diff --git a/docs/changes.rst b/docs/changes.rst
index 1fe4ab71..80e6193f 100644
--- a/docs/changes.rst
+++ b/docs/changes.rst
@@ -1,6 +1,22 @@
 Changes
 =======
 
+Version 1.6.0
+-------------
+
+* Added class :class:`petl.io.remotes.RemoteSource` using package **fsspec**
+  for reading and writing files in remote servers by using the protocol in the
+  url for selecting the implementation.
+  By :user:`juarezr`, :issue:`494`.
+
+* Removed classes :class:`petl.io.source.s3.S3Source` as it's handled by fsspec
+  By :user:`juarezr`, :issue:`494`.
+
+* Removed classes :class:`petl.io.codec.xz.XZCodec`, :class:`petl.io.codec.xz.LZ4Codec`
+  and :class:`petl.io.codec.zstd.ZstandardCodec` as it's handled by fsspec.
+  By :user:`juarezr`, :issue:`494`.
+
+
 Version 1.5.0
 -------------
 
diff --git a/docs/io.rst b/docs/io.rst
index d725691b..a28bfed4 100644
--- a/docs/io.rst
+++ b/docs/io.rst
@@ -359,13 +359,8 @@ The behaviour of each source can usually be configured by passing arguments
 to the constructor, see the source code of the :mod:`petl.io.sources` module
 for full details.
 
-.. autoclass:: petl.io.sources.FileSource
-.. autoclass:: petl.io.sources.GzipSource
-.. autoclass:: petl.io.sources.BZ2Source
-.. autoclass:: petl.io.sources.ZipSource
 .. autoclass:: petl.io.sources.StdinSource
 .. autoclass:: petl.io.sources.StdoutSource
-.. autoclass:: petl.io.sources.URLSource
 .. autoclass:: petl.io.sources.MemorySource
 .. autoclass:: petl.io.sources.PopenSource
 
@@ -383,26 +378,23 @@ in :ref:`Extract <io_extract>` and :ref:`Load <io_load>`.
 It's possible to read and write just by prefixing the protocol (e.g: `s3://`)
 in the source path of the file.
 
-.. autoclass:: petl.io.source.s3.S3Source
-.. autoclass:: petl.io.source.smb.SMBSource
+.. autoclass:: petl.io.remotes.RemoteSource
+.. autoclass:: petl.io.remotes.SMBSource
 
-.. _io_codecs:
+.. _io_deprecated:
 
-Compression I/O helper classes
-------------------------------
+Deprecated I/O helper classes
+-----------------------------
 
-The following classes are helpers for decompressing (``from...()``) and 
-compressing (``to...()``) in functions transparently as a file-like source.
+The following helpers are deprecated and will be removed in a future version.
 
-There are no need to instantiate them. They are used in the mecanism described
-in :ref:`Extract <io_extract_codec>` and :ref:`Load <io_load_codec>`.
+It's functionality was replaced by helpers in :ref:`Remote helpers <io_remotes>`.
 
-It's possible to compress and decompress just by specifying the file extension
-(e.g: `.csv.xz`) in end of the source filename.
-
-.. autoclass:: petl.io.codec.xz.XZCodec
-.. autoclass:: petl.io.codec.zstd.ZstandardCodec
-.. autoclass:: petl.io.codec.lz4.LZ4Codec
+.. autoclass:: petl.io.sources.FileSource
+.. autoclass:: petl.io.sources.GzipSource
+.. autoclass:: petl.io.sources.BZ2Source
+.. autoclass:: petl.io.sources.ZipSource
+.. autoclass:: petl.io.sources.URLSource
 
 .. _io_custom_helpers:
 
@@ -410,11 +402,10 @@ Custom I/O helper classes
 ------------------------------
 
 For creating custom helpers for :ref:`remote I/O <io_remotes>` or
-:ref:`compression <io_codecs>` use the following functions:
+`compression` use the following functions:
 
 .. autofunction:: petl.io.sources.register_reader
 .. autofunction:: petl.io.sources.register_writer
-.. autofunction:: petl.io.sources.register_codec
 
