diff --git a/internal/websocket/handle_connection.go b/internal/websocket/handle_connection.go
index 2a0f414..03f0114 100644
--- a/internal/websocket/handle_connection.go
+++ b/internal/websocket/handle_connection.go
@@ -20,6 +20,22 @@ var upgrader = websocket.Upgrader{
 	CheckOrigin: func(r *http.Request) bool { return true },
 }
 
+// initialize a new WebsocketClient
+func newWebsocketClient(ws *websocket.Conn, address string) models.WebsocketClient {
+	wsclient := models.WebsocketClient{
+		Conn:     ws,
+		LastPong: time.Now(),
+		RealIP:   address,
+	}
+
+	wsclient.Conn.SetPongHandler(func(appData string) error {
+		wsclient.LastPong = time.Now()
+		return nil
+	})
+
+	return wsclient
+}
+
 // Upgrades HTTP requests to WebSocket connections and manages the client lifecycle
 func HandleConnection(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	// Upgrade initial GET request to a WebSocket
@@ -31,11 +47,8 @@ func HandleConnection(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	defer ws.Close()
 
 	// Register the new client
-	client := models.WebsocketClient{
-		Conn:     ws,
-		LastPong: time.Now(),
-		RealIP:   r.RemoteAddr,
-	}
+	client := newWebsocketClient(ws, r.RemoteAddr)
+
 	mu.Lock()
 	Clients[ws.LocalAddr()] = &client
 	mu.Unlock()