diff --git a/src/Momento.Sdk/CacheClient.cs b/src/Momento.Sdk/CacheClient.cs
index 0e0bf4b1..0d718142 100644
--- a/src/Momento.Sdk/CacheClient.cs
+++ b/src/Momento.Sdk/CacheClient.cs
@@ -35,6 +35,25 @@ private ScsDataClient DataClient
     protected readonly IConfiguration config;
     /// <inheritdoc cref="Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.ILogger" />
     protected readonly ILogger _logger;
+    
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Async factory function to construct a Momento CacheClient with an eager connection to the
+    /// Momento server. Calling the CacheClient constructor directly will not establish a connection
+    /// immediately, but instead establish it lazily when the first request is issued. This factory
+    /// function will ensure that the connection is established before the first request.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="config">Configuration to use for the transport, retries, middlewares. See <see cref="Configurations"/> for out-of-the-box configuration choices, eg <see cref="Configurations.Laptop.Latest"/></param>
+    /// <param name="authProvider">Momento auth provider.</param>
+    /// <param name="defaultTtl">Default time to live for the item in cache.</param>
+    /// <param name="eagerConnectionTimeout">Maximum time to wait for eager connection.</param>
+    /// <exception cref="ArgumentOutOfRangeException"><paramref name="defaultTtl"/> is zero or negative.</exception>
+    /// <exception cref="ConnectionException">The eager connection could not be established within the specified <paramref name="eagerConnectionTimeout"/></exception>
+    public static async Task<ICacheClient> CreateAsync(IConfiguration config, ICredentialProvider authProvider, TimeSpan defaultTtl, TimeSpan eagerConnectionTimeout)
+    {
+        CacheClient cacheClient = new CacheClient(config, authProvider, defaultTtl);
+        await cacheClient.DataClient.EagerConnectAsync(eagerConnectionTimeout);
+        return cacheClient;
+    }
 
 
     /// <summary>
diff --git a/src/Momento.Sdk/Config/Configurations.cs b/src/Momento.Sdk/Config/Configurations.cs
index 2d7e8a08..dc1f640e 100644
--- a/src/Momento.Sdk/Config/Configurations.cs
+++ b/src/Momento.Sdk/Config/Configurations.cs
@@ -184,11 +184,7 @@ private Lambda(ILoggerFactory loggerFactory, IRetryStrategy retryStrategy, ITran
             /// <returns></returns>
             public static IConfiguration Latest(ILoggerFactory? loggerFactory = null)
             {
-                var config = Default.V1(loggerFactory);
-                var transportStrategy = config.TransportStrategy.WithEagerConnectionTimeout(
-                    TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30)
-                );
-                return config.WithTransportStrategy(transportStrategy);
+                return Default.V1(loggerFactory);
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/Momento.Sdk/Config/Transport/ITransportStrategy.cs b/src/Momento.Sdk/Config/Transport/ITransportStrategy.cs
index 0d894552..78849ec5 100644
--- a/src/Momento.Sdk/Config/Transport/ITransportStrategy.cs
+++ b/src/Momento.Sdk/Config/Transport/ITransportStrategy.cs
@@ -14,14 +14,6 @@ public interface ITransportStrategy
     /// </summary>
     public int MaxConcurrentRequests { get; }
 
-    /// <summary>
-    /// If null, the client will only attempt to connect to the server lazily when the first request is executed.
-    /// If provided, the client will attempt to connect to the server immediately upon construction; if the connection
-    /// cannot be established within the specified TimeSpan, it will abort the connection attempt, log a warning,
-    /// and proceed with execution so that the application doesn't hang.
-    /// </summary>
-    public TimeSpan? EagerConnectionTimeout { get; }
-
     /// <summary>
     /// Configures the low-level gRPC settings for the Momento client's communication
     /// with the Momento server.
@@ -50,15 +42,4 @@ public interface ITransportStrategy
     /// <param name="clientTimeout"></param>
     /// <returns>A new ITransportStrategy with the specified client timeout</returns>
     public ITransportStrategy WithClientTimeout(TimeSpan clientTimeout);
-
-    /// <summary>
-    /// Copy constructor to enable eager connection to the server
-    /// </summary>
-    /// <param name="connectionTimeout">A timeout for attempting an eager connection to the server.  When the client
-    /// is constructed, it will attempt to connect to the server immediately.  If the connection
-    /// cannot be established within the specified TimeSpan, it will abort the connection attempt, log a warning,
-    /// and proceed with execution so that the application doesn't hang.
-    /// </param>
-    /// <returns>A new ITransportStrategy configured to eagerly connect to the server upon construction</returns>
-    public ITransportStrategy WithEagerConnectionTimeout(TimeSpan connectionTimeout);
 }
diff --git a/src/Momento.Sdk/Exceptions/ConnectionException.cs b/src/Momento.Sdk/Exceptions/ConnectionException.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..87ced02e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Momento.Sdk/Exceptions/ConnectionException.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+namespace Momento.Sdk.Exceptions;
+
+using System;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Unable to connect to the server.
+/// </summary>
+public class ConnectionException : SdkException
+{
+    /// <include file="../docs.xml" path='docs/class[@name="SdkException"]/constructor/*' />
+    public ConnectionException(string message, MomentoErrorTransportDetails transportDetails, Exception? e = null) : base(MomentoErrorCode.CONNECTION_ERROR, message, transportDetails, e)
+    {
+        this.MessageWrapper = "Unable to connect to the server; consider retrying.  If the error persists, please contact us at support@momentohq.com";
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Momento.Sdk/Exceptions/SdkException.cs b/src/Momento.Sdk/Exceptions/SdkException.cs
index cf3c5ab6..2822fca8 100644
--- a/src/Momento.Sdk/Exceptions/SdkException.cs
+++ b/src/Momento.Sdk/Exceptions/SdkException.cs
@@ -66,6 +66,10 @@ public enum MomentoErrorCode
     /// </summary>
     FAILED_PRECONDITION_ERROR,
     /// <summary>
+    /// Unable to connect to the server
+    /// </summary>
+    CONNECTION_ERROR,
+    /// <summary>
     /// Unknown error has occurred
     /// </summary>
     UNKNOWN_ERROR
diff --git a/src/Momento.Sdk/Internal/DataGrpcManager.cs b/src/Momento.Sdk/Internal/DataGrpcManager.cs
index b1210b1f..06d3eeff 100644
--- a/src/Momento.Sdk/Internal/DataGrpcManager.cs
+++ b/src/Momento.Sdk/Internal/DataGrpcManager.cs
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 using Momento.Sdk.Config;
 using Momento.Sdk.Config.Middleware;
 using Momento.Sdk.Config.Retry;
+using Momento.Sdk.Exceptions;
 using Momento.Sdk.Internal.Middleware;
 using static System.Reflection.Assembly;
 