 See the source code of the classes in :mod:`petl.io.sources` module for
 more details.
diff --git a/petl/io/__init__.py b/petl/io/__init__.py
index b89e6aab..28497317 100644
--- a/petl/io/__init__.py
+++ b/petl/io/__init__.py
@@ -39,3 +39,7 @@
 from petl.io.avro import fromavro, toavro, appendavro
 
 from petl.io.sources import register_codec, register_reader, register_writer
+
+from petl.io.remotes import RemoteSource
+
+from petl.io.remotes import SMBSource
diff --git a/petl/io/codec/__init__.py b/petl/io/codec/__init__.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 28411f32..00000000
--- a/petl/io/codec/__init__.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-from __future__ import absolute_import, print_function, division
-
-from petl.io.codec.zstd import ZstandardCodec
-
-from petl.io.codec.lz4 import LZ4Codec
-
-from petl.io.codec.xz import XZCodec
diff --git a/petl/io/codec/lz4.py b/petl/io/codec/lz4.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 035ccc02..00000000
--- a/petl/io/codec/lz4.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,50 +0,0 @@
-# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import absolute_import, print_function, division
-
-from contextlib import contextmanager
-
-from petl.io.sources import register_codec
-
-
-class LZ4Codec(object):
-    '''
-    Allows compressing and decompressing .lz4 files
-
-    `LZ4`_ is lossless compression algorithm, providing compression
-    speed greather than 500 MB/s per core (>0.15 Bytes/cycle). It features an
-    extremely fast decoder, with speed in multiple GB/s per core (~1Byte/cycle)
-
-    .. note::
-
-        For working this codec require `python-lz4`_ to be installed, e.g.::
-
-            $ pip install lz4
-
-    .. versionadded:: 1.5.0
-
-    .. _python-lz4: https://github.com/python-lz4/python-lz4
-    .. _LZ4: http://www.lz4.org
-    '''
-
-    def __init__(self, filename, **kwargs):
-        self.filename = filename
-        self.kwargs = kwargs
-
-    def open_file(self, mode='rb'):
-        import lz4.frame
-        source = lz4.frame.open(self.filename, mode=mode, **self.kwargs)
-        return source
-
-    @contextmanager
-    def open(self, mode='r'):
-        mode2 = mode[:1] + r'b' # python2
-        source = self.open_file(mode=mode2)
-        try:
-            yield source
-        finally:
-            source.close()
-
-
-register_codec('.lz4', LZ4Codec)
-
-# end #
diff --git a/petl/io/codec/xz.py b/petl/io/codec/xz.py
deleted file mode 100644
index d6192a1a..00000000
--- a/petl/io/codec/xz.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,38 +0,0 @@
-# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import absolute_import, print_function, division
-
-from contextlib import contextmanager
-
-from petl.io.sources import register_codec
-
-class XZCodec(object):
-    '''
-    Allows compressing and decompressing .xz files compressed with `lzma`_.
-
-    .. versionadded:: 1.5.0
-
-    .. _lzma: https://docs.python.org/3/library/lzma.html
-    '''
-
-    def __init__(self, filename, **kwargs):
-        self.filename = filename
-        self.kwargs = kwargs
-
-    def open_file(self, mode='rb'):
-        import lzma
-        source = lzma.open(self.filename, mode=mode, **self.kwargs)
-        return source
-
-    @contextmanager
-    def open(self, mode='r'):
-        mode2 = mode[:1] + r'b' # python2
-        source = self.open_file(mode=mode2)
-        try:
-            yield source
-        finally:
-            source.close()
-
-
-register_codec('.xz', XZCodec)
-
-# end #
diff --git a/petl/io/codec/zstd.py b/petl/io/codec/zstd.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 6e6c0a07..00000000
--- a/petl/io/codec/zstd.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,58 +0,0 @@
-# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import absolute_import, print_function, division
-
-import io
-from contextlib import contextmanager
-
-from petl.io.sources import register_codec
-
-
-class ZstandardCodec(object):
-    '''
-    Allows compressing and decompressing .zstd files
-
-    `Zstandard`_ is a real-time compression algorithm, providing 
-    high compression ratios. It offers a very wide range of compression / speed
-    trade-off, while being backed by a very fast decoder.
-
-    .. note::
-
-        For working this codec require `zstd`_ to be installed, e.g.::
-
-            $ pip install zstandard
-
-    .. versionadded:: 1.5.0
-
-    .. _zstd: https://github.com/indygreg/python-zstandard
-    .. _Zstandard: http://www.zstd.net
-    '''
-
-    def __init__(self, filename, **kwargs):
-        self.filename = filename
-        self.kwargs = kwargs
-
-    def open_file(self, mode='rb'):
-        import zstandard as zstd
-        if mode.startswith('r'):
-            cctx = zstd.ZstdDecompressor(**self.kwargs)
-            compressed = io.open(self.filename, mode)
-            source = cctx.stream_reader(compressed)
-        else:
-            cctx = zstd.ZstdCompressor(**self.kwargs)
