diff --git a/integration/helpers.go b/integration/helpers.go
index 5e8cb144372..8ec0c9c73b6 100644
--- a/integration/helpers.go
+++ b/integration/helpers.go
@@ -66,7 +66,8 @@ import (
 // SetTestTimeouts affects global timeouts inside Teleport, making connections
 // work faster but consuming more CPU (useful for integration testing)
 func SetTestTimeouts(t time.Duration) {
-	defaults.ReverseTunnelAgentHeartbeatPeriod = t
+	defaults.KeepAliveInterval = t
+	defaults.ResyncInterval = t
 	defaults.ServerKeepAliveTTL = t
 	defaults.SessionRefreshPeriod = t
 	defaults.HeartbeatCheckPeriod = t
diff --git a/lib/auth/clt.go b/lib/auth/clt.go
index 14f704d5a46..a4b2391ec47 100644
--- a/lib/auth/clt.go
+++ b/lib/auth/clt.go
@@ -133,10 +133,10 @@ func DecodeClusterName(serverName string) (string, error) {
 }
 
 // NewAddrDialer returns new dialer from a list of addresses
-func NewAddrDialer(addrs []utils.NetAddr) ContextDialer {
+func NewAddrDialer(addrs []utils.NetAddr, keepAliveInterval time.Duration) ContextDialer {
 	dialer := net.Dialer{
 		Timeout:   defaults.DefaultDialTimeout,
-		KeepAlive: defaults.ReverseTunnelAgentHeartbeatPeriod,
+		KeepAlive: keepAliveInterval,
 	}
 	return ContextDialerFunc(func(in context.Context, network, _ string) (net.Conn, error) {
 		var err error
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ func (c *ClientConfig) CheckAndSetDefaults() error {
 		c.KeepAliveCount = defaults.KeepAliveCountMax
 	}
 	if c.Dialer == nil {
-		c.Dialer = NewAddrDialer(c.Addrs)
+		c.Dialer = NewAddrDialer(c.Addrs, c.KeepAlivePeriod)
 	}
 	if c.TLS.ServerName == "" {
 		c.TLS.ServerName = teleport.APIDomain
diff --git a/lib/auth/trustedcluster.go b/lib/auth/trustedcluster.go
index 59acff61cd7..b73899f4d55 100644
--- a/lib/auth/trustedcluster.go
+++ b/lib/auth/trustedcluster.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	"net/url"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/gravitational/teleport"
 	"github.com/gravitational/teleport/lib"
@@ -339,6 +340,13 @@ func (a *AuthServer) GetRemoteCluster(clusterName string) (services.RemoteCluste
 }
 
 func (a *AuthServer) updateRemoteClusterStatus(remoteCluster services.RemoteCluster) error {
+	clusterConfig, err := a.GetClusterConfig()
+	if err != nil {
+		return trace.Wrap(err)
+	}
+	keepAliveCountMax := clusterConfig.GetKeepAliveCountMax()
+	keepAliveInterval := clusterConfig.GetKeepAliveInterval()
+
 	// fetch tunnel connections for the cluster to update runtime status
 	connections, err := a.GetTunnelConnections(remoteCluster.GetName())
 	if err != nil {
@@ -347,7 +355,9 @@ func (a *AuthServer) updateRemoteClusterStatus(remoteCluster services.RemoteClus
 	remoteCluster.SetConnectionStatus(teleport.RemoteClusterStatusOffline)
 	lastConn, err := services.LatestTunnelConnection(connections)
 	if err == nil {
-		remoteCluster.SetConnectionStatus(services.TunnelConnectionStatus(a.clock, lastConn))
+		offlineThreshold := time.Duration(keepAliveCountMax) * keepAliveInterval
+		tunnelStatus := services.TunnelConnectionStatus(a.clock, lastConn, offlineThreshold)
+		remoteCluster.SetConnectionStatus(tunnelStatus)
 		remoteCluster.SetLastHeartbeat(lastConn.GetLastHeartbeat())
 	}
 	return nil
diff --git a/lib/defaults/defaults.go b/lib/defaults/defaults.go
index 243ad6fc4cd..487635fb69e 100644
--- a/lib/defaults/defaults.go
+++ b/lib/defaults/defaults.go
@@ -233,12 +233,8 @@ const (
 )
 
