diff --git a/crates/core/src/client_events/combinator.rs b/crates/core/src/client_events/combinator.rs
index 145d4b858..f58a403dc 100644
--- a/crates/core/src/client_events/combinator.rs
+++ b/crates/core/src/client_events/combinator.rs
@@ -1,36 +1,33 @@
-use std::future::Future;
-use std::pin::Pin;
-use std::task::Context;
-use std::{collections::HashMap, task::Poll};
+use std::collections::HashMap;
 
 use freenet_stdlib::client_api::{ErrorKind, HostResponse};
 use futures::future::BoxFuture;
-use futures::task::AtomicWaker;
-use futures::FutureExt;
+use futures::stream::FuturesUnordered;
+use futures::{FutureExt, StreamExt};
 use tokio::sync::mpsc::{channel, Receiver, Sender};
 
 use super::{BoxedClient, ClientError, ClientId, HostResult, OpenRequest};
 
 type HostIncomingMsg = Result<OpenRequest<'static>, ClientError>;
 
+type ClientEventsFut =
+    BoxFuture<'static, (usize, Receiver<HostIncomingMsg>, Option<HostIncomingMsg>)>;
+
 /// This type allows combining different sources of events into one and interoperation between them.
 pub struct ClientEventsCombinator<const N: usize> {
+    pending_futs: FuturesUnordered<ClientEventsFut>,
     /// receiving end of the different client applications from the node
     clients: [Sender<(ClientId, HostResult)>; N],
-    /// receiving end of the host node from the different client applications
-    hosts_rx: [Receiver<HostIncomingMsg>; N],
     /// a map of the individual protocols, external, sending client events ids to an internal list of ids
     external_clients: [HashMap<ClientId, ClientId>; N],
     /// a map of the external id to which protocol it belongs (represented by the index in the array)
     /// and the original id (reverse of indexes)
     internal_clients: HashMap<ClientId, (usize, ClientId)>,
-    #[allow(clippy::type_complexity)]
-    pend_futs:
-        [Option<Pin<Box<dyn Future<Output = Option<HostIncomingMsg>> + Sync + Send + 'static>>>; N],
 }
 
 impl<const N: usize> ClientEventsCombinator<N> {
     pub fn new(clients: [BoxedClient; N]) -> Self {
+        let pending_futs = FuturesUnordered::new();
         let channels = clients.map(|client| {
             let (tx, rx) = channel(1);
             let (tx_host, rx_host) = channel(1);
@@ -43,49 +40,37 @@ impl<const N: usize> ClientEventsCombinator<N> {
             clients[i] = Some(tx);
             hosts_rx[i] = Some(rx_host);
         }
-        let hosts_rx = hosts_rx.map(|h| h.unwrap());
         let external_clients = [(); N].map(|_| HashMap::new());
+
+        for (i, rx) in hosts_rx.iter_mut().enumerate() {
+            let Some(mut rx) = rx.take() else {
+                continue;
+            };
+            pending_futs.push(
+                async move {
+                    let res = rx.recv().await;
+                    (i, rx, res)
+                }
+                .boxed(),
+            );
+        }
+
         Self {
             clients: clients.map(|c| c.unwrap()),
-            hosts_rx,
             external_clients,
             internal_clients: HashMap::new(),
-            pend_futs: [(); N].map(|_| None),
+            pending_futs,
         }
     }
 }
 
 impl<const N: usize> super::ClientEventsProxy for ClientEventsCombinator<N> {
-    fn recv<'a>(&'_ mut self) -> BoxFuture<'_, Result<OpenRequest<'static>, ClientError>> {
-        Box::pin(async {
-            let mut futs_opt = [(); N].map(|_| None);
-            let pend_futs = &mut self.pend_futs;
-            for (i, pend) in pend_futs.iter_mut().enumerate() {
-                let fut = &mut futs_opt[i];
-                if let Some(pend_fut) = pend.take() {
-                    *fut = Some(pend_fut);
-                } else {
-                    // this receiver ain't awaiting, queue a new one
-                    // SAFETY: is safe here to extend the lifetime since clients are required to be 'static
-                    //         and we take ownership, so they will be alive for the duration of the program
-                    let f = Box::pin(self.hosts_rx[i].recv())
-                        as Pin<Box<dyn Future<Output = _> + Send + Sync + '_>>;
+    fn recv(&mut self) -> BoxFuture<'_, Result<OpenRequest<'static>, ClientError>> {
+        async {
+            let Some((idx, mut rx, res)) = self.pending_futs.next().await else {
+                unreachable!();
+            };
 
