diff --git a/connection.go b/connection.go
index d8efdf5..6e64e2d 100644
--- a/connection.go
+++ b/connection.go
@@ -75,8 +75,12 @@ type SQCloud struct {
 	ErrorMessage string
 }
 
-const CompressModeNo = "NO"
-const CompressModeLZ4 = "LZ4"
+const SQLiteDefaultPort = 8860
+
+const (
+	CompressModeNo  = "NO"
+	CompressModeLZ4 = "LZ4"
+)
 
 const SQLiteCloudCA = "SQLiteCloudCA"
 
@@ -108,7 +112,7 @@ func ParseConnectionString(ConnectionString string) (config *SQCloudConfig, err
 		config = &SQCloudConfig{}
 
 		config.Host = u.Hostname()
-		config.Port = 0
+		config.Port = SQLiteDefaultPort
 		config.Username = u.User.Username()
 		config.Password, _ = u.User.Password()
 		config.Database = strings.TrimPrefix(u.Path, "/")
@@ -243,74 +247,10 @@ func (this *SQCloud) CheckConnectionParameter() error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("Invalid hostname (%s)", this.Host)
 	}
 
-	// ip := net.ParseIP(this.Host)
-	// if ip == nil {
-	// 	if _, err := net.LookupHost(this.Host); err != nil {
-	// 		return errors.New(fmt.Sprintf("Can't resolve hostname (%s)", this.Host))
-	// 	}
-	// }
-
-	if this.Port == 0 {
-		this.Port = 8860
-	}
-	if this.Port < 1 || this.Port >= 0xFFFF {
-		return errors.New(fmt.Sprintf("Invalid Port (%d)", this.Port))
-	}
-
-	// if this.Timeout == 0 {
-	// 	this.Timeout = 10 * time.Second
-	// }
 	if this.Timeout < 0 {
 		return errors.New(fmt.Sprintf("Invalid Timeout (%s)", this.Timeout.String()))
 	}
 
-	switch this.CompressMode {
-	case CompressModeNo, CompressModeLZ4:
-	default:
-		return errors.New(fmt.Sprintf("Invalid compression method (%s)", this.CompressMode))
-	}
-
-	if this.Secure {
-		var pool *x509.CertPool = nil
-		pem := []byte{}
-
-		switch _, _, trimmed := ParseTlsString(this.Pem); trimmed {
-		case "":
-			break
-		case SQLiteCloudCA:
-			pem = []byte(sqliteCloudCAPEM)
-		default:
-			// check if it is a filepath
-			_, err := os.Stat(trimmed)
-			if os.IsNotExist(err) {
-				// not a filepath, use the string as a pem string
-				pem = []byte(trimmed)
-			} else {
-				// its a file, read its content into the pem string
-				switch bytes, err := os.ReadFile(trimmed); {
-				case err != nil:
-					return errors.New(fmt.Sprintf("Could not open PEM file in '%s'", trimmed))
-				default:
-					pem = bytes
-				}
-			}
-		}
-
-		if len(pem) > 0 {
-			pool = x509.NewCertPool()
-
-			if !pool.AppendCertsFromPEM(pem) {
-				return errors.New(fmt.Sprintf("Could not append certs from PEM"))
-			}
-		}
-
-		this.cert = &tls.Config{
-			RootCAs:            pool,
-			InsecureSkipVerify: this.TlsInsecureSkipVerify,
-			MinVersion:         tls.VersionTLS12,
-		}
-	}
-
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -353,12 +293,11 @@ func Connect(ConnectionString string) (*SQCloud, error) {
 func (this *SQCloud) Connect() error {
 	this.reset() // also closes an open connection
 
-	switch err := this.CheckConnectionParameter(); {
-	case err != nil:
+	if err := this.CheckConnectionParameter(); err != nil {
 		return err
-	default:
-		return this.reconnect()
 	}
+
+	return this.reconnect()
 }
 
 // reconnect closes and then reopens a connection to the SQLite Cloud database server.
@@ -369,6 +308,14 @@ func (this *SQCloud) reconnect() error {
 
 	this.resetError()
 
+	if this.Secure {
+		cert, err := getTlsConfig(&this.SQCloudConfig)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		this.cert = cert
+	}
+
 	var dialer = net.Dialer{}
 	dialer.Timeout = this.Timeout
 	dialer.DualStack = true
@@ -437,6 +384,47 @@ func (this *SQCloud) Close() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func getTlsConfig(config *SQCloudConfig) (*tls.Config, error) {
+	var pool *x509.CertPool = nil
+	pem := []byte{}
+
+	switch _, _, trimmed := ParseTlsString(config.Pem); trimmed {
+	case "":
+		break
+	case SQLiteCloudCA:
+		pem = []byte(sqliteCloudCAPEM)
+	default:
+		// check if it is a filepath
+		_, err := os.Stat(trimmed)
+		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			// not a filepath, use the string as a pem string
+			pem = []byte(trimmed)
+		} else {
+			// its a file, read its content into the pem string
+			switch bytes, err := os.ReadFile(trimmed); {
+			case err != nil:
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not open PEM file in '%s'", trimmed)
+			default:
+				pem = bytes
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	if len(pem) > 0 {
+		pool = x509.NewCertPool()
+
+		if !pool.AppendCertsFromPEM(pem) {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not append certs from PEM")
+		}
+	}
+
+	return &tls.Config{
+		RootCAs:            pool,
+		InsecureSkipVerify: config.TlsInsecureSkipVerify,
+		MinVersion:         tls.VersionTLS12,
+	}, nil
+}
+
 func connectionCommands(config SQCloudConfig) (string, []interface{}) {
 	buffer := ""
 	args := []interface{}{}
diff --git a/test/compress_test.go b/test/compress_test.go
index 44922f4..40d377d 100644
--- a/test/compress_test.go
+++ b/test/compress_test.go
@@ -28,8 +28,6 @@ import (
 )
 
 const testDbnameCompress = "test-gosdk-compress-db.sqlite"
-const testCompressKey = "compress"
-const testCompressValue = "LZ4"
 
 func TestCompress(t *testing.T) {
 	connectionString, _ := os.LookupEnv("SQLITE_CONNECTION_STRING")
@@ -38,7 +36,7 @@ func TestCompress(t *testing.T) {
 
 	url, err := url.Parse(connectionString)
 	values := url.Query()
-	values.Add(testCompressKey, testCompressValue)
+	values.Add("compress", sqlitecloud.CompressModeLZ4)
 	url.RawQuery = values.Encode()
 
 	connstring := url.String()