 var (
-	// ReverseTunnelAgentHeartbeatPeriod is the period between agent heartbeat messages
-	ReverseTunnelAgentHeartbeatPeriod = 5 * time.Second
-
-	// ReverseTunnelOfflineThreshold is the threshold of missed heartbeats
-	// after which we are going to declare the reverse tunnel offline
-	ReverseTunnelOfflineThreshold = 5 * ReverseTunnelAgentHeartbeatPeriod
+	// ResyncInterval is how often tunnels are resynced.
+	ResyncInterval = 5 * time.Second
 
 	// ServerAnnounceTTL is a period between heartbeats
 	// Median sleep time between node pings is this value / 2 + random
diff --git a/lib/reversetunnel/agentpool.go b/lib/reversetunnel/agentpool.go
index 05009b4a95d..b6cbd3b63b4 100644
--- a/lib/reversetunnel/agentpool.go
+++ b/lib/reversetunnel/agentpool.go
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ func (m *AgentPool) Wait() error {
 }
 
 func (m *AgentPool) processDiscoveryRequests() {
-	ticker := time.NewTicker(defaults.ReverseTunnelAgentHeartbeatPeriod)
+	ticker := time.NewTicker(defaults.ResyncInterval)
 	defer ticker.Stop()
 
 	for {
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ func (m *AgentPool) closeAgents(matchKey *agentKey) {
 }
 
 func (m *AgentPool) pollAndSyncAgents() {
-	ticker := time.NewTicker(defaults.ReverseTunnelAgentHeartbeatPeriod)
+	ticker := time.NewTicker(defaults.ResyncInterval)
 	defer ticker.Stop()
 	m.FetchAndSyncAgents()
 	for {
diff --git a/lib/reversetunnel/conn.go b/lib/reversetunnel/conn.go
index dd7da025857..080c7a6558c 100644
--- a/lib/reversetunnel/conn.go
+++ b/lib/reversetunnel/conn.go
@@ -95,6 +95,10 @@ type connConfig struct {
 	// nodeID is used when tunnelType is node and is set
 	// to the node UUID dialing back
 	nodeID string
+
+	// offlineThreshold is how long to wait for a keep alive message before
+	// marking a reverse tunnel connection as invalid.
+	offlineThreshold time.Duration
 }
 
 func newRemoteConn(cfg *connConfig) *remoteConn {
@@ -252,5 +256,6 @@ func (c *remoteConn) sendDiscoveryRequest(req discoveryRequest) error {
 }
 
 func (c *remoteConn) isOnline(conn services.TunnelConnection) bool {
-	return services.TunnelConnectionStatus(c.clock, conn) == teleport.RemoteClusterStatusOnline
+	tunnelStatus := services.TunnelConnectionStatus(c.clock, conn, c.offlineThreshold)
+	return tunnelStatus == teleport.RemoteClusterStatusOnline
 }
diff --git a/lib/reversetunnel/localsite.go b/lib/reversetunnel/localsite.go
index 9c0706c4c8d..0bf562117da 100644
--- a/lib/reversetunnel/localsite.go
+++ b/lib/reversetunnel/localsite.go
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ func newlocalSite(srv *server, domainName string, client auth.ClientI) (*localSi
 				"cluster": domainName,
 			},
 		}),
+		offlineThreshold: srv.offlineThreshold,
 	}, nil
 }
 
@@ -100,6 +101,10 @@ type localSite struct {
 
 	// clock is used to control time in tests.
 	clock clockwork.Clock
+
+	// offlineThreshold is how long to wait for a keep alive message before
+	// marking a reverse tunnel connection as invalid.
+	offlineThreshold time.Duration
 }
 
