diff --git a/functions.sh b/functions.sh
index 0c22d75..0fc7d50 100644
--- a/functions.sh
+++ b/functions.sh
@@ -265,6 +265,7 @@ sshs() {
     local TMPBASHCONFIG=$(mktemp -p ${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR} -t bashrc.XXXXXXXX --suffix=.conf)
     local FILELIST=( ~/.aliases "${MYSHELLCONFIG_BASE}/functions.sh" "${MYSHELLCONFIG_BASE}/aliases" "${MYSHELLCONFIG_BASE}/PS1" "${MYSHELLCONFIG_BASE}/bash_completion.d/*" "${MYSHELLCONFIG_BASE}/myshell_load_fortmpconfig" )
 
+    local SSH_OPTS="-o VisualHostKey=no -o ControlMaster=auto -o ControlPersist=15s -o ControlPath=~/.ssh/ssh-%r@%h:%p"
     # Read /etc/bashrc or /etc/bash.bashrc (depending on distribution) and /etc/profile.d/*.sh first
     cat << EOF >> "${TMPBASHCONFIG}"
 [ -e /etc/bashrc ] && BASHRC=/etc/bashrc
@@ -293,8 +294,8 @@ EOF
     if [ $# -ge 1 ]; then
         if [ -e "${TMPBASHCONFIG}" ] ; then
            local RCMD="/bin/bash --noprofile --norc -c "
-           local REMOTETMPBASHCONFIG=$(ssh -T -o VisualHostKey=no $@ "mktemp -p \${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR} -t bashrc.XXXXXXXX --suffix=.conf"| tr -d '[:space:]' )
-           local REMOTETMPVIMCONFIG=$(ssh -T -o VisualHostKey=no $@ "mktemp -p \${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR} -t vimrc.XXXXXXXX --suffix=.conf"| tr -d '[:space:]')
+           local REMOTETMPBASHCONFIG=$(ssh -T ${SSH_OPTS} $@ "mktemp -p \${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR} -t bashrc.XXXXXXXX --suffix=.conf"| tr -d '[:space:]' )
+           local REMOTETMPVIMCONFIG=$(ssh -T ${SSH_OPTS} $@ "mktemp -p \${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR} -t vimrc.XXXXXXXX --suffix=.conf"| tr -d '[:space:]')
 
            # Add additional aliases to bashrc for remote-machine
            cat << EOF >> "${TMPBASHCONFIG}"
@@ -308,11 +309,11 @@ title "\$USER@\$HOSTNAME: \$PWD"
 echo "This bash runs with temporary config from \$BASHRC"
 EOF
 
-           ssh -T -o VisualHostKey=no $@ "cat > ${REMOTETMPBASHCONFIG}" < "${TMPBASHCONFIG}"
-           ssh -T -o VisualHostKey=no $@ "cat > ${REMOTETMPVIMCONFIG}" < "${MYSHELLCONFIG_BASE}/vimrc"
+           ssh -T ${SSH_OPTS} $@ "cat > ${REMOTETMPBASHCONFIG}" < "${TMPBASHCONFIG}"
+           ssh -T ${SSH_OPTS} $@ "cat > ${REMOTETMPVIMCONFIG}" < "${MYSHELLCONFIG_BASE}/vimrc"
            RCMD="
            trap \"rm -f ${REMOTETMPBASHCONFIG} ${REMOTETMPVIMCONFIG}\" EXIT " ;
-           ssh -t $@ "$RCMD; SSHS=true bash -c \"function bash () { /bin/bash --rcfile ${REMOTETMPBASHCONFIG} -i ; } ; export -f bash; exec bash --rcfile ${REMOTETMPBASHCONFIG}\""
+           ssh -t ${SSH_OPTS} $@ "$RCMD; SSHS=true bash -c \"function bash () { /bin/bash --rcfile ${REMOTETMPBASHCONFIG} -i ; } ; export -f bash; exec bash --rcfile ${REMOTETMPBASHCONFIG}\""
            rm "${TMPBASHCONFIG}"
         else
            echo "${TMPBASHCONFIG} does not exist. Use »ssh $@«" >&2
@@ -574,4 +575,14 @@ gnome-shell-extensions-make-actual-permanent-systemwide() {
     sudo sed -i "/\[org\/gnome\/shell\]/a${line}${EXTENSIONS}" "${file}"
     sudo dconf update
 }
+
+reachable () {
+    local SERVER=$1
+    local PORT=${2:-22}
+    if nc -z $SERVER $PORT 2>/dev/null; then
+        echo "${SERVER}:${PORT} is reachable"
+    else
+        echo "${SERVER}:${PORT} is not reachable"
+    fi
+}
 #EOF