diff --git a/READMEs/README.lws_sequencer.md b/READMEs/README.lws_sequencer.md
index 155631455..fab057352 100644
--- a/READMEs/README.lws_sequencer.md
+++ b/READMEs/README.lws_sequencer.md
@@ -50,10 +50,21 @@ out a retry cooloff period and then start the retry when the
 
 ## Creating an `lws_sequencer_t`
 
+```
+typedef struct lws_seq_info {
+	struct lws_context		*context;   /* lws_context for seq */
+	int				tsi;	    /* thread service idx */
+	size_t				user_size;  /* size of user alloc */
+	void				**puser;    /* place ptr to user */
+	lws_seq_event_cb		cb;	    /* seq callback */
+	const char			*name;	    /* seq name */
+	const lws_retry_bo_t		*retry;	    /* retry policy */
+} lws_seq_info_t;
+```
+
 ```
 lws_sequencer_t *
-lws_sequencer_create(struct lws_context *context, int tsi, void *user_data,
-		     lws_seq_event_cb cb);
+lws_sequencer_create(lws_seq_info_t *info);
 ```
 
 When created, in lws the sequencer objects are bound to a 'per-thread',
diff --git a/include/libwebsockets.h b/include/libwebsockets.h
index 7db5321cc..3343f50a0 100644
--- a/include/libwebsockets.h
+++ b/include/libwebsockets.h
@@ -533,6 +533,7 @@ struct lws;
 #include <libwebsockets/lws-lwsac.h>
 #include <libwebsockets/lws-fts.h>
 #include <libwebsockets/lws-diskcache.h>
+#include <libwebsockets/lws-retry.h>
 #include <libwebsockets/lws-sequencer.h>
 
 #include <libwebsockets/abstract/abstract.h>
diff --git a/include/libwebsockets/lws-retry.h b/include/libwebsockets/lws-retry.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fe058c5c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/libwebsockets/lws-retry.h
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+/*
+ * libwebsockets - small server side websockets and web server implementation
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2010-2019 Andy Green <andy@warmcat.com>
+ *
+ *  This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ *  modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ *  License as published by the Free Software Foundation:
+ *  version 2.1 of the License.
+ *
+ *  This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ *  Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ *  You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ *  License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+ *  Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston,
+ *  MA  02110-1301  USA
+ *
+ * included from libwebsockets.h
+ */ 
+
+/*
+ * Specifies backoff ranges using a pair of uint32_t in ms for the min, max.
+ *
+ * The actual backoff timing is picked randomly within the range.
+ */
+
+typedef struct lws_retry_range {
+	uint32_t		min_ms;
+	uint32_t		max_ms;
+} lws_retry_range_t;
+
+typedef struct lws_retry_bo {
+	const lws_retry_range_t	*retry_ms_table;        /* backoff range pair */
+	uint16_t		retry_ms_table_count;      /* ranges in table */
+	uint16_t		conceal_count;	    /* max retries to conceal */
+} lws_retry_bo_t;
+
+/**
+ * lws_retry_get_delay_ms() - get next delay from backoff table
+ *
+ * \param lws_context: the lws context (used for getting random)
+ * \param retry: the retry backoff table we are using
+ * \param ctry: pointer to the try counter
+ * \param conceal: pointer to flag set to nonzero if the try should be concealed
+ *			in terms of creating an error
+ *
+ * Increments *\p try and retruns the number of ms that should elapse before the
+ * next connection retry, according to the backoff table \p retry. *\p conceal is
+ * set if the number of tries is less than the backoff table conceal_count, or
+ * is zero if it exceeded it.  This lets you conceal a certain number of retries
+ * before alerting the caller there is a problem.
+ */
+
+LWS_VISIBLE LWS_EXTERN unsigned int
+lws_retry_get_delay_ms(struct lws_context *context, const lws_retry_bo_t *retry,
+		        uint16_t *ctry, char *conceal);
+
diff --git a/include/libwebsockets/lws-sequencer.h b/include/libwebsockets/lws-sequencer.h
index c31ce7509..923ce2254 100644
--- a/include/libwebsockets/lws-sequencer.h
+++ b/include/libwebsockets/lws-sequencer.h
@@ -30,6 +30,13 @@
  * lws_sequencer-s are bound to a pt (per-thread) which for the default case of
  * one service thread is the same as binding to an lws_context.
  */
+/*
+ * retry backoff table... retry n happens after .retry_ms_table[n] ms, with
+ * the last entry used if n is greater than the number of entries.
+ *
+ * The first .conceal_count retries are concealed, but after that the failures
+ * are reported.
+ */
 