 // GetTunnelsCount always the number of tunnel connections to this cluster.
@@ -268,13 +273,14 @@ func (s *localSite) addConn(nodeID string, conn net.Conn, sconn ssh.Conn) (*remo
 	defer s.Unlock()
 
 	rconn := newRemoteConn(&connConfig{
-		conn:        conn,
-		sconn:       sconn,
-		accessPoint: s.accessPoint,
-		tunnelType:  string(services.NodeTunnel),
-		proxyName:   s.srv.ID,
-		clusterName: s.domainName,
-		nodeID:      nodeID,
+		conn:             conn,
+		sconn:            sconn,
+		accessPoint:      s.accessPoint,
+		tunnelType:       string(services.NodeTunnel),
+		proxyName:        s.srv.ID,
+		clusterName:      s.domainName,
+		nodeID:           nodeID,
+		offlineThreshold: s.offlineThreshold,
 	})
 	s.remoteConns[nodeID] = rconn
 
@@ -349,10 +355,9 @@ func (s *localSite) handleHeartbeat(rconn *remoteConn, ch ssh.Channel, reqC <-ch
 			}
 			tm := time.Now().UTC()
 			rconn.setLastHeartbeat(tm)
-		// Since we block on select, time.After is re-created everytime we process
-		// a request.
-		case <-time.After(defaults.ReverseTunnelOfflineThreshold):
-			rconn.markInvalid(trace.ConnectionProblem(nil, "no heartbeats for %v", defaults.ReverseTunnelOfflineThreshold))
+		// Note that time.After is re-created everytime a request is processed.
+		case <-time.After(s.offlineThreshold):
+			rconn.markInvalid(trace.ConnectionProblem(nil, "no heartbeats for %v", s.offlineThreshold))
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/lib/reversetunnel/peer.go b/lib/reversetunnel/peer.go
index 5488e7941db..79cf312e3b0 100644
--- a/lib/reversetunnel/peer.go
+++ b/lib/reversetunnel/peer.go
@@ -23,10 +23,10 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/gravitational/teleport"
 	"github.com/gravitational/teleport/lib/auth"
-	"github.com/gravitational/teleport/lib/defaults"
 	"github.com/gravitational/teleport/lib/services"
 
 	"github.com/gravitational/trace"
+	"github.com/jonboulle/clockwork"
 	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ func (p *clusterPeers) DialTCP(params DialParams) (conn net.Conn, err error) {
 }
 
 // newClusterPeer returns new cluster peer
-func newClusterPeer(srv *server, connInfo services.TunnelConnection) (*clusterPeer, error) {
+func newClusterPeer(srv *server, connInfo services.TunnelConnection, offlineThreshold time.Duration) (*clusterPeer, error) {
 	clusterPeer := &clusterPeer{
 		srv:      srv,
 		connInfo: connInfo,
@@ -143,6 +143,8 @@ func newClusterPeer(srv *server, connInfo services.TunnelConnection) (*clusterPe
 				"cluster": connInfo.GetClusterName(),
 			},
 		}),
+		clock:            clockwork.NewRealClock(),
+		offlineThreshold: offlineThreshold,
 	}
 
 	return clusterPeer, nil
@@ -154,6 +156,13 @@ type clusterPeer struct {
 	log      *log.Entry
 	connInfo services.TunnelConnection
 	srv      *server
+
+	// clock is used to control time in tests.
+	clock clockwork.Clock
+
+	// offlineThreshold is how long to wait for a keep alive message before
+	// marking a reverse tunnel connection as invalid.
+	offlineThreshold time.Duration
 }
 
 func (s *clusterPeer) CachingAccessPoint() (auth.AccessPoint, error) {
@@ -169,11 +178,7 @@ func (s *clusterPeer) String() string {
 }
 
 func (s *clusterPeer) GetStatus() string {
-	diff := time.Now().Sub(s.connInfo.GetLastHeartbeat())
-	if diff > defaults.ReverseTunnelOfflineThreshold {
-		return teleport.RemoteClusterStatusOffline
-	}
-	return teleport.RemoteClusterStatusOnline
+	return services.TunnelConnectionStatus(s.clock, s.connInfo, s.offlineThreshold)
 }
 
