diff --git a/launch/ntrip_client.launch b/launch/ntrip_client.launch
index 1225e72..ee23f2f 100644
--- a/launch/ntrip_client.launch
+++ b/launch/ntrip_client.launch
@@ -66,6 +66,8 @@
     <!-- Will affect how many times the node will attempt to reconnect before exiting, and how long it will wait in between attempts when a reconnect occurs -->
     <param name="reconnect_attempt_max" value="10" />
     <param name="reconnect_attempt_wait_seconds" value="5" />
+    <param name="reconnect_backoff_base" value="1.8" />
+    <param name="reconnect_backoff_max_seconds" value="300">
 
     <!-- How many seconds is acceptable in between receiving RTCM. If RTCM is not received for this duration, the node will attempt to reconnect -->
     <param name="rtcm_timeout_seconds" value="4" />
diff --git a/launch/ntrip_serial_device.launch b/launch/ntrip_serial_device.launch
index c999044..9f75838 100644
--- a/launch/ntrip_serial_device.launch
+++ b/launch/ntrip_serial_device.launch
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@
     <!-- Will affect how many times the node will attempt to reconnect before exiting, and how long it will wait in between attempts when a reconnect occurs -->
     <param name="reconnect_attempt_max" value="10" />
     <param name="reconnect_attempt_wait_seconds" value="5" />
+    <param name="reconnect_backoff_base" value="1.8" />
+    <param name="reconnect_backoff_max_seconds" value="300">
 
     <!-- Uncomment the following section and replace "/gx5/nmea/sentence" with the topic you are sending NMEA on if it is not the one we requested -->
     <!--<remap from="/ntrip_client/nmea" to="/gx5/nmea/sentence" />-->
diff --git a/scripts/ntrip_ros.py b/scripts/ntrip_ros.py
index 6e7d19e..22d2639 100755
--- a/scripts/ntrip_ros.py
+++ b/scripts/ntrip_ros.py
@@ -75,6 +75,8 @@ def __init__(self):
     self._client.nmea_parser.nmea_min_length = self._nmea_min_length
     self._client.reconnect_attempt_max = self._reconnect_attempt_max
     self._client.reconnect_attempt_wait_seconds = self._reconnect_attempt_wait_seconds
+    self._client.reconnect_backoff_base = self._reconnect_backoff_base
+    self._client.reconnect_backoff_max_seconds = self._reconnect_backoff_max_seconds
     self._client.rtcm_timeout_seconds = rospy.get_param('~rtcm_timeout_seconds', NTRIPClient.DEFAULT_RTCM_TIMEOUT_SECONDS)
 
 
diff --git a/scripts/ntrip_serial_device_ros.py b/scripts/ntrip_serial_device_ros.py
index 6fa64d3..c849b12 100755
--- a/scripts/ntrip_serial_device_ros.py
+++ b/scripts/ntrip_serial_device_ros.py
@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@ def __init__(self):
     self._client.nmea_parser.nmea_min_length = self._nmea_min_length
     self._client.reconnect_attempt_max = self._reconnect_attempt_max
     self._client.reconnect_attempt_wait_seconds = self._reconnect_attempt_wait_seconds
+    self._client.reconnect_backoff_base = self._reconnect_backoff_base
+    self._client.reconnect_backoff_max_seconds = self._reconnect_backoff_max_seconds
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
diff --git a/src/ntrip_client/ntrip_base.py b/src/ntrip_client/ntrip_base.py
index b189529..fb6646e 100644
--- a/src/ntrip_client/ntrip_base.py
+++ b/src/ntrip_client/ntrip_base.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-import time
 import logging
+import rospy
 
 from .nmea_parser import NMEAParser
 from .rtcm_parser import RTCMParser
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ class NTRIPBase:
   DEFAULT_RECONNECT_ATTEMPT_MAX = 10
   DEFAULT_RECONNECT_ATEMPT_WAIT_SECONDS = 5
 
+  DEFAULT_RECONNECT_BACKOFF_BASE = 1.8
+  DEFAULT_RECONNECT_BACKOFF_MAX_SECONDS = 300
+
   def __init__(self, logerr=logging.error, logwarn=logging.warning, loginfo=logging.info, logdebug=logging.debug):
     # Bit of a strange pattern here, but save the log functions so we can be agnostic of ROS
     self._logerr = logerr
@@ -34,10 +37,15 @@ def __init__(self, logerr=logging.error, logwarn=logging.warning, loginfo=loggin
     # Setup some state
     self._shutdown = False
     self._connected = False
+    # How many connection attempts have failed since we last connected?
+    # We don't consider connection successful until some valid data has been received.
+    self._reconnect_attempt_count = 0
 
     # Public reconnect info
     self.reconnect_attempt_max = self.DEFAULT_RECONNECT_ATTEMPT_MAX
     self.reconnect_attempt_wait_seconds = self.DEFAULT_RECONNECT_ATEMPT_WAIT_SECONDS
+    self.reconnect_backoff_base = self.DEFAULT_RECONNECT_BACKOFF_BASE
+    self.reconnect_backoff_max_seconds = self.DEFAULT_RECONNECT_BACKOFF_MAX_SECONDS
 
   def connect(self):
     raise NotImplementedError("Must override connect")
@@ -45,25 +53,48 @@ def connect(self):
   def disconnect(self):
     raise NotImplementedError("Must override disconnect")
 