-            uncompressed = io.open(self.filename, mode)
-            source = cctx.stream_writer(uncompressed)
-        return source
-
-    @contextmanager
-    def open(self, mode='r'):
-        mode2 = mode[:1] + r'b'  # python2
-        source = self.open_file(mode=mode2)
-        try:
-            yield source
-        finally:
-            source.close()
-
-
-register_codec('.zst', ZstandardCodec)
-
-# end #
diff --git a/petl/io/remotes.py b/petl/io/remotes.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c7041fcb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/petl/io/remotes.py
@@ -0,0 +1,245 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+from __future__ import absolute_import, print_function, division
+
+import io
+import logging
+from contextlib import contextmanager
+
+from petl.compat import PY3
+from petl.io.sources import register_reader, register_writer
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+# region RemoteSource
+
+
+class RemoteSource(object):
+    """Read or write directly from files in remote filesystems.
+    
+    This source handles many filesystems that are selected based on the
+    protocol passed in the `url` argument.
+    
+    The url should be specified in `to..()` and `from...()` functions. E.g.::
+
+        >>> import petl as etl
+        >>> 
+        >>> def example_s3():
+        ...     url = 's3://mybucket/prefix/to/myfilename.csv'
+        ...     data = b'foo,bar\\na,1\\nb,2\\nc,2\\n'
+        ... 
+        ...     etl.tocsv(data, url)
+        ...     tbl = etl.fromcsv(url)
+        ...     
+        >>> example_s3() # doctest: +SKIP
+        +-----+-----+
+        | foo | bar |
+        +=====+=====+
+        | 'a' | '1' |
+        +-----+-----+
+        | 'b' | '2' |
+        +-----+-----+
+        | 'c' | '2' |
+        +-----+-----+
+
+    This source uses `fsspec`_ to provide the data transfer with the remote
+    filesystem. Check the `Built-in Implementations <fs_builtin>`_ for available
+    remote implementations.
+
+    Some filesystem can use `URL chaining <fs_chain>`_ for compound I/O.
+
+    .. note::
+
+        For working this source require `fsspec`_ to be installed, e.g.::
+
+            $ pip install fsspec
+
+        Some remote filesystems require aditional packages to be installed.
+        Check  `Known Implementations <fs_known>`_ for checking what packages
+        need to be installed, e.g.::
+
+            $ pip install s3fs     # AWS S3
+            $ pip install gcsfs    # Google Cloud Storage
+            $ pip install adlfs    # Azure Blob service
+            $ pip install paramiko # SFTP
+            $ pip install requests # HTTP, github
+
+    .. versionadded:: 1.6.0
+
+    .. _fsspec: https://filesystem-spec.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
+    .. _fs_builtin: https://filesystem-spec.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api.html#built-in-implementations
+    .. _fs_known: https://filesystem-spec.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api.html#built-in-implementations
+    .. _fs_chain: https://filesystem-spec.readthedocs.io/en/latest/features.html#url-chaining
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, url, **kwargs):
+        self.url = url
+        self.kwargs = kwargs
+
+    def open_file(self, mode="rb"):
+        import fsspec
+
+        fs = fsspec.open(self.url, mode=mode, compression='infer', **self.kwargs)
+        return fs
+
+    @contextmanager
+    def open(self, mode="rb"):
+        mode2 = mode[:1] + r"b"  # python2
+        fs = self.open_file(mode=mode2)
+        with fs as source:
+            yield source
+
+
+# registering filesystems with packages installed
+
+
+def _register_filesystems(only_available=False):
+    """Search for python packages supporting remote filesystems."""
+
+    from fsspec.registry import known_implementations
+
+    impls = known_implementations.items()
+    q = 0
+    for protocol, spec in impls:
+        # use the available for for compatibility reasons until next spring cleaning
+        if protocol.startswith("http"):
+            continue
+        if "err" in spec:
+            emsg = "# WARN: fsspec {} unavailable: {}".format(protocol, spec["err"])
+            logger.warning(emsg)
+            if only_available:
+                continue
+        register_reader(protocol, RemoteSource)
+        register_writer(protocol, RemoteSource)
+        q += 1
+    logger.debug("# fsspec: registered {} providers".format(q))
+
+
+def _try_register_filesystems():
+    try:
+        import fsspec
+    except ImportError as ie:
+        logger.warning("# Missing fsspec package. Install with: pip install fsspec")
+    else:
+        try:
+            _register_filesystems()
+        except Exception as ex:
+            raise Exception("# ERROR: failed to register fsspec filesystems", ex)
+
+
+if PY3:
+    _try_register_filesystems()
+
+# endregion
+
+# region SMBSource
+
+
+class SMBSource(object):