 typedef enum {
 	LWSSEQ_CREATED,		/* sequencer created */
@@ -64,24 +71,20 @@ typedef struct lws_sequencer lws_sequencer_t; /* opaque */
  */
 typedef lws_seq_cb_return_t (*lws_seq_event_cb)(struct lws_sequencer *seq,
 			     void *user, int event, void *data);
-
+typedef struct lws_seq_info {
+	struct lws_context		*context;   /* lws_context for seq */
+	int				tsi;	    /* thread service idx */
+	size_t				user_size;  /* size of user alloc */
+	void				**puser;    /* place ptr to user */
+	lws_seq_event_cb		cb;	    /* seq callback */
+	const char			*name;	    /* seq name */
+	const lws_retry_bo_t		*retry;	    /* retry policy */
+} lws_seq_info_t;
 
 /**
  * lws_sequencer_create() - create and bind sequencer to a pt
  *
- * \param context:	lws_context
- * \param tsi:		thread service index, 0 is safe anything else depends
- *			multiple service threads being set up
- * \param user_size:	size of the additional heap allocation to allocate after
- *			the lws sequencer object to hold user data associated
- *			with the sequence.  The start of this extra allocation
- *			is passed to the sequencer callback and in \p *puser
- * \param puser:	pointer to a void * that will be set to the start of the
- *			extra user heap allocation whose size was set by
- *			user_size.  The user area pointed to here is all zeroed
- *			after successful sequencer creation.
- * \param cb:		callback for events on this sequencer
- * \param name:		Used in sequencer logging
+ * \param info:	information about sequencer to create
  *
  * This binds an abstract sequencer to a per-thread (by default, the single
  * event loop of an lws_context).  After the event loop starts, the sequencer
@@ -94,8 +97,7 @@ typedef lws_seq_cb_return_t (*lws_seq_event_cb)(struct lws_sequencer *seq,
  * pt locking is used to protect the related data structures.
  */
 LWS_VISIBLE LWS_EXTERN lws_sequencer_t *
-lws_sequencer_create(struct lws_context *context, int tsi, size_t user_size,
-		     void **puser, lws_seq_event_cb cb, const char *name);
+lws_sequencer_create(lws_seq_info_t *info);
 
 /**
  * lws_sequencer_destroy() - destroy the sequencer
diff --git a/lib/abstract/test-sequencer.c b/lib/abstract/test-sequencer.c
index b38a65fe0..92387054c 100644
--- a/lib/abstract/test-sequencer.c
+++ b/lib/abstract/test-sequencer.c
@@ -233,14 +233,20 @@ lws_abs_unit_test_sequencer(const lws_test_sequencer_args_t *args)
 {
 	struct lws_seq_test_sequencer *s;
 	lws_sequencer_t *seq;
+	lws_seq_info_t i;
+
+	memset(&i, 0, sizeof(i));
+	i.context = args->abs->vh->context;
+	i.user_size = sizeof(struct lws_seq_test_sequencer);
+	i.puser = (void **)&s;
+	i.cb = test_sequencer_cb;
+	i.name = "test-seq";
 
 	/*
 	 * Create a sequencer in the event loop to manage the tests
 	 */
 
-	seq = lws_sequencer_create(args->abs->vh->context, 0,
-				   sizeof(struct lws_seq_test_sequencer),
-				   (void **)&s, test_sequencer_cb, "test-seq");
+	seq = lws_sequencer_create(&i);
 	if (!seq) {
 		lwsl_err("%s: unable to create sequencer\n", __func__);
 		return 1;
diff --git a/lib/abstract/transports/unit-test.c b/lib/abstract/transports/unit-test.c
index ccee684f3..c8a8860f5 100644
--- a/lib/abstract/transports/unit-test.c
+++ b/lib/abstract/transports/unit-test.c
@@ -415,15 +415,21 @@ lws_atcut_create(lws_abs_t *ai)
 {
 	abs_unit_test_priv_t *priv;
 	lws_sequencer_t *seq;
+	lws_seq_info_t i;
 	seq_priv_t *s;
 
+	memset(&i, 0, sizeof(i));
+	i.context = ai->vh->context;
+	i.user_size = sizeof(*s);
+	i.puser = (void **)&s;
+	i.cb = unit_test_sequencer_cb;
+	i.name = "unit-test-seq";
+
 	/*
 	 * Create the sequencer for the steps in a single unit test
 	 */
 