 func (s *clusterPeer) GetName() string {
diff --git a/lib/reversetunnel/remotesite.go b/lib/reversetunnel/remotesite.go
index 370aa842793..a604ff6cd2c 100644
--- a/lib/reversetunnel/remotesite.go
+++ b/lib/reversetunnel/remotesite.go
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/gravitational/teleport"
 	"github.com/gravitational/teleport/lib/auth"
-	"github.com/gravitational/teleport/lib/defaults"
 	"github.com/gravitational/teleport/lib/services"
 	"github.com/gravitational/teleport/lib/srv/forward"
 	"github.com/gravitational/trace"
@@ -78,6 +77,10 @@ type remoteSite struct {
 	// state has been changed, the tunnel will reconnect to re-create the client
 	// with new settings.
 	remoteCA services.CertAuthority
+
+	// offlineThreshold is how long to wait for a keep alive message before
+	// marking a reverse tunnel connection as invalid.
+	offlineThreshold time.Duration
 }
 
 func (s *remoteSite) getRemoteClient() (auth.ClientI, bool, error) {
@@ -227,12 +230,13 @@ func (s *remoteSite) addConn(conn net.Conn, sconn ssh.Conn) (*remoteConn, error)
 	defer s.Unlock()
 
 	rconn := newRemoteConn(&connConfig{
-		conn:        conn,
-		sconn:       sconn,
-		accessPoint: s.localAccessPoint,
-		tunnelType:  string(services.ProxyTunnel),
-		proxyName:   s.connInfo.GetProxyName(),
-		clusterName: s.domainName,
+		conn:             conn,
+		sconn:            sconn,
+		accessPoint:      s.localAccessPoint,
+		tunnelType:       string(services.ProxyTunnel),
+		proxyName:        s.connInfo.GetProxyName(),
+		clusterName:      s.domainName,
+		offlineThreshold: s.offlineThreshold,
 	})
 
 	s.connections = append(s.connections, rconn)
@@ -245,7 +249,7 @@ func (s *remoteSite) GetStatus() string {
 	if err != nil {
 		return teleport.RemoteClusterStatusOffline
 	}
-	return services.TunnelConnectionStatus(s.clock, connInfo)
+	return services.TunnelConnectionStatus(s.clock, connInfo, s.offlineThreshold)
 }
 
 func (s *remoteSite) copyConnInfo() services.TunnelConnection {
@@ -272,7 +276,7 @@ func (s *remoteSite) getLastConnInfo() (services.TunnelConnection, error) {
 func (s *remoteSite) registerHeartbeat(t time.Time) {
 	connInfo := s.copyConnInfo()
 	connInfo.SetLastHeartbeat(t)
-	connInfo.SetExpiry(s.clock.Now().Add(defaults.ReverseTunnelOfflineThreshold))
+	connInfo.SetExpiry(s.clock.Now().Add(s.offlineThreshold))
 	s.setLastConnInfo(connInfo)
 	err := s.localAccessPoint.UpsertTunnelConnection(connInfo)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -307,6 +311,7 @@ func (s *remoteSite) handleHeartbeat(conn *remoteConn, ch ssh.Channel, reqC <-ch
 		s.Infof("Cluster connection closed.")
 		conn.Close()
 	}()
+
 	firstHeartbeat := true
 	for {
 		select {
@@ -358,9 +363,9 @@ func (s *remoteSite) handleHeartbeat(conn *remoteConn, ch ssh.Channel, reqC <-ch
 			tm := time.Now().UTC()
 			conn.setLastHeartbeat(tm)
 			go s.registerHeartbeat(tm)
-		// since we block on select, time.After is re-created everytime we process a request.
-		case <-time.After(defaults.ReverseTunnelOfflineThreshold):
-			conn.markInvalid(trace.ConnectionProblem(nil, "no heartbeats for %v", defaults.ReverseTunnelOfflineThreshold))
+		// Note that time.After is re-created everytime a request is processed.
+		case <-time.After(s.offlineThreshold):
+			conn.markInvalid(trace.ConnectionProblem(nil, "no heartbeats for %v", s.offlineThreshold))
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/lib/reversetunnel/srv.go b/lib/reversetunnel/srv.go
index c406f8ef806..4238649c5b2 100644
--- a/lib/reversetunnel/srv.go
+++ b/lib/reversetunnel/srv.go
@@ -107,6 +107,10 @@ type server struct {
 	// proxyWatcher monitors changes to the proxies
 	// and broadcasts updates
 	proxyWatcher *services.ProxyWatcher
+
+	// offlineThreshold is how long to wait for a keep alive message before
+	// marking a reverse tunnel connection as invalid.
+	offlineThreshold time.Duration
 }
 