+    """Downloads or uploads to Windows and Samba network drives. E.g.::
+
+        >>> def example_smb():
+        ...     import petl as etl
+        ...     url = 'smb://user:password@server/share/folder/file.csv'
+        ...     data = b'foo,bar\\na,1\\nb,2\\nc,2\\n'
+        ...     etl.tocsv(data, url)
+        ...     tbl = etl.fromcsv(url)
+        ... 
+        >>> example_smb() # doctest: +SKIP
+        +-----+-----+
+        | foo | bar |
+        +=====+=====+
+        | 'a' | '1' |
+        +-----+-----+
+        | 'b' | '2' |
+        +-----+-----+
+        | 'c' | '2' |
+        +-----+-----+
+
+    The argument `url` (str) must have a URI with format:
+    `smb://workgroup;user:password@server:port/share/folder/file.csv`.
+
+    Note that you need to pass in a valid hostname or IP address for the host 
+    component of the URL. Do not use the Windows/NetBIOS machine name for the
+    host component.
+
+    The first component of the path in the URL points to the name of the shared
+    folder. Subsequent path components will point to the directory/folder/file.
+
+    .. note::
+
+        For working this source require `smbprotocol`_ to be installed, e.g.::
+
+            $ pip install smbprotocol[kerberos]
+
+    .. versionadded:: 1.5.0
+
+    .. _smbprotocol: https://github.com/jborean93/smbprotocol#requirements
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, url, **kwargs):
+        self.url = url
+        self.kwargs = kwargs
+
+    @contextmanager
+    def open(self, mode="rb"):
+        mode2 = mode[:1] + r"b"  # python2
+        source = _open_file_smbprotocol(self.url, mode=mode2, **self.kwargs)
+        try:
+            yield source
+        finally:
+            source.close()
+
+
+def _open_file_smbprotocol(url, mode="rb", **kwargs):
+
+    domain, host, port, user, passwd, server_path = _parse_smb_url(url)
+    import smbclient
+
+    try:
+        # register the server with explicit credentials
+        if user:
+            session = smbclient.register_session(
+                host, username=user, password=passwd, port=port
+            )
+        # Read an existing file as bytes
+        mode2 = mode[:1] + r"b"
+        filehandle = smbclient.open_file(server_path, mode=mode2, **kwargs)
+        return filehandle
+
+    except Exception as ex:
+        raise ConnectionError("SMB error: %s" % ex).with_traceback(sys.exc_info()[2])
+
+
+def _parse_smb_url(url):
+    e = "SMB url must be smb://workgroup;user:password@server:port/share/folder/file.txt: "
+
+    if not url:
+        raise ValueError("SMB error: no host given")
+    elif not url.startswith("smb://"):
+        raise ValueError(e + url)
+
+    if PY3:
+        from urllib.parse import urlparse
+    else:
+        from urlparse import urlparse
+    parsed = urlparse(url)
+    if not parsed.path:
+        raise ValueError(e + url)
+
+    unc_path = parsed.path.replace("/", "\\")
+    server_path = "\\\\{}{}".format(parsed.hostname, unc_path)
+
+    if not parsed.username:
+        domain, username = None
+    elif ";" in parsed.username:
+        domain, username = parsed.username.split(";")
+    else:
+        domain, username = None, parsed.username
+    port = 445 if not parsed.port else int(parsed.port)
+    return domain, parsed.hostname, port, username, parsed.password, server_path
+
+
+register_reader("smb", SMBSource)
+register_writer("smb", SMBSource)
+
+# endregion
diff --git a/petl/io/source/__init__.py b/petl/io/source/__init__.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 3aaaacbe..00000000
--- a/petl/io/source/__init__.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-from __future__ import absolute_import, print_function, division
-
-from petl.io.source.s3 import S3Source
-
-from petl.io.source.smb import SMBSource
diff --git a/petl/io/source/s3.py b/petl/io/source/s3.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 2eb59b62..00000000
--- a/petl/io/source/s3.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,67 +0,0 @@
-# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import absolute_import, print_function, division
-
-import io
-from petl.io.sources import register_reader, register_writer
-from contextlib import contextmanager
-
-
-class S3Source(object):
-    '''Downloads or uploads to AWS S3 filesystem. E.g.::
-
-        >>> def example_s3():
-        ...     import petl as etl
-        ...     url = 's3://mybucket/prefix/to/myfilename.csv'
-        ...     data = b'foo,bar\\na,1\\nb,2\\nc,2\\n'
-        ...     etl.tocsv(data, url)
-        ...     tbl = etl.fromcsv(url)
-        ...     
-        >>> example_s3() # doctest: +SKIP
-        +-----+-----+
-        | foo | bar |
-        +=====+=====+
-        | 'a' | '1' |
-        +-----+-----+
-        | 'b' | '2' |
-        +-----+-----+
-        | 'c' | '2' |
-        +-----+-----+
-
-    .. note::
-
-        For working this source require `s3fs`_ to be installed, e.g.::
-
-            $ pip install s3fs
-