-  def reconnect(self):
-    if self._connected:
-      while not self._shutdown:
-        self._reconnect_attempt_count += 1
-        self.disconnect()
-        connect_success = self.connect()
-        if not connect_success and self._reconnect_attempt_count < self.reconnect_attempt_max:
-          self._logerr('Reconnect failed. Retrying in {} seconds'.format(self.reconnect_attempt_wait_seconds))
-          time.sleep(self.reconnect_attempt_wait_seconds)
-        elif self._reconnect_attempt_count >= self.reconnect_attempt_max:
-          self._reconnect_attempt_count = 0
-          self._logerr('Reconnect failed. Max attempts reached. Shutting down')
-          self.shutdown()
-          break
-        elif connect_success:
-          self._reconnect_attempt_count = 0
-          break
-    else:
+  def _compute_reconnect_wait_time(self):
+    """
+    Compute a time to sleep before attempting to reconnect.
+
+    This is based on an exponential backoff, capped to a maximum.
+
+    All of the initial wait times, the maximum and the base are configurable.
+    """
+    return min(
+      self.reconnect_attempt_wait_seconds * (self.reconnect_backoff_base ** self._reconnect_attempt_count ),
+      self.reconnect_backoff_max_seconds
+    )
+
+  def reconnect(self, initial = False):
+    if not (self._connected or initial):
       self._logdebug('Reconnect called while not connected, ignoring')
+      return
+
+    while not self._shutdown:
+      if not initial:
+        # If this isn't our initial connection attempt,
+        # disconnect and wait a reconnection interval
+        self.disconnect()
+        to_wait = self._compute_reconnect_wait_time()
+        self._logerr(f"Reconnecting in {to_wait:.1f} seconds")
+        rospy.sleep(self._compute_reconnect_wait_time())
+
+      initial = False
+      self._reconnect_attempt_count += 1
+
+      connect_success = self.connect()
+      if connect_success:
+        break
+
+      if self._reconnect_attempt_count >= self.reconnect_attempt_max:
+        self._reconnect_attempt_count = 0
+        self._logerr('Reconnect failed. Max attempts reached. Shutting down')
+        self.shutdown()
+        break
+
+  def mark_successful_connection(self):
+    self._reconnect_attempt_count = 0
 
   def send_nmea(self):
     raise NotImplementedError("Must override send_nmea")
diff --git a/src/ntrip_client/ntrip_client.py b/src/ntrip_client/ntrip_client.py
index c439e9b..a74ca9b 100644
--- a/src/ntrip_client/ntrip_client.py
+++ b/src/ntrip_client/ntrip_client.py
@@ -53,7 +53,6 @@ def __init__(self, host, port, mountpoint, ntrip_version, username, password, lo
     self.ca_cert = None
 
     # Private reconnect info
-    self._reconnect_attempt_count = 0
     self._nmea_send_failed_count = 0
     self._nmea_send_failed_max = 5
     self._read_zero_bytes_count = 0
@@ -235,7 +234,13 @@ def recv_rtcm(self):
       self._first_rtcm_received = True
 
     # Send the data to the RTCM parser to parse it
-    return self.rtcm_parser.parse(data) if data else []
+    parsed_packets = self.rtcm_parser.parse(data) if data else []
+
+    if parsed_packets:
+      # now we've received a packet, we can happily say that we are successfully connected
+      self.mark_successful_connection()
+
+    return parsed_packets
 
   def _form_request(self):
     if self._ntrip_version != None and self._ntrip_version != '':
diff --git a/src/ntrip_client/ntrip_ros_base.py b/src/ntrip_client/ntrip_ros_base.py
index 120187e..90fdb3b 100755
--- a/src/ntrip_client/ntrip_ros_base.py
+++ b/src/ntrip_client/ntrip_ros_base.py
@@ -77,15 +77,15 @@ def __init__(self, name):
     self._nmea_min_length = rospy.get_param('~nmea_min_length', NMEA_DEFAULT_MIN_LENGTH)
     self._reconnect_attempt_max = rospy.get_param('~reconnect_attempt_max', NTRIPBase.DEFAULT_RECONNECT_ATTEMPT_MAX)
     self._reconnect_attempt_wait_seconds = rospy.get_param('~reconnect_attempt_wait_seconds', NTRIPBase.DEFAULT_RECONNECT_ATEMPT_WAIT_SECONDS)
+    self._reconnect_backoff_base = rospy.get_param('~reconnect_backoff_base', NTRIPBase.DEFAULT_RECONNECT_BACKOFF_BASE)
+    self._reconnect_backoff_max_seconds = rospy.get_param('~reconnect_backoff_max_seconds', NTRIPBase.DEFAULT_RECONNECT_BACKOFF_MAX_SECONDS)
 
   def run(self):
     # Setup a shutdown hook
     rospy.on_shutdown(self.stop)
 
-    # Connect the client
-    if not self._client.connect():
-      rospy.logerr('Unable to connect to NTRIP server')
-      return 1
+    # Start the client's reconnection loop
+    self._client.reconnect(initial = True)
 
     # Setup our subscriber
     self._nmea_sub = rospy.Subscriber('nmea', Sentence, self.subscribe_nmea, queue_size=10)