diff --git a/onionr/communicator.py b/onionr/communicator.py
index b10317fc..1b4b061e 100755
--- a/onionr/communicator.py
+++ b/onionr/communicator.py
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ class OnionrCommunicate:
         highFailureRate = 10
         heartBeatTimer = 0
         heartBeatRate = 5
-        pexTimer = 5 # How often we should check for new peers
+        pexTimer = 10 # How often we should check for new peers
         pexCount = 0
         logger.debug('Communicator debugging enabled.')
         torID = open('data/hs/hostname').read()
@@ -223,7 +223,6 @@ class OnionrCommunicate:
         '''
             URL encodes the data
         '''
-
         return urllib.parse.quote_plus(data)
 
     def performGet(self, action, peer, data=None, skipHighFailureAddress=False, peerType='tor'):
diff --git a/onionr/cryptotests.py b/onionr/cryptotests.py
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..036d5fb0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/onionr/cryptotests.py
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+'''
+    Onionr - P2P Microblogging Platform & Social network
+    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 3 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, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+'''
+import unittest, sys, os, core, onionrcrypto, logger
+
+class OnionrCryptoTests(unittest.TestCase):
+    def testSymmetric(self):
+        dataString = "this is a secret message"
+        dataBytes = dataString.encode()
+        myCore = core.Core()
+        crypto = onionrcrypto.OnionrCrypto(myCore)
+        key = key = b"tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt"
+
+        logger.info("Encrypting: " + dataString)
+        encrypted = crypto.symmetricEncrypt(dataString, key, returnEncoded=True)
+        logger.info(encrypted)
+        logger.info('Decrypting encrypted string:')
+        decrypted = crypto.symmetricDecrypt(encrypted, key, encodedMessage=True)
+        logger.info(decrypted)
+        self.assertTrue(True)
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/onionr/onionrutils.py b/onionr/onionrutils.py
index c82a39e2..1d0c370b 100644
--- a/onionr/onionrutils.py
+++ b/onionr/onionrutils.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
     along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 '''
 # Misc functions that do not fit in the main api, but are useful
-import getpass, sys, requests, os, socket, hashlib, logger, sqlite3, config
+import getpass, sys, requests, os, socket, hashlib, logger, sqlite3, config, binascii
 import nacl.signing, nacl.encoding
 
 if sys.version_info < (3, 6):
@@ -190,6 +190,8 @@ class OnionrUtils:
             nacl.signing.SigningKey(seed=key, encoder=nacl.encoding.Base32Encoder)
         except nacl.exceptions.ValueError:
             pass
+        except binascii.Error:
+            pass
         else:
             retVal = True
         return retVal