-    It is strongly recommended that you open files in binary mode.
-
-    For authentication check `credentials`_.
-
-    .. versionadded:: 1.5.0
-
-    .. _s3fs: https://github.com/dask/s3fs/
-    .. _credentials: https://s3fs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/#credentials
-    '''
-
-    def __init__(self, url, **kwargs):
-        self.url = url
-        self.kwargs = kwargs
-
-    def open_file(self, mode='rb'):
-        import s3fs
-        fs = s3fs.S3FileSystem()
-        source = fs.open(self.url, mode=mode, **self.kwargs)
-        return source
-
-    @contextmanager
-    def open(self, mode='rb'):
-        mode2 = mode[:1] + r'b' # python2
-        source = self.open_file(mode=mode2)
-        try:
-            yield source
-        finally:
-            source.close()
-
-
-register_reader('s3', S3Source)
-register_writer('s3', S3Source)
diff --git a/petl/io/source/smb.py b/petl/io/source/smb.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 8cdd4efb..00000000
--- a/petl/io/source/smb.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,120 +0,0 @@
-# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import absolute_import, print_function, division
-
-import sys
-from contextlib import contextmanager
-
-from petl.compat import PY3
-from petl.io.sources import register_reader, register_writer
-
-
-class SMBSource(object):
-    '''Downloads or uploads to Windows and Samba network drives. E.g.::
-
-        >>> def example_smb():
-        ...     import petl as etl
-        ...     url = 'smb://user:password@server/share/folder/file.csv'
-        ...     data = b'foo,bar\\na,1\\nb,2\\nc,2\\n'
-        ...     etl.tocsv(data, url)
-        ...     tbl = etl.fromcsv(url)
-        ... 
-        >>> example_smb() # doctest: +SKIP
-        +-----+-----+
-        | foo | bar |
-        +=====+=====+
-        | 'a' | '1' |
-        +-----+-----+
-        | 'b' | '2' |
-        +-----+-----+
-        | 'c' | '2' |
-        +-----+-----+
-
-    The argument `url` (str) must have a URI with format:
-    `smb://workgroup;user:password@server:port/share/folder/file.csv`.
-
-    Note that you need to pass in a valid hostname or IP address for the host 
-    component of the URL. Do not use the Windows/NetBIOS machine name for the
-    host component.
-
-    The first component of the path in the URL points to the name of the shared
-    folder. Subsequent path components will point to the directory/folder/file.
-
-    .. note::
-
-        For working this source require `smbprotocol`_ to be installed, e.g.::
-
-            $ pip install smbprotocol[kerberos]
-
-    .. versionadded:: 1.5.0
-
-    .. _smbprotocol: https://github.com/jborean93/smbprotocol#requirements
-    '''
-
-    def __init__(self, url, **kwargs):
-        self.url = url
-        self.kwargs = kwargs
-
-    @contextmanager
-    def open(self, mode='rb'):
-        mode2 = mode[:1] + r'b' # python2
-        source = _open_file_smbprotocol(self.url, mode=mode2, **self.kwargs)
-        try:
-            yield source
-        finally:
-            source.close()
-
-# region SMBHandler
-
-
-def _open_file_smbprotocol(url, mode='rb', **kwargs):
-
-    domain, host, port, user, passwd, server_path = _parse_smb_url(url)
-    import smbclient
-    try:
-        # register the server with explicit credentials
-        if user:
-            session = smbclient.register_session(
-                host, username=user, password=passwd, port=port)
-        # Read an existing file as bytes
-        mode2 = mode[:1] + r'b'
-        filehandle = smbclient.open_file(server_path, mode=mode2, **kwargs)
-        return filehandle
-
-    except Exception as ex:
-        raise ConnectionError('SMB error: %s' %
-                              ex).with_traceback(sys.exc_info()[2])
-
-
-def _parse_smb_url(url):
-    e = 'SMB url must be smb://workgroup;user:password@server:port/share/folder/file.txt: '
-
-    if not url:
-        raise ValueError('SMB error: no host given')
-    elif not url.startswith('smb://'):
-        raise ValueError(e + url)
-
-    if PY3:
-        from urllib.parse import urlparse
-    else:
-        from urlparse import urlparse
-    parsed = urlparse(url)
-    if not parsed.path:
-        raise ValueError(e + url)
-
-    unc_path = parsed.path.replace("/", "\\")
-    server_path = "\\\\{}{}".format(parsed.hostname, unc_path)
-
-    if not parsed.username:
-        domain, username = None
-    elif ';' in parsed.username:
-        domain, username = parsed.username.split(';')
-    else:
-        domain, username = None, parsed.username
-    port = 555 if not parsed.port else int(parsed.port)
-    return domain, parsed.hostname, port, username, parsed.password, server_path
-
-# endregion
-
-
-register_reader('smb', SMBSource)
-register_writer('smb', SMBSource)
diff --git a/petl/io/sources.py b/petl/io/sources.py
index 423b1252..6736014d 100644
--- a/petl/io/sources.py
+++ b/petl/io/sources.py
@@ -411,7 +411,7 @@ def _get_handler_from(source, handlers):
     return None
 