-                    type ExtendedLife<'a, 'b> = Pin<
-                        Box<
-                            dyn Future<Output = Option<Result<OpenRequest<'a>, ClientError>>>
-                                + Send
-                                + Sync
-                                + 'b,
-                        >,
-                    >;
-                    let new_pend = unsafe {
-                        std::mem::transmute::<ExtendedLife<'_, '_>, ExtendedLife<'_, '_>>(f)
-                    };
-                    *fut = Some(new_pend);
-                }
-            }
-            let (res, idx, mut others) = select_all(futs_opt.map(|f| f.unwrap())).await;
             let res = res
                 .map(|res| {
                     match res {
@@ -95,19 +80,15 @@ impl<const N: usize> super::ClientEventsProxy for ClientEventsCombinator<N> {
                             notification_channel,
                             token,
                         }) => {
-                            tracing::debug!(
-                                "received request; internal_id={external}; req={request}"
-                            );
-                            let id =
-                                *self.external_clients[idx]
-                                    .entry(external)
-                                    .or_insert_with(|| {
-                                        // add a new mapped external client id
-                                        let internal = ClientId::next();
-                                        self.internal_clients.insert(internal, (idx, external));
-                                        internal
-                                    });
-
+                            let id = *self.external_clients[idx]
+                                .entry(external)
+                                .or_insert_with(|| {
+                                    // add a new mapped external client id
+                                    let internal = ClientId::next();
+                                    self.internal_clients.insert(internal, (idx, external));
+                                    internal
+                                });
+                            tracing::debug!("received request for proxy #{idx}; internal_id={id}; external_id={external}; req={request}");
                             Ok(OpenRequest {
                                 client_id: id,
                                 request,
@@ -119,15 +100,18 @@ impl<const N: usize> super::ClientEventsProxy for ClientEventsCombinator<N> {
                     }
                 })
                 .unwrap_or_else(|| Err(ErrorKind::TransportProtocolDisconnect.into()));
-            // place back futs
-            debug_assert!(pend_futs.iter().all(|f| f.is_none()));
-            debug_assert_eq!(
-                others.iter().filter(|a| a.is_some()).count(),
-                pend_futs.len() - 1
+
+            self.pending_futs.push(
+                async move {
+                    let res = rx.recv().await;
+                    (idx, rx, res)
+                }
+                .boxed(),
             );
-            std::mem::swap(pend_futs, &mut others);
+
             res
-        })
+        }
+        .boxed()
     }
 
     fn send<'a>(
@@ -135,7 +119,7 @@ impl<const N: usize> super::ClientEventsProxy for ClientEventsCombinator<N> {
         internal: ClientId,
         response: Result<HostResponse, ClientError>,
     ) -> BoxFuture<'_, Result<(), ClientError>> {
-        Box::pin(async move {
+        async move {
             let (idx, external) = self
                 .internal_clients
                 .get(&internal)
@@ -145,7 +129,8 @@ impl<const N: usize> super::ClientEventsProxy for ClientEventsCombinator<N> {
                 .await
                 .map_err(|_| ErrorKind::TransportProtocolDisconnect)?;
             Ok(())
-        })
+        }
+        .boxed()
     }
 }
 
@@ -159,6 +144,7 @@ async fn client_fn(
             host_msg = rx.recv() => {
                 if let Some((client_id, response)) = host_msg {
                     if client.send(client_id, response).await.is_err() {
+                        eprintln!("disconnected host");
                         break;
                     }
                 } else {
@@ -189,62 +175,10 @@ async fn client_fn(
     tracing::error!("Client shut down");
 }
 
-/// An optimized for the use case version of `futures::select_all` which keeps ordering.
-#[must_use = "futures do nothing unless you `.await` or poll them"]
-struct SelectAll<Fut, const N: usize> {
-    waker: AtomicWaker,
-    inner: [Option<Fut>; N],
-}
-
-impl<Fut: Unpin, const N: usize> Unpin for SelectAll<Fut, N> {}
-
-impl<Fut: Future + Unpin, const N: usize> Future for SelectAll<Fut, N> {
-    type Output = (Fut::Output, usize, [Option<Fut>; N]);
-
-    fn poll(mut self: Pin<&mut Self>, cx: &mut Context<'_>) -> Poll<Self::Output> {
-        macro_rules! recv {
-            () => {
-                let item = self
-                    .inner
-                    .iter_mut()
-                    .enumerate()
-                    .find_map(|(i, f)| {
-                        f.as_mut().map(|f| match f.poll_unpin(cx) {
-                            Poll::Pending => None,
-                            Poll::Ready(e) => Some((i, e)),
-                        })
-                    })
-                    .flatten();
-                match item {
-                    Some((idx, res)) => {
-                        self.inner[idx] = None;
-                        let rest = std::mem::replace(&mut self.inner, [(); N].map(|_| None));
-                        return Poll::Ready((res, idx, rest));
-                    }
-                    None => {}
-                }
-            };
-        }
-        recv!();
-        self.waker.register(cx.waker());
-        recv!();
-        Poll::Pending
-    }
-}
-
-fn select_all<F, const N: usize>(iter: [F; N]) -> SelectAll<F, N>
-where
-    F: Future + Unpin,
-{
-    SelectAll {
-        waker: AtomicWaker::new(),
-        inner: iter.map(|f| Some(f)),
-    }
-}
-
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod test {
     use freenet_stdlib::client_api::ClientRequest;
+    use futures::try_join;
 
