diff --git a/tstream b/tstream
index 69d3005..c9f5cd9 100755
--- a/tstream
+++ b/tstream
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 # Kimapr's streaming setup
 # how to use:
-# install ncat, lua (tested with 5.4.3), and script
+# install tmux, ncat, lua (tested with 5.4.3), and script
 # mkdir ~/stream
 # make a text file ~/stream/welcome, it will be displayed on stream startup.
 # make a text file ~/stream/the_end, it will be displayed on stream end.
@@ -10,6 +10,25 @@
 # end the stream by exitting from the shell in the stream window
 # you can also replay past streams using `scriptreplay -O live -T live-timing` in ~/stream/hist/*/
 
+echo "checking dependencies..."
+if ! tmux -V; then
+	echo "tmux not installed!"
+	exit 1
+fi
+if ! ncat --version; then
+	echo "ncat not installed!"
+	exit 1
+fi
+if ! lua -v; then
+	echo "lua not installed!"
+	exit 1
+fi
+if ! script --version; then
+	echo "script not installed!"
+	exit 1
+fi
+echo "all tests pass!"
+
 echo "usage: tstream <port> <width> <height> [max bandwidth in KiB/s (per-client)]"
 port=$1
 width=$2
@@ -18,15 +37,20 @@ bandwidth=$4
 if [ "x$bandwidth" = "x" ]; then
 	bandwidth=32
 fi
-randid=`head -c 16 /dev/urandom | xxd -p`
+unset TMUX
+randid=`head -c 4 /dev/urandom | xxd -p`
 name=`date -u +%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S_UTC`
-tmux new-session -d -s wstream_$randid "clear;cat ~/stream/welcome;$SHELL"
-tmux resize-window -t wstream_$randid -x $width -y $(($height - 1))
+tmux new-session -d -s wstream_$randid "tmux set status-left-length 100;clear;cat ~/stream/welcome;$SHELL"
+tmux resize-window -t wstream_$randid -x $(($width)) -y $(($height - 1))
 tmux set-option -t wstream_$randid status-right "? viewers"
 cat >/tmp/tstream-helper_$randid <<EOF
 #!/bin/sh
+tmux set status off
+#tmux unbind -a
+tmux set prefix None
 clear
 TMUX= tmux attach -t wstream_$randid
+sleep 2
 clear
 cat ~/stream/the_end
 for i in \$(seq 7); do
@@ -149,13 +173,23 @@ chmod +x /tmp/tstream-smarttail_$randid
 cat >/tmp/tstream-cat_$randid <<EOF
 #!/bin/sh
 vcrefresh='$vcrefresh'
-echo "\$vcrefresh"
-{ sleep 5;/tmp/tstream-refresh_$randid; } &
-echo "Welcome to Kimapr's stream. Please wait..."
+echo "SIZE $width $height"
+echo "# Welcome to a text livestream."
+echo "# Powered by tstream: https://gitlab.com/Kimapr/tstream"
+echo "# Before you continue, make sure your terminal is exactly ${width}x$height sized, otherwise rendering errors would occur."
+echo "# Here's one way to do it: disconnect, run the following command"
+echo "# $ tmux new \"tmux resize-window -x $width -y $height; tmux set status off; \\\$SHELL\""
+echo "# After executing the above command, a ${width}x$height sized terminal window would appear in your terminal. Then you can connect to the server the same way as you did before."
+echo "# Alternatively, if your terminal supports dynamic resizing you can just resize your terminal to the right size, without disconnecting."
+echo "# There's also a custom client that does it for you: https://gitlab.com/Kimapr/tstream/-/raw/master/tstream-client"
+echo "# Press Return/Enter to continue..."
+head -n 1;
+{ sleep 0.5;/tmp/tstream-refresh_$randid; } &
 echo \$((\$(cat /tmp/tstream-count_$randid) + 1)) > /tmp/tstream-count_$randid
 sh -c "\$vcrefresh"
 /tmp/tstream-smarttail_$randid
 echo \$((\$(cat /tmp/tstream-count_$randid) - 1)) > /tmp/tstream-count_$randid
+sleep 1
 sh -c "\$vcrefresh"
 EOF
 chmod +x /tmp/tstream-cat_$randid
@@ -163,6 +197,7 @@ chmod +x /tmp/tstream-refresh_$randid
 touch /tmp/tstream-seektimes_$randid
 {
 	while true; do
+		tmux set -t wstream_$randid status-left "`date +%H:%M` "
 		sleep 5
 		echo "$(lua -e "local file=io.open(\"$HOME/stream/hist/$name/live\")print(file:seek(\"end\")..\" \"..os.time())file:close()")" >>/tmp/tstream-seektimes_$randid
 		/tmp/tstream-refresh_$randid
@@ -175,7 +210,7 @@ tmux kill-session -t wstream_$randid
 tmux kill-session -t stream_$randid
 touch /tmp/tstream-death_$randid
 echo PLEASE WAIT...
-sleep 2;
+sleep 1;
 rm /tmp/tstream-death_$randid
 rm /tmp/tstream-helper_$randid
 rm /tmp/tstream-refresh_$randid
diff --git a/tstream-client b/tstream-client
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..4b14cbf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tstream-client
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+if ! tmux -V 2>/dev/null >/dev/null; then
+	echo "tmux not installed!"
+	exit 1
+fi
+if ! lua -v 2>/dev/null >/dev/null; then
+	echo "lua not installed!"
+	exit 1
+fi
+if ! nc	-h 2>/dev/null >/dev/null; then
+	echo "nc not installed!"
+	exit 1
+fi
+RANDID=$(cat /dev/urandom | head -c 4 | xxd -p)
+TMPDIR=/tmp/tstream_client_$RANDID
+mkdir $TMPDIR
+mkfifo $TMPDIR/datout
+mkfifo $TMPDIR/nc_in
+mkfifo $TMPDIR/nc_out
+mkfifo $TMPDIR/arg_width
+mkfifo $TMPDIR/arg_height
+cat >$TMPDIR/ncread <<EOF
+#!/usr/bin/env lua
+local nc_out=io.open("$TMPDIR/nc_out")
+local nc_in=io.open("$TMPDIR/nc_in","w")
+local function wrfile(name,str)
+	local file=io.open("$TMPDIR/"..name,"w")
+	file:write(tostring(str))
+	file:close()
+end
+while true do
+	local line=nc_out:read()
+	if not line then
+		wrfile("arg_width","40")
+		wrfile("arg_height","10")
+		wrfile("datout","error occured\n")
+		error("what!")
+	end
+	if line:match("SIZE .+") then
+		local w,h=line:match("SIZE (.-) (.+)")
+		w,h=tonumber(w),tonumber(h)
+		wrfile("arg_width",w)
+		wrfile("arg_height",h)
+		break
+	end
+end
+nc_in:write("\n")
+nc_in:flush()
+local datout=io.open("$TMPDIR/datout","w")
+while true do
+	datout:write(nc_out:read(1))
+	datout:flush()
+end	
+EOF
+chmod +x $TMPDIR/ncread
+
+$TMPDIR/ncread &
+{ cat $TMPDIR/nc_in | nc $@ | tee $TMPDIR/nc_out > /dev/null; } &
+echo run
+WIDTH=$(head -n 1 $TMPDIR/arg_width)
+echo width $WIDTH
+HEIGHT=$(head -n 1 $TMPDIR/arg_height)
+echo height $HEIGHT
+tmux new "tmux resize-window -x $WIDTH -y $HEIGHT;tmux set status off; cat $TMPDIR/datout"
+jobs
+kill %1
+kill %2
+rm -rf $TMPDIR
+wait