diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/NetUtils.java b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/NetUtils.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..393e8aea8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/NetUtils.java
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+/* -*- compile-command: "cd ../../../../../; ant install"; -*- */
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2010 by Eric House (xwords@eehouse.org).  All
+ * rights reserved.
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the
+ * License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program 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
+ * General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307, USA.
+ */
+
+package org.eehouse.android.xw4;
+
+import javax.net.SocketFactory;
+import java.net.InetAddress;
+import java.net.Socket;
+import android.content.Context;
+
+import org.eehouse.android.xw4.jni.CommonPrefs;
+
+public class NetUtils {
+
+    public static final byte PROTOCOL_VERSION = 0;
+    // from xwrelay.h
+    public static byte PRX_PUB_ROOMS = 1;
+    public static byte PRX_HAS_MSGS = 2;
+
+    public static Socket MakeProxySocket( Context context, 
+                                          int timeoutMillis )
+    {
+        Socket socket = null;
+        try {
+            int port = CommonPrefs.getDefaultProxyPort( context );
+            String host = CommonPrefs.getDefaultRelayHost( context );
+
+            SocketFactory factory = SocketFactory.getDefault();
+            InetAddress addr = InetAddress.getByName( host );
+            socket = factory.createSocket( addr, port );
+            socket.setSoTimeout( timeoutMillis );
+
+        } catch ( java.net.UnknownHostException uhe ) {
+            Utils.logf( uhe.toString() );
+        } catch( java.io.IOException ioe ) {
+            Utils.logf( ioe.toString() );
+        }
+        Utils.logf( "MakeProxySocket=>%s", null != socket
+                    ? socket.toString():"null" );
+        return socket;
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/RelayService.java b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/RelayService.java
index 1d1258920..6d56c180f 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/RelayService.java
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/RelayService.java
@@ -39,14 +39,6 @@ import java.util.ArrayList;
 import org.eehouse.android.xw4.jni.GameSummary;
 
 public class RelayService extends Service {
-
-    private static final String proxy_addr = "10.0.2.2";
-    private static final int proxy_port = 10998;
-    private static final byte PROTOCOL_VERSION = 0;
-
-    // from xwrelay.h
-    private static byte PRX_PUB_ROOMS = 1;
-    private static byte PRX_HAS_MSGS = 2;
     
     private NotificationManager m_nm;
 
@@ -63,11 +55,9 @@ public class RelayService extends Service {
                     ArrayList<byte[]>ids = collectIDs( nBytes );
                     if ( null != ids && 0 < ids.size() ) {
                         try {
-                            SocketFactory factory = SocketFactory.getDefault();
-                            InetAddress addr = InetAddress.getByName( proxy_addr );
-                            Socket socket = factory.createSocket( addr, 
-                                                                  proxy_port );
-                            socket.setSoTimeout( 3000 );
+                            Socket socket = 
+                                NetUtils.MakeProxySocket( RelayService.this, 
+                                                          3000 );
                             DataOutputStream outStream = 
                                 new DataOutputStream( socket.getOutputStream() );
 
@@ -76,8 +66,8 @@ public class RelayService extends Service {
                             Utils.logf( "total packet size: %d",
                                         2 + nBytes[0] + ids.size() );
 
-                            outStream.writeByte( PROTOCOL_VERSION );
-                            outStream.writeByte( PRX_HAS_MSGS );
+                            outStream.writeByte( NetUtils.PROTOCOL_VERSION );
+                            outStream.writeByte( NetUtils.PRX_HAS_MSGS );
 
                             // number of ids
                             outStream.writeShort( ids.size() );
@@ -117,7 +107,7 @@ public class RelayService extends Service {
                                                           ids.get(ii).toString() );
                                         // Toast.makeText( RelayService.this, msg,
                                         //                 Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).
-                                            // show();
+                                        // show();
                                     }
                                 }
                             }
@@ -126,6 +116,8 @@ public class RelayService extends Service {
                             Utils.logf( uhe.toString() );
                         } catch( java.io.IOException ioe ) {
                             Utils.logf( ioe.toString() );
+                        } catch( NullPointerException npe ) {
+                            Utils.logf( npe.toString() );
                         }
                     }
                     RelayService.this.stopSelf();