diff --git a/selfdrive/athena/athenad.py b/selfdrive/athena/athenad.py
index a53d5778d4..35a9eaf192 100755
--- a/selfdrive/athena/athenad.py
+++ b/selfdrive/athena/athenad.py
@@ -42,6 +42,10 @@ from selfdrive.statsd import STATS_DIR
 from system.swaglog import SWAGLOG_DIR, cloudlog
 from system.version import get_commit, get_origin, get_short_branch, get_version
 
+
+# missing in pysocket
+TCP_USER_TIMEOUT = 18
+
 ATHENA_HOST = os.getenv('ATHENA_HOST', 'wss://athena.comma.ai')
 HANDLER_THREADS = int(os.getenv('HANDLER_THREADS', "4"))
 LOCAL_PORT_WHITELIST = {8022}
@@ -141,6 +145,7 @@ def handle_long_poll(ws: WebSocket, exit_event: Optional[threading.Event]) -> No
   end_event = threading.Event()
 
   threads = [
+    threading.Thread(target=ws_manage, args=(ws, end_event), name='ws_manage'),
     threading.Thread(target=ws_recv, args=(ws, end_event), name='ws_recv'),
     threading.Thread(target=ws_send, args=(ws, end_event), name='ws_send'),
     threading.Thread(target=upload_handler, args=(end_event,), name='upload_handler'),
@@ -154,8 +159,7 @@ def handle_long_poll(ws: WebSocket, exit_event: Optional[threading.Event]) -> No
   for thread in threads:
     thread.start()
   try:
-    while not end_event.is_set():
-      time.sleep(0.1)
+    while not end_event.wait(0.1):
       if exit_event is not None and exit_event.is_set():
         end_event.set()
   except (KeyboardInterrupt, SystemExit):
@@ -756,6 +760,25 @@ def ws_send(ws: WebSocket, end_event: threading.Event) -> None:
       end_event.set()
 
 
+def ws_manage(ws: WebSocket, end_event: threading.Event) -> None:
+  params = Params()
+  onroad_prev = None
+  sock = ws.sock
+
+  while True:
+    onroad = params.get_bool("IsOnroad")
+    if onroad != onroad_prev:
+      onroad_prev = onroad
+
+      sock.setsockopt(socket.IPPROTO_TCP, TCP_USER_TIMEOUT, 16000 if onroad else 0)
+      sock.setsockopt(socket.IPPROTO_TCP, socket.TCP_KEEPIDLE, 7 if onroad else 30)
+      sock.setsockopt(socket.IPPROTO_TCP, socket.TCP_KEEPINTVL, 7 if onroad else 10)
+      sock.setsockopt(socket.IPPROTO_TCP, socket.TCP_KEEPCNT, 2 if onroad else 3)
+
+    if end_event.wait(5):
+      break
+
+
 def backoff(retries: int) -> int:
   return random.randrange(0, min(128, int(2 ** retries)))
 
diff --git a/selfdrive/athena/tests/test_athenad_ping.py b/selfdrive/athena/tests/test_athenad_ping.py
index d85ac60897..f768fbebaa 100755
--- a/selfdrive/athena/tests/test_athenad_ping.py
+++ b/selfdrive/athena/tests/test_athenad_ping.py
@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ class TestAthenadPing(unittest.TestCase):
   def _received_ping(self) -> bool:
     return self._get_ping_time() is not None
 
+  def _set_onroad(self, onroad: bool) -> None:
+    self.params.put_bool("IsOnroad", onroad)
+
   @classmethod
   def setUpClass(cls) -> None:
     cls.params = Params()
@@ -63,8 +66,7 @@ class TestAthenadPing(unittest.TestCase):
       self.exit_event.set()
       self.athenad.join()
 
-  @unittest.skipIf(not TICI, "only run on desk")
-  def test_timeout(self) -> None:
+  def assertTimeout(self, reconnect_time: float) -> None:
     self.athenad.start()
 
     time.sleep(1)
@@ -84,7 +86,7 @@ class TestAthenadPing(unittest.TestCase):
       wifi_radio(False)
       print("waiting for reconnect attempt")
       start_time = time.monotonic()
-      with Timeout(180, "no reconnect attempt"):
+      with Timeout(reconnect_time, "no reconnect attempt"):
         while not athenad.create_connection.called:
           time.sleep(0.1)
         print(f"reconnect attempt after {time.monotonic() - start_time:.2f}s")
@@ -97,6 +99,16 @@ class TestAthenadPing(unittest.TestCase):
         time.sleep(0.1)
       print("ping received")
 
+  @unittest.skipIf(not TICI, "only run on desk")
+  def test_offroad(self) -> None:
+    self._set_onroad(False)
+    self.assertTimeout(100)  # expect approx 90s
+
+  @unittest.skipIf(not TICI, "only run on desk")
+  def test_onroad(self) -> None:
+    self._set_onroad(True)
+    self.assertTimeout(30)  # expect 20-30s
+
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
   unittest.main()