 
-def _resolve_source_from_arg(source, handlers, sync_mode):
+def _resolve_source_from_arg(source, handlers):
     if source is None:
         return StdinSource()
     elif isinstance(source, string_types):
@@ -420,12 +420,9 @@ def _resolve_source_from_arg(source, handlers, sync_mode):
         if handler is None:
             if codec is not None:
                 return codec(source)
+            assert '://' not in source, _invalid_source_msg % source
             return FileSource(source)
-        io_handler = handler(source)
-        if codec is None:
-            return io_handler
-        handler = CompressedSource(io_handler, codec)
-        return handler
+        return handler(source)
     else:
         assert (hasattr(source, 'open')
                 and callable(getattr(source, 'open'))), \
@@ -434,8 +431,8 @@ def _resolve_source_from_arg(source, handlers, sync_mode):
 
 
 def read_source_from_arg(source):
-    return _resolve_source_from_arg(source, _READERS, 'rb')
+    return _resolve_source_from_arg(source, _READERS)
 
 
 def write_source_from_arg(source, mode='wb'):
-    return _resolve_source_from_arg(source, _WRITERS, mode)
+    return _resolve_source_from_arg(source, _WRITERS)
diff --git a/petl/test/io/test_codec.py b/petl/test/io/test_codec.py
deleted file mode 100644
index ff28149c..00000000
--- a/petl/test/io/test_codec.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,93 +0,0 @@
-# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import absolute_import, print_function, division
-
-import sys
-import os
-from tempfile import NamedTemporaryFile
-
-from petl.compat import PY3
-from petl.test.helpers import ieq
-from petl.io.avro import fromavro, toavro
-from petl.io.csv import fromcsv, tocsv
-from petl.util.vis import look
-
-# region Codec test cases
-
-try:
-    import lzma
-except ImportError as e:
-    print('SKIP XZ helper tests: %s' % e, file=sys.stderr)
-else:
-    def test_helper_xz():
-        _write_read_with_codec('.xz')
-
-try:
-    import lz4.frame
-except ImportError as e:
-    print('SKIP LZ4 helper tests: %s' % e, file=sys.stderr)
-else:
-    def test_helper_lz4():
-        _write_read_with_codec('.lz4')
-
-try:
-    import zstandard as zstd
-except ImportError as e:
-    print('SKIP ZSTANDARD helper tests: %s' % e, file=sys.stderr)
-else:
-    def test_helper_zstd():
-        _write_read_with_codec('.zstd')
-
-# endregion
-
-# region Execution
-
-
-def _write_read_with_codec(file_ext):
-
-    _table = ((u'name', u'friends', u'age'),
-              (u'Bob', '42', '33'),
-              (u'Jim', '13', '69'),
-              (u'Joe', '86', '17'),
-              (u'Ted', '23', '51'))
-
-    _show__rows_from("Expected:", _table)
-
-    has_avro = _test_avro_too()
-
-    compressed_csv = _get_temp_file_for('.csv' + file_ext)
-    compressed_avr = _get_temp_file_for('.avro' + file_ext)
-
-    tocsv(_table, compressed_csv, encoding='ascii', lineterminator='\n')
-    if has_avro:
-        toavro(_table, compressed_avr)
-
-    csv_actual = fromcsv(compressed_csv, encoding='ascii')
-    if has_avro:
-        avr_actual = fromavro(compressed_avr)
-
-    _show__rows_from("Actual:", csv_actual)
-    
-    ieq(_table, csv_actual)
-    ieq(_table, csv_actual)  # verify can iterate twice
-    if has_avro:
-        ieq(_table, avr_actual)
-        ieq(_table, avr_actual)  # verify can iterate twice
-
-
-def _get_temp_file_for(file_ext):
-    with NamedTemporaryFile(delete=False, mode='wb') as fo:
-        return fo.name + file_ext
-
-
-def _show__rows_from(label, test_rows, limit=0):
-    print(label)
-    print(look(test_rows, limit=limit))
-
-def _test_avro_too():
-    try:
-        import fastavro
-        return True
-    except:
-        return False
-
-# endregion
diff --git a/petl/test/io/test_remotes.py b/petl/test/io/test_remotes.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9ccf46e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/petl/test/io/test_remotes.py
@@ -0,0 +1,157 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+from __future__ import absolute_import, print_function, division