 // DirectCluster is used to access cluster directly
@@ -222,6 +226,12 @@ func NewServer(cfg Config) (Server, error) {
 		return nil, trace.Wrap(err)
 	}
 
+	clusterConfig, err := cfg.LocalAccessPoint.GetClusterConfig()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, trace.Wrap(err)
+	}
+	offlineThreshold := time.Duration(clusterConfig.GetKeepAliveCountMax()) * clusterConfig.GetKeepAliveInterval()
+
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(cfg.Context)
 
 	entry := log.WithFields(log.Fields{
@@ -252,6 +262,7 @@ func NewServer(cfg Config) (Server, error) {
 		proxyWatcher:     proxyWatcher,
 		clusterPeers:     make(map[string]*clusterPeers),
 		Entry:            entry,
+		offlineThreshold: offlineThreshold,
 	}
 
 	for _, clusterInfo := range cfg.DirectClusters {
@@ -321,7 +332,7 @@ func (s *server) disconnectClusters() error {
 }
 
 func (s *server) periodicFunctions() {
-	ticker := time.NewTicker(defaults.ReverseTunnelAgentHeartbeatPeriod)
+	ticker := time.NewTicker(defaults.ResyncInterval)
 	defer ticker.Stop()
 
 	if err := s.fetchClusterPeers(); err != nil {
@@ -402,7 +413,7 @@ func (s *server) reportClusterStats() error {
 func (s *server) addClusterPeers(conns map[string]services.TunnelConnection) error {
 	for key := range conns {
 		connInfo := conns[key]
-		peer, err := newClusterPeer(s, connInfo)
+		peer, err := newClusterPeer(s, connInfo, s.offlineThreshold)
 		if err != nil {
 			return trace.Wrap(err)
 		}
@@ -513,7 +524,7 @@ func (s *server) Shutdown(ctx context.Context) error {
 func (s *server) HandleNewChan(conn net.Conn, sconn *ssh.ServerConn, nch ssh.NewChannel) {
 	// Apply read/write timeouts to the server connection.
 	conn = utils.ObeyIdleTimeout(conn,
-		defaults.ReverseTunnelAgentHeartbeatPeriod*10,
+		s.offlineThreshold,
 		"reverse tunnel server")
 
 	channelType := nch.ChannelType()
@@ -951,9 +962,10 @@ func newRemoteSite(srv *server, domainName string) (*remoteSite, error) {
 				"cluster": domainName,
 			},
 		}),
-		ctx:    closeContext,
-		cancel: cancel,
-		clock:  srv.Clock,
+		ctx:              closeContext,
+		cancel:           cancel,
+		clock:            srv.Clock,
+		offlineThreshold: srv.offlineThreshold,
 	}
 
 	// configure access to the full Auth Server API and the cached subset for
diff --git a/lib/services/tunnelconn.go b/lib/services/tunnelconn.go
index 66cfb3177e8..b7ff64be615 100644
--- a/lib/services/tunnelconn.go
+++ b/lib/services/tunnelconn.go
@@ -75,9 +75,9 @@ func LatestTunnelConnection(conns []TunnelConnection) (TunnelConnection, error)
 
 // TunnelConnectionStatus returns tunnel connection status based on the last
 // heartbeat time recorded for a connection
-func TunnelConnectionStatus(clock clockwork.Clock, conn TunnelConnection) string {
+func TunnelConnectionStatus(clock clockwork.Clock, conn TunnelConnection, offlineThreshold time.Duration) string {
 	diff := clock.Now().Sub(conn.GetLastHeartbeat())
-	if diff < defaults.ReverseTunnelOfflineThreshold {
+	if diff < offlineThreshold {
 		return teleport.RemoteClusterStatusOnline
 	}
 	return teleport.RemoteClusterStatusOffline