diff --git a/libraries/networking/src/udt/ControlSender.cpp b/libraries/networking/src/udt/ControlSender.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dd9948502a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libraries/networking/src/udt/ControlSender.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+//
+//  ControlSender.cpp
+//  libraries/networking/src/udt
+//
+//  Created by Stephen Birarda on 2015-07-27.
+//  Copyright 2015 High Fidelity, Inc.
+//
+//  Distributed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.
+//  See the accompanying file LICENSE or http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html
+//
+
+#include <chrono>
+#include <thread>
+
+#include <QtCore/QCoreApplication>
+#include <QtCore/QDebug>
+
+#include "ControlSender.h"
+
+using namespace udt;
+
+void ControlSender::loop() {
+    while (!_isStopped) {
+        // grab the time now
+        auto start = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now();
+        
+        // for each of the connections managed by the udt::Socket, we need to ask for the ACK value to send
+       
+        // since we're infinitely looping, give the thread a chance to process events
+        QCoreApplication::processEvents();
+        
+        auto end = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now();
+        
+        std::chrono::duration<double, std::micro> elapsed = end - start;
+        int timeToSleep = _synInterval - (int) elapsed.count();
+        
+        // based on how much time it took us to process, let's figure out how much time we have need to sleep
+        std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::microseconds(timeToSleep));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/libraries/networking/src/udt/ControlSender.h b/libraries/networking/src/udt/ControlSender.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..040c6a70db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libraries/networking/src/udt/ControlSender.h
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+//
+//  ControlSender.h
+//  libraries/networking/src/udt
+//
+//  Created by Stephen Birarda on 2015-07-27.
+//  Copyright 2015 High Fidelity, Inc.
+//
+//  Distributed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.
+//  See the accompanying file LICENSE or http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html
+//
+
+#pragma once
+
+#ifndef hifi_ControlSender_h
+#define hifi_ControlSender_h
+
+#include <QtCore/QObject>
+
+namespace udt {
+
+// Handles the sending of periodic control packets for all active UDT reliable connections
+// Currently the interval for all connections is the same, so one thread is sufficient to manage all
+class ControlSender : public QObject {
+    Q_OBJECT
+public:
+    ControlSender(QObject* parent = 0) : QObject(parent) {};
+    
+public slots:
+    void loop(); // infinitely loops and sleeps to manage rate of control packet sending
+    void stop() { _isStopped = true; } // stops the loop
+    
+private:
+    int _synInterval = 10 * 1000;
+    bool _isStopped { false };
+};
+    
+}
+
+#endif // hifi_ControlSender_h
diff --git a/libraries/networking/src/udt/Socket.cpp b/libraries/networking/src/udt/Socket.cpp
index 8bf7f973ae..57c4b75b12 100644
--- a/libraries/networking/src/udt/Socket.cpp
+++ b/libraries/networking/src/udt/Socket.cpp
@@ -11,7 +11,10 @@
 
 #include "Socket.h"
 
+#include <QtCore/QThread>
+
 #include "../NetworkLogging.h"
+#include "ControlSender.h"
 #include "Packet.h"
 
 using namespace udt;
@@ -20,6 +23,38 @@ Socket::Socket(QObject* parent) :
     QObject(parent)
 {
     connect(&_udpSocket, &QUdpSocket::readyRead, this, &Socket::readPendingDatagrams);
+    
+    // make a QThread for the ControlSender to live on
+    QThread* controlThread = new QThread(this);
+    
+    // setup the ControlSender and parent it
+    _controlSender = new ControlSender;
+    
+    // move the ControlSender to its thread
+    _controlSender->moveToThread(controlThread);
+    
+    // start the ControlSender once the thread is started
+    connect(controlThread, &QThread::started, _controlSender, &ControlSender::loop);
+    
+    // make sure the control thread is named so we can identify it
+    controlThread->setObjectName("UDT Control Thread");
+    
+    // start the control thread
+    controlThread->start();
+}
+
+Socket::~Socket() {
+    if (_controlSender) {
+        QThread* controlThread = _controlSender->thread();
+        
+        // tell the control sender to stop and be deleted so we can wait on its thread
+        QMetaObject::invokeMethod(_controlSender, "stop");
+        _controlSender->deleteLater();
+        
+        // make sure the control thread goes down
+        controlThread->quit();
+        controlThread->wait();
+    }
 }
 
 void Socket::rebind() {
diff --git a/libraries/networking/src/udt/Socket.h b/libraries/networking/src/udt/Socket.h
index 184d8716fe..be6ef982af 100644
--- a/libraries/networking/src/udt/Socket.h
+++ b/libraries/networking/src/udt/Socket.h
@@ -24,8 +24,9 @@
 #include "SeqNum.h"
 
 namespace udt {
-    
+
 class BasePacket;
+class ControlSender;
 class Packet;
 
 using PacketFilterOperator = std::function<bool(const Packet&)>;
@@ -37,6 +38,7 @@ class Socket : public QObject {
     Q_OBJECT
 public:
     Socket(QObject* object = 0);
+    ~Socket();
     
     quint16 localPort() const { return _udpSocket.localPort(); }
     
@@ -68,6 +70,8 @@ private:
     std::unordered_map<HifiSockAddr, BasePacketHandler> _unfilteredHandlers;
 
     std::unordered_map<HifiSockAddr, SeqNum> _packetSequenceNumbers;
+    
+    ControlSender* _controlSender { nullptr };
 };
     
 } // namespace udt