+
+import sys
+import os
+
+from petl.compat import PY3
+from petl.test.helpers import ieq, eq_
+from petl.io.avro import fromavro, toavro
+from petl.io.csv import fromcsv, tocsv
+from petl.util.vis import look
+
+# region Codec test cases
+
+
+def test_helper_local():
+    if PY3:
+        _write_read_into_url("./example.")
+
+
+try:
+    import fsspec
+except ImportError as e:
+    print("SKIP FSSPEC helper tests: %s" % e, file=sys.stderr)
+else:
+
+    def test_helper_fsspec():
+        # _write_read_from_env_url('PETL_TEST_S3')
+        _write_read_from_env_matching("PETL_TEST_")
+
+
+try:
+    import smbclient
+except ImportError as e:
+    print("SKIP SMB helper tests: %s" % e, file=sys.stderr)
+else:
+
+    def test_helper_smb():
+        _write_read_from_env_url("PETL_SMB_URL")
+
+    def test_helper_smb_url_parse():
+        from petl.io.remotes import _parse_smb_url
+
+        url = r"smb://workgroup;user:password@server:444/share/folder/file.csv"
+        domain, host, port, user, passwd, server_path = _parse_smb_url(url)
+        print("Parsed:", domain, host, port, user, passwd, server_path)
+        eq_(domain, r"workgroup")
+        eq_(host, r"server")
+        eq_(port, 444)
+        eq_(user, r"user")
+        eq_(passwd, r"password")
+        eq_(server_path, "\\\\server\\share\\folder\\file.csv")
+
+
+# endregion
+
+# region Execution
+
+
+def _write_read_from_env_matching(prefix):
+    q = 0
+    for variable, base_url in os.environ.items():
+        if variable.upper().startswith(prefix.upper()):
+            fmsg = "\n  {}: {} -> ".format(variable, base_url)
+            print(fmsg, file=sys.stderr, end="")
+            _write_read_into_url(base_url)
+            print("DONE ", file=sys.stderr, end="")
+            q += 1
+    if q < 1:
+        msg = """SKIPPED
+    For testing remote source define a environment variable:
+    $ export PETL_TEST_<protocol>='<protocol>://myuser:mypassword@host:port/path/to/file.ext'"""
+        print(msg, file=sys.stderr)
+
+
+def _write_read_from_env_url(env_var_name):
+    base_url = os.getenv(env_var_name, "skip")
+    if base_url == "skip":
+        print("SKIPPED ", file=sys.stderr, end="")
+    else:
+        _write_read_into_url(base_url)
+        print("DONE ", file=sys.stderr, end="")
+
+
+def _write_read_into_url(base_url):
+    _write_read_file_into_url(base_url, "filename1.csv")
+    _write_read_file_into_url(base_url, "filename2.avro")
+    _write_read_file_into_url(base_url, "filename3.csv", "gz")
+    _write_read_file_into_url(base_url, "filename4.avro", "gz")
+    _write_read_file_into_url(base_url, "filename5.csv", "xz")
+    _write_read_file_into_url(base_url, "filename6.csv", "zst")
+    _write_read_file_into_url(base_url, "filename7.csv", "lz4")
+    _write_read_file_into_url(base_url, "filename8.csv", "snappy")
+
+
+def _write_read_file_into_url(base_url, filename, compression=None):
+    if ".avro" in filename and not _has_avro:
+        return
+    is_local = base_url.startswith("./")
+    if compression is not None:
+        if is_local:
+            return
+        filename = filename + "." + compression
+        codec = fsspec.utils.infer_compression(filename)
+        if codec is None:
+            print("\n    - %s SKIPPED " % filename, file=sys.stderr, end="")
+            return
+    print("\n    - %s " % filename, file=sys.stderr, end="")
+
+    if is_local:
+        source_url = base_url + filename
+    else:
+        source_url = os.path.join(base_url, filename)
+
+    _show__rows_from("Expected:", _table)
+
+    if ".avro" in filename:
+        toavro(_table, source_url)
+        actual = fromavro(source_url)
+    else:
+        tocsv(_table, source_url, encoding="ascii", lineterminator="\n")
+        actual = fromcsv(source_url, encoding="ascii")
+
+    _show__rows_from("Actual:", actual)
+    ieq(_table, actual)
+    ieq(_table, actual)  # verify can iterate twice
+
+
+def _show__rows_from(label, test_rows, limit=0):
+    print(label)
+    print(look(test_rows, limit=limit))
