diff --git a/ethereum.gemspec b/ethereum.gemspec
index f5dacbe..7c3ec6f 100644
--- a/ethereum.gemspec
+++ b/ethereum.gemspec
@@ -31,5 +31,6 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
   spec.add_development_dependency "pry"
 
   spec.add_dependency "activesupport"
-  spec.add_dependency "digest-sha3", "~> 1.1"
+  spec.add_dependency "sha3", "~> 0.2.6"
+  # spec.add_dependency "sha3-pure-ruby", "~>0.1.1"
 end
diff --git a/lib/ethereum.rb b/lib/ethereum.rb
index d6236b6..11abeff 100644
--- a/lib/ethereum.rb
+++ b/lib/ethereum.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 require "ethereum/version"
 require 'active_support'
 require 'active_support/core_ext'
-require 'digest/sha3'
+require 'sha3'
+# require 'sha3-pure-ruby'
 
 module Ethereum
   require 'ethereum/client'
diff --git a/lib/ethereum/client.rb b/lib/ethereum/client.rb
index c94323d..e07eeeb 100644
--- a/lib/ethereum/client.rb
+++ b/lib/ethereum/client.rb
@@ -17,6 +17,12 @@ def initialize(log = false)
       end
     end
 
+    def self.create(host_or_ipcpath, log = false)
+      return IpcClient.new(host_or_ipcpath, log) if host_or_ipcpath.end_with? '.ipc'
+      return HttpClient.new(host_or_ipcpath, log) if host_or_ipcpath.start_with? 'http'
+      raise ArgumentError.new('Unable to detect client type')
+    end
+
     def batch
       @batch = []
 
@@ -38,6 +44,21 @@ def reset_id
       @id = 0
     end
 
+    def int_to_hex(n)
+      return "0x#{n.to_s(16)}"
+    end
+
+    # https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/JSON-RPC#output-hex-values
+    def encode_params(params)
+      return params.map do |p|
+        if p.is_a?(Integer)
+          int_to_hex(p)
+        else
+          p
+        end
+      end
+    end
+
     (RPC_COMMANDS + RPC_MANAGEMENT_COMMANDS).each do |rpc_command|
       method_name = "#{rpc_command.underscore}"
       define_method method_name do |*args|
@@ -45,7 +66,8 @@ def reset_id
         if command == "eth_call"
           args << "latest"
         end
-        payload = {jsonrpc: "2.0", method: command, params: args, id: get_id}
+        payload = {jsonrpc: "2.0", method: command, params: encode_params(args), id: get_id}
+
         if @log == true
           @logger.info("Sending #{payload.to_json}")
         end
diff --git a/lib/ethereum/contract_event.rb b/lib/ethereum/contract_event.rb
index 2ffce39..18e542e 100644
--- a/lib/ethereum/contract_event.rb
+++ b/lib/ethereum/contract_event.rb
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ def initialize(data)
       @input_types = data["inputs"].collect {|x| x["type"]}
       @inputs = data["inputs"].collect {|x| x["name"]}
       @event_string = "#{@name}(#{@input_types.join(",")})"
-      @signature = Digest::SHA3.hexdigest(@event_string, 256)
+      @signature = SHA3::Digest::SHA256.hexdigest(@event_string)
+      # @signature = Digest::SHA3.hexdigest @event_string, 256
     end
 
     def set_address(address)
diff --git a/lib/ethereum/function.rb b/lib/ethereum/function.rb
index 079c768..a579c67 100644
--- a/lib/ethereum/function.rb
+++ b/lib/ethereum/function.rb
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ def initialize(data)
         Ethereum::FunctionOutput.new(output)
       end
       @function_string = "#{@name}(#{@inputs.collect {|x| x.type }.join(",")})"
-      @signature = Digest::SHA3.hexdigest(@function_string, 256)[0..7]
+      @signature = SHA3::Digest::SHA256.hexdigest(@function_string)[0..7]
+      # @signature = Digest::SHA3.hexdigest(@function_string, 256)[0..7]
     end
 
   end
diff --git a/lib/ethereum/http_client.rb b/lib/ethereum/http_client.rb
index b8a214d..8c9315c 100644
--- a/lib/ethereum/http_client.rb
+++ b/lib/ethereum/http_client.rb
@@ -3,11 +3,14 @@ module Ethereum
   class HttpClient < Client
     attr_accessor :host, :port, :uri, :ssl
 
-    def initialize(host, port, ssl = false, log = false)
+    def initialize(host, log = false)
       super(log)
-      @host = host
-      @port = port
-      @ssl = ssl
+      uri = URI.parse(host)
+      raise ArgumentError unless ['http', 'https'].include? uri.scheme
+      @host = uri.host
+      @port = uri.port
+      
+      @ssl = uri.scheme == 'https'
       if ssl
         @uri = URI("https://#{@host}:#{@port}")
       else
diff --git a/spec/client_spec.rb b/spec/client_spec.rb
index 728a1db..ea4c2a2 100644
--- a/spec/client_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/client_spec.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,15 @@
 require 'spec_helper'
 
 describe Ethereum do
+  describe 'Client' do
+    it 'should encode parameters' do
+      params = [true, false, 0, 12345, '0x7d84abf0f241b10927b567bd636d95fa9f66ae34', '0x4d5e07d4057dd0c3849c2295d20ee1778fc29d69150e8d75a07207347dce17fa', '7d84abf0f241b10927b567bd636d95fa9f66ae34']
+      client = Ethereum::Client.new
+      encoded_params = client.encode_params(params)
+      expect(encoded_params).to eq([true, false, '0x0', '0x3039', '0x7d84abf0f241b10927b567bd636d95fa9f66ae34', '0x4d5e07d4057dd0c3849c2295d20ee1778fc29d69150e8d75a07207347dce17fa', '0x7d84abf0f241b10927b567bd636d95fa9f66ae34'])
+    end
+  end
+
   describe 'HttpClient' do
     it 'should work' do
       client = Ethereum::HttpClient.new('localhost', '8545')