diff --git a/coordinator/src/p2p.rs b/coordinator/src/p2p.rs
index 67cb2005..81c20cd9 100644
--- a/coordinator/src/p2p.rs
+++ b/coordinator/src/p2p.rs
@@ -187,8 +187,15 @@ impl LibP2p {
         // Block size limit + 1 KB of space for signatures/metadata
         const MAX_LIBP2P_MESSAGE_SIZE: usize = tributary::BLOCK_SIZE_LIMIT + 1024;
 
+        let heartbeat_interval = tributary::tendermint::LATENCY_TIME / 2;
+        let heartbeats_per_block =
+          usize::try_from(tributary::tendermint::TARGET_BLOCK_TIME / heartbeat_interval).unwrap();
+
         use blake2::{Digest, Blake2s256};
         let config = ConfigBuilder::default()
+          .heartbeat_interval(Duration::from_millis(heartbeat_interval.into()))
+          .history_length(heartbeats_per_block * 2)
+          .history_gossip(heartbeats_per_block)
           .max_transmit_size(MAX_LIBP2P_MESSAGE_SIZE)
           // We send KeepAlive after 80s
           .idle_timeout(Duration::from_secs(85))
@@ -340,6 +347,8 @@ impl P2p for LibP2p {
     self.0.lock().await.send(msg).expect("broadcast_send closed. are we shutting down?");
   }
 
+  // TODO: We only have a single handle call this. Differentiate Send/Recv to remove this constant
+  // lock acquisition?
   async fn receive_raw(&self) -> (Self::Id, Vec<u8>) {
     self.1.lock().await.recv().await.expect("receive_recv closed. are we shutting down?")
   }
diff --git a/coordinator/tributary/src/tendermint/mod.rs b/coordinator/tributary/src/tendermint/mod.rs
index 9a4baca5..ae3966e4 100644
--- a/coordinator/tributary/src/tendermint/mod.rs
+++ b/coordinator/tributary/src/tendermint/mod.rs
@@ -274,6 +274,11 @@ pub struct TendermintNetwork<D: Db, T: TransactionTrait, P: P2p> {
   pub(crate) p2p: P,
 }
 
+pub const BLOCK_PROCESSING_TIME: u32 = 999;
+pub const LATENCY_TIME: u32 = 1667;
+// TODO: Add test asserting this
+pub const TARGET_BLOCK_TIME: u32 = BLOCK_PROCESSING_TIME + (3 * LATENCY_TIME);
+
 #[async_trait]
 impl<D: Db, T: TransactionTrait, P: P2p> Network for TendermintNetwork<D, T, P> {
   type ValidatorId = [u8; 32];
@@ -285,8 +290,8 @@ impl<D: Db, T: TransactionTrait, P: P2p> Network for TendermintNetwork<D, T, P>
   // The block time is the latency on message delivery (where a message is some piece of data
   // embedded in a transaction) times three plus the block processing time, hence why it should be
   // kept low.
-  const BLOCK_PROCESSING_TIME: u32 = 999;
-  const LATENCY_TIME: u32 = 1667;
+  const BLOCK_PROCESSING_TIME: u32 = BLOCK_PROCESSING_TIME;
+  const LATENCY_TIME: u32 = LATENCY_TIME;
 
   fn signer(&self) -> Arc<Signer> {
     self.signer.clone()
diff --git a/coordinator/tributary/tendermint/src/lib.rs b/coordinator/tributary/tendermint/src/lib.rs
index cd123fee..be9d5e5d 100644
--- a/coordinator/tributary/tendermint/src/lib.rs
+++ b/coordinator/tributary/tendermint/src/lib.rs
@@ -189,7 +189,8 @@ impl<N: Network + 'static> TendermintMachine<N> {
       // Push it on to the queue. This is done so we only handle one message at a time, and so we
       // can handle our own message before broadcasting it. That way, we fail before before
       // becoming malicious
-      self.queue.push_back(msg);
+      // push_front to prioritize our own messages
+      self.queue.push_front(msg);
     }
   }