-	seq = lws_sequencer_create(ai->vh->context, 0, sizeof(*s),
-				   (void **)&s, unit_test_sequencer_cb,
-				   "unit-test-seq");
+	seq = lws_sequencer_create(&i);
 	if (!seq) {
 		lwsl_err("%s: unable to create sequencer\n", __func__);
 
diff --git a/lib/core-net/network.c b/lib/core-net/network.c
index 1ae77fbb5..8c3fe1a13 100644
--- a/lib/core-net/network.c
+++ b/lib/core-net/network.c
@@ -380,6 +380,40 @@ lws_socket_bind(struct lws_vhost *vhost, lws_sockfd_type sockfd, int port,
 	return port;
 }
 
+static const lws_retry_range_t default_bo = { 3000, 7000 };
+
+unsigned int
+lws_retry_get_delay_ms(struct lws_context *context,
+		       const lws_retry_bo_t *retry, uint16_t *ctry, char *conceal)
+{
+	const lws_retry_range_t *r = &default_bo;
+	unsigned int ms;
+	uint16_t ra;
+
+	if (conceal)
+		*conceal = 0;
+
+	if (retry) {
+		if (*ctry < retry->retry_ms_table_count)
+			r = &retry->retry_ms_table[*ctry];
+		else
+			r = &retry->retry_ms_table[
+				retry->retry_ms_table_count - 1];
+	}
+
+	ms = r->min_ms;
+	if (lws_get_random(context, &ra, sizeof(ra)) == sizeof(ra))
+		ms += ((r->max_ms - ms) * ra) / 65535;
+
+	if (*ctry < 0xffff)
+		(*ctry)++;
+
+	if (retry && conceal)
+		*conceal = (int)*ctry <= retry->conceal_count;
+
+	return ms;
+}
+
 #if defined(LWS_WITH_IPV6)
 LWS_EXTERN unsigned long
 lws_get_addr_scope(const char *ipaddr)
diff --git a/lib/core-net/sequencer.c b/lib/core-net/sequencer.c
index 72c123081..b277ce877 100644
--- a/lib/core-net/sequencer.c
+++ b/lib/core-net/sequencer.c
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ typedef struct lws_sequencer {
 	struct lws_context_per_thread	*pt;
 	lws_seq_event_cb		cb;
 	const char			*name;
+	const lws_retry_bo_t		*retry;
 
 	time_t				time_created;
 	time_t				timeout; /* 0 or time we timeout */
@@ -53,20 +54,20 @@ typedef struct lws_sequencer {
 #define QUEUE_SANITY_LIMIT 10
 
 lws_sequencer_t *
-lws_sequencer_create(struct lws_context *context, int tsi, size_t user_size,
-		     void **puser, lws_seq_event_cb cb, const char *name)
+lws_sequencer_create(lws_seq_info_t *i)
 {
-	struct lws_context_per_thread *pt = &context->pt[tsi];
-	lws_sequencer_t *seq = lws_zalloc(sizeof(*seq) + user_size, __func__);
+	struct lws_context_per_thread *pt = &i->context->pt[i->tsi];
+	lws_sequencer_t *seq = lws_zalloc(sizeof(*seq) + i->user_size, __func__);
 
 	if (!seq)
 		return NULL;
 
-	seq->cb = cb;
+	seq->cb = i->cb;
 	seq->pt = pt;
-	seq->name = name;
+	seq->name = i->name;
+	seq->retry = i->retry;
 
-	*puser = (void *)&seq[1];
+	*i->puser = (void *)&seq[1];
 
 	/* add the sequencer to the pt */
 
diff --git a/minimal-examples/api-tests/api-test-lws_sequencer/main.c b/minimal-examples/api-tests/api-test-lws_sequencer/main.c
index 2ec07e8b2..af058f667 100644
--- a/minimal-examples/api-tests/api-test-lws_sequencer/main.c
+++ b/minimal-examples/api-tests/api-test-lws_sequencer/main.c
@@ -325,6 +325,7 @@ main(int argc, const char **argv)
 	struct lws_context *context;
 	lws_sequencer_t *seq;
 	struct lws_vhost *vh;
+	lws_seq_info_t i;
 	struct myseq *s;
 	const char *p;
 
@@ -369,8 +370,14 @@ main(int argc, const char **argv)
 	 * receive the LWSSEQ_CREATED callback
 	 */
 
-	seq = lws_sequencer_create(context, 0, sizeof(struct myseq),
-				   (void **)&s, sequencer_cb, "seq");
+	memset(&i, 0, sizeof(i));
+	i.context = context;
+	i.user_size = sizeof(struct myseq);
+	i.puser = (void **)&s;
+	i.cb = sequencer_cb;
+	i.name = "seq";
+
+	seq = lws_sequencer_create(&i);
 	if (!seq) {
 		lwsl_err("%s: unable to create sequencer\n", __func__);
 		goto bail1;