diff --git a/api/service/discovery/service.go b/api/service/discovery/service.go
index ece4cd823..93f2169c9 100644
--- a/api/service/discovery/service.go
+++ b/api/service/discovery/service.go
@@ -7,12 +7,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/harmony-one/harmony/p2p/host"
 )
 
-// Constants for discovery service.
-const (
-	numIncoming = 128
-	numOutgoing = 16
-)
-
 // Service is the struct for discovery service.
 type Service struct {
 	host        p2p.Host
diff --git a/cmd/harmony.go b/cmd/harmony.go
index 7eb76f70a..4024a25c4 100644
--- a/cmd/harmony.go
+++ b/cmd/harmony.go
@@ -275,8 +275,5 @@ func main() {
 	go currentNode.SupportSyncing()
 	currentNode.ServiceManagerSetup()
 	currentNode.RunServices()
-
-	if !*libp2pPD {
-		currentNode.StartServer()
-	}
+	currentNode.StartServer()
 }
diff --git a/node/node.go b/node/node.go
index 9b7f1b703..d0acea152 100644
--- a/node/node.go
+++ b/node/node.go
@@ -206,7 +206,11 @@ func (node *Node) getTransactionsForNewBlock(maxNumTxs int) types.Transactions {
 
 // StartServer starts a server and process the requests by a handler.
 func (node *Node) StartServer() {
-	node.host.BindHandlerAndServe(node.StreamHandler)
+	if node.UseLibP2P {
+		select {}
+	} else {
+		node.host.BindHandlerAndServe(node.StreamHandler)
+	}
 }
 
 // Count the total number of transactions in the blockchain
diff --git a/node/node_handler.go b/node/node_handler.go
index 8b4236c80..1137de8e2 100644
--- a/node/node_handler.go
+++ b/node/node_handler.go
@@ -277,6 +277,7 @@ func (node *Node) pingMessageHandler(msgPayload []byte) int {
 
 	// add to incoming peer list
 	node.host.AddIncomingPeer(*peer)
+	node.host.ConnectHostPeer(*peer)
 
 	if ping.Node.Role == proto_node.ClientRole {
 		utils.GetLogInstance().Info("Add Client Peer to Node", "Node", node.Consensus.GetNodeID(), "Client", peer)
@@ -329,8 +330,6 @@ func (node *Node) pongMessageHandler(msgPayload []byte) int {
 		return -1
 	}
 
-	utils.GetLogInstance().Debug("[pongMessageHandler]", "received msg", len(msgPayload))
-
 	peers := make([]*p2p.Peer, 0)
 
 	for _, p := range pong.Peers {
@@ -349,6 +348,8 @@ func (node *Node) pongMessageHandler(msgPayload []byte) int {
 		peers = append(peers, peer)
 	}
 
+	utils.GetLogInstance().Debug("[pongMessageHandler]", "received msg #peers", len(peers))
+
 	if len(peers) > 0 {
 		node.AddPeers(peers)
 	}
@@ -369,6 +370,8 @@ func (node *Node) pongMessageHandler(msgPayload []byte) int {
 		publicKeys = append(publicKeys, &key)
 	}
 
+	utils.GetLogInstance().Debug("[pongMessageHandler]", "received msg #keys", len(publicKeys))
+
 	if node.State == NodeWaitToJoin {
 		node.State = NodeReadyForConsensus
 		// Notify JoinShard to stop sending Ping messages
diff --git a/p2p/host.go b/p2p/host.go
index 03e76189a..db39f50c1 100644
--- a/p2p/host.go
+++ b/p2p/host.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ type Host interface {
 
 	AddIncomingPeer(Peer)
 	AddOutgoingPeer(Peer)
+	ConnectHostPeer(Peer)
 
 	// SendMessageToGroups sends a message to one or more multicast groups.
 	SendMessageToGroups(groups []GroupID, msg []byte) error
diff --git a/p2p/host/hostv2/hostv2.go b/p2p/host/hostv2/hostv2.go
index 9a8423c1c..d0a8624a6 100644
--- a/p2p/host/hostv2/hostv2.go
+++ b/p2p/host/hostv2/hostv2.go
@@ -4,8 +4,10 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"sync"
 
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/log"
+	"github.com/harmony-one/harmony/internal/utils"
 	"github.com/harmony-one/harmony/p2p"
 
 	libp2p "github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p"
@@ -25,6 +27,10 @@ const (
 	BatchSizeInByte = 1 << 16
 	// ProtocolID The ID of protocol used in stream handling.
 	ProtocolID = "/harmony/0.0.1"
+
+	// Constants for discovery service.
+	numIncoming = 128
+	numOutgoing = 16
 )
 
 // PubSub captures the pubsub interface we expect from libp2p.
@@ -223,3 +229,30 @@ func (host *HostV2) Close() error {
 func (host *HostV2) GetP2PHost() p2p_host.Host {
 	return host.h
 }
+
+// ConnectHostPeer connects to peer host
+func (host *HostV2) ConnectHostPeer(peer p2p.Peer) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	addr := fmt.Sprintf("/ip4/%s/tcp/%s/ipfs/%s", peer.IP, peer.Port, peer.PeerID.Pretty())
+	peerAddr, err := ma.NewMultiaddr(addr)
+	if err != nil {
+		utils.GetLogInstance().Error("ConnectHostPeer", "new ma error", err, "peer", peer)
+		return
+	}
+	peerInfo, err := peerstore.InfoFromP2pAddr(peerAddr)
+	if err != nil {
+		utils.GetLogInstance().Error("ConnectHostPeer", "new peerinfo error", err, "peer", peer)
+		return
+	}
+	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+	wg.Add(1)
+	go func() {
+		defer wg.Done()
+		if err := host.h.Connect(ctx, *peerInfo); err != nil {
+			utils.GetLogInstance().Warn("can't connect to peer", "error", err, "peer", peer)
+		} else {
+			utils.GetLogInstance().Info("connected to peer host", "node", *peerInfo)
+		}
+	}()
+	wg.Wait()
+}