String("url", currentUpstream), slog.Any("error", err))
+			broadcaster.connected.Store(false)
 			time.Sleep(backoff)
 			backoff *= 2
 			if backoff > maxBackoff {
@@ -166,6 +184,7 @@ func connectToUpstream(pool []string, broadcaster *Broadcaster) {
 		}
 
 		slog.Info("Connected to upstream", slog.String("url", currentUpstream))
+		broadcaster.connected.Store(true)
 		backoff = time.Second // Reset backoff on successful connection
 
 		// Read messages from upstream and broadcast them
@@ -173,6 +192,7 @@ func connectToUpstream(pool []string, broadcaster *Broadcaster) {
 			messageType, message, err := conn.ReadMessage()
 			if err != nil {
 				slog.Error("Error reading from upstream", slog.Any("error", err))
+				broadcaster.connected.Store(false)
 				conn.Close()
 				break
 			}
@@ -271,6 +291,7 @@ func main() {
 	go connectToUpstream(pool, broadcaster)
 
 	// Setup HTTP server
+	http.HandleFunc("/", handleHealth(broadcaster))
 	http.HandleFunc("/subscribe", handleSubscribe(broadcaster))
 
 	slog.Info("Starting proxy server", slog.String("bind", bindAddr))