diff --git a/arouterd/arouterd.go b/arouterd/arouterd.go
index 47445ac..9f1215c 100644
--- a/arouterd/arouterd.go
+++ b/arouterd/arouterd.go
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/rest"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/tools/clientcmd"
 )
 
 type volthaPod struct {
@@ -63,6 +64,10 @@
 }
 
 var (
+	// if k8s variables are undefined, will attempt to use in-cluster config
+	k8sApiServer      = getStrEnv("K8S_API_SERVER", "")
+	k8sKubeConfigPath = getStrEnv("K8S_KUBE_CONFIG_PATH", "")
+
 	podNamespace = getStrEnv("POD_NAMESPACE", "voltha")
 	podGrpcPort  = uint64(getIntEnv("POD_GRPC_PORT", 0, math.MaxUint16, 50057))
 
@@ -121,15 +126,27 @@
 }
 
 func k8sClientSet() *kubernetes.Clientset {
-	// creates the in-cluster config
-	config, err := rest.InClusterConfig()
-	if err != nil {
-		panic(err.Error())
+	var config *rest.Config
+	if k8sApiServer != "" || k8sKubeConfigPath != "" {
+		// use combination of URL & local kube-config file
+		c, err := clientcmd.BuildConfigFromFlags(k8sApiServer, k8sKubeConfigPath)
+		if err != nil {
+			panic(err)
+		}
+		config = c
+	} else {
+		// use in-cluster config
+		c, err := rest.InClusterConfig()
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Errorf("Unable to load in-cluster config.  Try setting K8S_API_SERVER and K8S_KUBE_CONFIG_PATH?")
+			panic(err)
+		}
+		config = c
 	}
 	// creates the clientset
 	clientset, err := kubernetes.NewForConfig(config)
 	if err != nil {
-		panic(err.Error())
+		panic(err)
 	}
 
 	return clientset
@@ -137,15 +154,18 @@
 
 func connect(addr string) (*grpc.ClientConn, error) {
 	for ctr := 0; ctr < 100; ctr++ {
+		startTime := time.Now()
 		log.Debugf("Trying to connect to %s", addr)
-		conn, err := grpc.Dial(addr, grpc.WithInsecure())
+		ctx, _ := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), time.Second*5)
+		conn, err := grpc.DialContext(ctx, addr, grpc.WithInsecure(), grpc.WithBlock())
 		if err != nil {
-			log.Debugf("Attempt to connect failed, retrying %v:", err)
+			log.Debugf("Attempt to connect failed, retrying. (%v)", err)
 		} else {
 			log.Debugf("Connection succeeded")
 			return conn, err
 		}
-		time.Sleep(10 * time.Second)
+		// 5s between attempts, whether or not if the connection fails immediately
+		time.Sleep(startTime.Add(time.Second * 5).Sub(time.Now()))
 	}
 	log.Debugf("Too many connection attempts, giving up!")
 	return nil, errors.New("Timeout attempting to conect")
@@ -156,7 +176,7 @@
 
 	pods, err := cs.CoreV1().Pods(podNamespace).List(metav1.ListOptions{})
 	if err != nil {
-		panic(err.Error())
+		panic(err)
 	}
 	//log.Debugf("There are a total of %d pods in the cluster\n", len(pods.Items))
 
@@ -821,10 +841,10 @@
 
 	// Connect to the affinity router and set up the client
 	conn, err = connect("localhost:55554") // This is a sidecar container so communicating over localhost
-	defer conn.Close()
 	if err != nil {
-		panic(err.Error())
+		panic(err)
 	}
+	defer conn.Close()
 	client := pb.NewConfigurationClient(conn)
 
 	// Get the voltha rw-core podes