+
+
+def _test_avro_too():
+    try:
+        import fastavro
+
+        return True
+    except:
+        return False
+
+
+# endregion
+
+# region Mockup data
+
+_has_avro = _test_avro_too()
+
+_table = (
+    (u"name", u"friends", u"age"),
+    (u"Bob", "42", "33"),
+    (u"Jim", "13", "69"),
+    (u"Joe", "86", "17"),
+    (u"Ted", "23", "51"),
+)
+
+# endregion
diff --git a/petl/test/io/test_source.py b/petl/test/io/test_source.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 3beaa929..00000000
--- a/petl/test/io/test_source.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,114 +0,0 @@
-# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-from __future__ import absolute_import, print_function, division
-
-import sys
-import os
-
-from petl.compat import PY3
-from petl.test.helpers import ieq, eq_
-from petl.io.avro import fromavro, toavro
-from petl.io.csv import fromcsv, tocsv
-from petl.util.vis import look
-
-from petl.io.source.smb import _parse_smb_url
-
-# region Codec test cases
-
-try:
-    import s3fs
-except ImportError as e:
-    print('SKIP S3 helper tests: %s' % e, file=sys.stderr)
-else:
-    def test_helper_s3():
-        _write_read_from_url('PETL_S3_URL', "export PETL_S3_URL='s3://mybucket/path/folder'")
-
-try:
-    import smbclient
-except ImportError as e:
-    print('SKIP SMB helper tests: %s' % e, file=sys.stderr)
-else:
-    def test_helper_smb():
-        _write_read_from_url('PETL_SMB_URL', "export PETL_SMB_URL='smb://DOMAIN;myuserID:mypassword@host/share'")
-
-    def test_helper_smb_url_parse():
-        url = r'smb://workgroup;user:password@server:444/share/folder/file.csv'
-        domain, host, port, user, passwd, server_path = _parse_smb_url(url)
-        print("Parsed:", domain, host, port, user, passwd, server_path)
-        eq_(domain, r'workgroup')
-        eq_(host, r'server')
-        eq_(port, 444)
-        eq_(user, r'user')
-        eq_(passwd, r'password')
-        eq_(server_path, "\\\\server\\share\\folder\\file.csv")
-
-# endregion
-
-# region Execution
-
-def _write_read_from_url(env_var_name, example):
-
-    base_url = os.getenv(env_var_name, 'skip')
-
-    csv_url = os.path.join(base_url, 'filename1.csv')
-    gzc_url = os.path.join(base_url, 'filename3.csv.gz')
-    gza_url = os.path.join(base_url, 'filename4.avro.gz')
-    avr_url = os.path.join(base_url, 'filename2.avro')
-
-    _table = ( (u'name', u'friends', u'age'),
-                (u'Bob', '42', '33'),
-                (u'Jim', '13', '69'),
-                (u'Joe', '86', '17'),
-                (u'Ted', '23', '51'))
-
-    _show__rows_from("Expected:", _table)
-    has_avro = _test_avro_too()
-
-    if base_url == 'skip':
-        m = "# Skipping test because env var '{}' is not defined. Try this:\n$ {}"
-        msg = m.format(env_var_name, example)
-        print(msg)
-        return
-
-    tocsv(_table, csv_url, encoding='ascii', lineterminator='\n')
-    if PY3:
-        tocsv(_table, gzc_url, encoding='ascii', lineterminator='\n')
-    if has_avro:
-        toavro(_table, avr_url)
-        if PY3:
-            toavro(_table, gza_url)
-
-    csv_actual = fromcsv(csv_url, encoding='ascii')
-    if PY3:
-        gzp_actual = fromcsv(gzc_url, encoding='ascii')
-    if has_avro:
-        avr_actual = fromavro(avr_url)
-        if PY3:
-            gza_actual = fromavro(gza_url)
-
-    _show__rows_from("Actual:", csv_url)
-
-    ieq(_table, csv_actual)
-    ieq(_table, csv_actual)  # verify can iterate twice
-    if PY3:
-        ieq(_table, gzp_actual)
-        ieq(_table, gzp_actual)  # verify can iterate twice
-    if has_avro:
-        ieq(_table, avr_actual)
-        ieq(_table, avr_actual)  # verify can iterate twice
-        if PY3:
-            ieq(_table, gza_actual)
-            ieq(_table, gza_actual)  # verify can iterate twice
-
-
-def _show__rows_from(label, test_rows, limit=0):
-    print(label)
-    print(look(test_rows, limit=limit))
-
-def _test_avro_too():
-    try:
-        import fastavro
-        return True
-    except:
-        return False
-
-# endregion