diff --git a/src/connections/handlers.rs b/src/connections/handlers.rs
index ca5a2c3..494eb80 100644
--- a/src/connections/handlers.rs
+++ b/src/connections/handlers.rs
@@ -1,14 +1,12 @@
-use std::sync::Arc;
-
 use crate::errors_internal::{Error, InternalChannelError, InternalStreamError};
 use crate::protobufs;
 use crate::types::EncodedToRadioPacketWithHeader;
+use crate::utils::format_data_packet;
 use log::{debug, error, trace};
 use prost::Message;
 use tokio::io::{AsyncReadExt, AsyncWriteExt};
 use tokio::spawn;
 use tokio::sync::mpsc::{UnboundedReceiver, UnboundedSender};
-use tokio::sync::Mutex;
 use tokio::task::JoinHandle;
 use tokio_util::sync::CancellationToken;
 
@@ -90,7 +88,7 @@ where
 
 pub fn spawn_write_handler<W>(
     cancellation_token: CancellationToken,
-    write_stream: Arc<Mutex<W>>,
+    write_stream: W,
     write_input_rx: tokio::sync::mpsc::UnboundedReceiver<EncodedToRadioPacketWithHeader>,
 ) -> JoinHandle<Result<(), Error>>
 where
@@ -116,7 +114,7 @@ where
 
 async fn start_write_handler<W>(
     _cancellation_token: CancellationToken,
-    write_stream: Arc<Mutex<W>>,
+    mut write_stream: W,
     mut write_input_rx: tokio::sync::mpsc::UnboundedReceiver<EncodedToRadioPacketWithHeader>,
 ) -> Result<(), Error>
 where
@@ -127,8 +125,6 @@ where
     while let Some(message) = write_input_rx.recv().await {
         trace!("Writing packet data: {:?}", message);
 
-        let mut write_stream = write_stream.lock().await;
-
         if let Err(e) = write_stream.write(message.data()).await {
             error!("Error writing to stream: {:?}", e);
             return Err(Error::InternalStreamError(
@@ -181,14 +177,11 @@ async fn start_processing_handler(
     trace!("Processing read_output_rx channel closed");
 }
 
-pub fn spawn_heartbeat_handler<W>(
+pub fn spawn_heartbeat_handler(
     cancellation_token: CancellationToken,
-    write_stream: Arc<Mutex<W>>,
-) -> JoinHandle<Result<(), Error>>
-where
-    W: AsyncWriteExt + Send + Unpin + 'static,
-{
-    let handle = start_heartbeat_handler(cancellation_token.clone(), write_stream);
+    write_input_tx: UnboundedSender<EncodedToRadioPacketWithHeader>,
+) -> JoinHandle<Result<(), Error>> {
+    let handle = start_heartbeat_handler(cancellation_token.clone(), write_input_tx);
 
     spawn(async move {
         tokio::select! {
@@ -206,21 +199,20 @@ where
     })
 }
 
-async fn start_heartbeat_handler<W>(
+async fn start_heartbeat_handler(
     _cancellation_token: CancellationToken,
-    write_stream: Arc<Mutex<W>>,
-) -> Result<(), Error>
-where
-    W: AsyncWriteExt + Send + Unpin + 'static,
-{
+    write_input_tx: UnboundedSender<EncodedToRadioPacketWithHeader>,
+) -> Result<(), Error> {
     debug!("Started heartbeat handler");
 
     loop {
         tokio::time::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_secs(CLIENT_HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL)).await;
 
-        let mut write_stream = write_stream.lock().await;
-
-        let heartbeat_packet = protobufs::Heartbeat::default();
+        let heartbeat_packet = protobufs::ToRadio {
+            payload_variant: Some(protobufs::to_radio::PayloadVariant::Heartbeat(
+                protobufs::Heartbeat::default(),
+            )),
+        };
 
         let mut buffer = Vec::new();
         match heartbeat_packet.encode(&mut buffer) {
@@ -231,7 +223,17 @@ where
             }
         };
 
-        if let Err(e) = write_stream.write(&buffer).await {
+        let packet_with_header = match format_data_packet(buffer.into()) {
+            Ok(p) => p,
+            Err(e) => {
+                error!("Error formatting heartbeat packet: {:?}", e);
+                continue;
+            }
+        };
+
+        trace!("Sending heartbeat packet");
+
+        if let Err(e) = write_input_tx.send(packet_with_header) {
             error!("Error writing heartbeat packet to stream: {:?}", e);
             return Err(Error::InternalStreamError(
                 InternalStreamError::StreamWriteError {
diff --git a/src/connections/stream_api.rs b/src/connections/stream_api.rs
index 8f84481..6a5f79c 100644
--- a/src/connections/stream_api.rs
+++ b/src/connections/stream_api.rs
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 use futures_util::future::join3;
 use log::trace;
 use prost::Message;
-use std::{fmt::Display, marker::PhantomData, sync::Arc};
+use std::{fmt::Display, marker::PhantomData};
 use tokio::{
     io::{AsyncReadExt, AsyncWriteExt},
-    sync::{mpsc::UnboundedSender, Mutex},
+    sync::mpsc::UnboundedSender,
     task::JoinHandle,
 };
 use tokio_util::sync::CancellationToken;
@@ -438,16 +438,11 @@ impl StreamApi {
         let (read_stream, write_stream) = tokio::io::split(stream_handle.stream);
         let cancellation_token = CancellationToken::new();
 
-        let write_stream_mutex = Arc::new(Mutex::new(write_stream));
-
         let read_handle =
             handlers::spawn_read_handler(cancellation_token.clone(), read_stream, read_output_tx);
 
-        let write_handle = handlers::spawn_write_handler(
-            cancellation_token.clone(),
-            write_stream_mutex.clone(),
-            write_input_rx,
-        );
+        let write_handle =
+            handlers::spawn_write_handler(cancellation_token.clone(), write_stream, write_input_rx);
 
         let processing_handle = handlers::spawn_processing_handler(
             cancellation_token.clone(),
@@ -456,7 +451,7 @@ impl StreamApi {
         );
 
         let heartbeat_handle =
-            handlers::spawn_heartbeat_handler(cancellation_token.clone(), write_stream_mutex);
+            handlers::spawn_heartbeat_handler(cancellation_token.clone(), write_input_tx.clone());
 
         // Persist channels and kill switch to struct
 
diff --git a/src/protobufs b/src/protobufs
index 6942175..b2b145e 160000
--- a/src/protobufs
+++ b/src/protobufs
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 69421753948f2cb0e3eedabaef3a3ca9a286ce77
+Subproject commit b2b145e3321beab1441fa59290137ab42eb38dc8