diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c9fc5d0..25d69a4 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -6,3 +6,4 @@ signaling.log
 streaming-agent/node_modules/
 dxvk-cache
 mesa-shader-cache
+.env
diff --git a/start-signaling.sh b/start-signaling.sh
index 058a38f..86d954a 100755
--- a/start-signaling.sh
+++ b/start-signaling.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,34 @@
 #!/bin/bash
-cd ~/webclient_css_ze/streaming-agent
-CF_APP_ID= CF_APP_TOKEN= NAME_SALT= CONTAINER_NAME=css-test  node signaling-server.js &> ../signaling.log &
-echo "Signaling server started (PID $!), logs at webclient_css_ze/signaling.log"
+# Starts the signaling server. Secrets come from .env next to this script
+set -e
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+ENV_FILE="$SCRIPT_DIR/.env"
 
-#pkill -f signaling-server.js
-#pgrep -f signaling-server.js
+if [ ! -f "$ENV_FILE" ]; then
+    echo "Missing $ENV_FILE — copy .env.example to .env and fill in the values." >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Export every variable defined in .env
+set -a
+source "$ENV_FILE"
+set +a
+
+for var in CF_APP_ID CF_APP_TOKEN NAME_SALT; do
+    if [ -z "${!var}" ]; then
+        echo "$var is not set in $ENV_FILE" >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+done
+export CONTAINER_NAME="${CONTAINER_NAME:-css-test}"
+
+# Stop any old instance and wait until it is gone (frees port 3000)
+pkill -f signaling-server.js || true
+for i in $(seq 1 10); do
+    pgrep -f signaling-server.js > /dev/null || break
+    sleep 0.5
+done
+
+cd "$SCRIPT_DIR/streaming-agent"
+node signaling-server.js &> "$SCRIPT_DIR/signaling.log" &
+echo "Signaling server started (PID $!), logs at $SCRIPT_DIR/signaling.log"
diff --git a/streaming-agent/package.json b/streaming-agent/package.json
index 074a580..6238ddb 100644
--- a/streaming-agent/package.json
+++ b/streaming-agent/package.json
@@ -8,8 +8,10 @@
     "signaling": "node signaling-server.js"
   },
   "dependencies": {
-    "node-fetch": "^2.7.0",
     "ws": "^8.18.0",
     "express": "^4.21.0"
+  },
+  "engines": {
+    "node": ">=18"
   }
 }
diff --git a/streaming-agent/signaling-server.js b/streaming-agent/signaling-server.js
index 6cdc570..2860180 100644
--- a/streaming-agent/signaling-server.js
+++ b/streaming-agent/signaling-server.js
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ console.error = (...args) => _origError(`[${new Date().toISOString()}]`, ...args
 const express    = require('express');
 const http       = require('http');
 const WebSocket  = require('ws');
-const fetch      = require('node-fetch');
+// fetch is built into Node 18+ (node-fetch 2.x threw 'Premature close' on CF responses)
 const path       = require('path');
 const { spawn, execSync } = require('child_process');
 const dns        = require('dns').promises;
@@ -40,27 +40,37 @@ if (!CF_APP_ID || !CF_APP_TOKEN) {
 }
 
 // ── Cloudflare API helpers ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-async function cfPost(path, body) {
-  const res = await fetch(`${CF_BASE}${path}`, {
-    method: 'POST',
-    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json', 'Authorization': `Bearer ${CF_APP_TOKEN}` },
-    body: JSON.stringify(body),
-  });
-  const json = await res.json();
-  if (json.errorCode) throw new Error(`CF API error: ${json.errorDescription}`);
+async function cfRequest(method, path, body) {
+  const started = Date.now();
+  let res, text;
+  try {
+    res = await fetch(`${CF_BASE}${path}`, {
+      method,
+      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json', 'Authorization': `Bearer ${CF_APP_TOKEN}` },
+      body: JSON.stringify(body),
+      signal: AbortSignal.timeout(15000),
+    });
+    text = await res.text();
+  } catch (e) {
+    console.error(`[sig] CF ${method} ${path} failed after ${Date.now() - started}ms: ${e.name}: ${e.message}`);
+    throw new Error('Stream service unreachable, please try again');
+  }
+  let json;
+  try {
+    json = JSON.parse(text);
+  } catch {
+    console.error(`[sig] CF ${method} ${path} returned non-JSON (HTTP ${res.status}): ${text.slice(0, 300)}`);
+    throw new Error('Stream service returned an invalid response');
+  }
+  if (json.errorCode) {
+    console.error(`[sig] CF ${method} ${path} error (HTTP ${res.status}): ${json.errorCode} ${json.errorDescription}`);
+    throw new Error('Stream setup failed, please try again');
+  }
   return json;
 }
 
-async function cfPut(path, body) {
-  const res = await fetch(`${CF_BASE}${path}`, {
-    method: 'PUT',
-    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json', 'Authorization': `Bearer ${CF_APP_TOKEN}` },
-    body: JSON.stringify(body),
-  });
-  const json = await res.json();
-  if (json.errorCode) throw new Error(`CF API error: ${json.errorDescription}`);
-  return json;
-}
+const cfPost = (path, body) => cfRequest('POST', path, body);
+const cfPut  = (path, body) => cfRequest('PUT',  path, body);
 
 // ── Express + WebSocket ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 const app    = express();