     use super::*;
     use crate::client_events::ClientEventsProxy;
@@ -252,11 +186,12 @@ mod test {
     struct SampleProxy {
         id: usize,
         rx: Receiver<usize>,
+        tx: Sender<usize>,
     }
 
     impl SampleProxy {
-        fn new(id: usize, rx: Receiver<usize>) -> Self {
-            Self { id, rx }
+        fn new(id: usize, rx: Receiver<usize>, tx: Sender<usize>) -> Self {
+            Self { id, rx, tx }
         }
     }
 
@@ -279,41 +214,105 @@ mod test {
 
         fn send(
             &mut self,
-            _id: ClientId,
+            id: ClientId,
             _response: Result<HostResponse, ClientError>,
         ) -> BoxFuture<'_, Result<(), ClientError>> {
-            todo!()
+            assert_eq!(id.0, self.id);
+            async {
+                self.tx
+                    .send(self.id)
+                    .await
+                    .map_err(|_| ErrorKind::ChannelClosed.into())
+            }
+            .boxed()
         }
     }
 
-    #[ignore]
-    #[tokio::test]
-    async fn combinator_recv() {
+    fn setup_proxies() -> ([BoxedClient; 3], Vec<Sender<usize>>, Vec<Receiver<usize>>) {
         let mut cnt = 0;
         let mut senders = vec![];
-        let proxies = [None::<()>; 3].map(|_| {
-            let (tx, rx) = channel(1);
-            senders.push(tx);
-            let r = Box::new(SampleProxy::new(cnt, rx)) as _;
+        let mut receivers = vec![];
+        let clients = [None::<()>; 3].map(|_| {
+            let (tx1, rx1) = channel(1);
+            let (tx2, rx2) = channel(1);
+            let r = Box::new(SampleProxy::new(cnt, rx1, tx2)) as _;
+            senders.push(tx1);
+            receivers.push(rx2);
             cnt += 1;
             r
         });
+        (clients, senders, receivers)
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn combinator_recv() {
+        let (proxies, mut senders, _) = setup_proxies();
         let mut combinator = ClientEventsCombinator::new(proxies);
 
-        let _senders = tokio::task::spawn(async move {
-            for (id, tx) in senders.iter_mut().enumerate() {
-                tx.send(id).await.unwrap();
-                eprintln!("sent msg {id}");
+        let _senders: Vec<Sender<usize>> = tokio::task::spawn(async move {
+            for _ in 1..4 {
+                for (id, tx) in senders.iter_mut().enumerate() {
+                    tx.send(id).await.unwrap();
+                    tokio::time::sleep(tokio::time::Duration::from_millis(10)).await;
+                    eprintln!("sent msg {id}");
+                }
             }
             senders
         })
         .await
         .unwrap();
 
-        for i in 0..3 {
-            let OpenRequest { client_id: id, .. } = combinator.recv().await.unwrap();
-            eprintln!("received: {id:?}");
-            assert_eq!(ClientId::new(i), id);
+        for _ in 0..3 {
+            for i in 1..4 {
+                let OpenRequest { client_id: id, .. } = combinator.recv().await.unwrap();
+                eprintln!("received {i}: {id:?}");
+                assert_eq!(ClientId::new(i), id);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[ignore]
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_send() {
+        let (proxies, _, mut receivers) = setup_proxies();
+        let mut combinator = ClientEventsCombinator::new(proxies);
+
+        for idx in 0..3 {
+            let client_id = ClientId::new(idx);
+            // Insert each client ID mapping into the combinator's internal clients.
+            combinator
+                .internal_clients
+                .insert(client_id, (idx, client_id));
         }
+
+        let receivers = async move {
+            // Test sending a response through the combinator for each proxy.
+            for (idx, receiver) in receivers.iter_mut().enumerate() {
+                // Assert that the receiver received the expected message.
+                let received_id = receiver
+                    .recv()
+                    .await
+                    .ok_or(format!("missing {idx} sender"))?;
+                assert_eq!(received_id, idx);
+                println!(
+                    "Receiver {} confirmed send for client ID: {}",
+                    idx, received_id
+                );
+            }
+            Ok::<_, Box<dyn std::error::Error>>(())
+        };
+
+        let senders = async {
+            for idx in 0..3 {
+                // Send a sample response through the combinator.
+                combinator
+                    .send(ClientId::new(idx), Ok(HostResponse::Ok))
+                    .await
+                    .map_err(|err| format!("Send failed for client {idx}: {err}",))?;
+            }
+            Ok::<_, Box<dyn std::error::Error>>(())
+        };
+
+        try_join!(senders, receivers).unwrap();
     }
 }