@@ -299,24 +300,25 @@ internal DataGrpcManager(IConfiguration config, string authToken, string endpoin
         ).ToList();
 
         var client = new Scs.ScsClient(invoker);
-
-        if (config.TransportStrategy.EagerConnectionTimeout != null)
+        Client = new DataClientWithMiddleware(client, middlewares);
+    }
+    
+    internal async Task EagerConnectAsync(TimeSpan eagerConnectionTimeout)
+    {
+        _logger.LogDebug("Attempting eager connection to server");
+        var pingClient = new Ping.PingClient(this.channel);
+        try
         {
-            TimeSpan eagerConnectionTimeout = config.TransportStrategy.EagerConnectionTimeout.Value;
-            _logger.LogDebug("TransportStrategy EagerConnection is enabled; attempting to connect to server");
-            var pingClient = new Ping.PingClient(this.channel);
-            try
-            {
-                pingClient.Ping(new _PingRequest(),
-                    new CallOptions(deadline: DateTime.UtcNow.Add(eagerConnectionTimeout)));
-            }
-            catch (RpcException ex)
-            {
-                _logger.LogWarning($"Failed to eagerly connect to the server; continuing with execution in case failure is recoverable later: {ex}");
-            }
+            await pingClient.PingAsync(new _PingRequest(),
+                new CallOptions(deadline: DateTime.UtcNow.Add(eagerConnectionTimeout)));
+        }
+        catch (RpcException ex)
+        {
+            MomentoErrorTransportDetails transportDetails = new MomentoErrorTransportDetails(
+                new MomentoGrpcErrorDetails(ex.StatusCode, ex.Message, null)
+            );
+            throw new ConnectionException("Eager connection to server failed", transportDetails, ex);
         }
-
-        Client = new DataClientWithMiddleware(client, middlewares);
     }
 
     public void Dispose()
diff --git a/src/Momento.Sdk/Internal/ScsDataClient.cs b/src/Momento.Sdk/Internal/ScsDataClient.cs
index 3750f1ab..024b1271 100644
--- a/src/Momento.Sdk/Internal/ScsDataClient.cs
+++ b/src/Momento.Sdk/Internal/ScsDataClient.cs
@@ -33,6 +33,11 @@ public ScsDataClientBase(IConfiguration config, string authToken, string endpoin
         this._logger = config.LoggerFactory.CreateLogger<ScsDataClient>();
         this._exceptionMapper = new CacheExceptionMapper(config.LoggerFactory);
     }
+    
+    internal Task EagerConnectAsync(TimeSpan eagerConnectionTimeout)
+    {
+        return this.grpcManager.EagerConnectAsync(eagerConnectionTimeout);
+    }
 
     protected Metadata MetadataWithCache(string cacheName)
     {
diff --git a/tests/Integration/Momento.Sdk.Tests/CacheEagerConnectionTest.cs b/tests/Integration/Momento.Sdk.Tests/CacheEagerConnectionTest.cs
index c8e3f286..6b1541e4 100644
--- a/tests/Integration/Momento.Sdk.Tests/CacheEagerConnectionTest.cs
+++ b/tests/Integration/Momento.Sdk.Tests/CacheEagerConnectionTest.cs
@@ -29,15 +29,6 @@ public void CacheClientConstructor_LazyConnection()
         var client = new CacheClient(config, authProvider, defaultTtl);
     }
 
-    [Fact]
-    public void CacheClientConstructor_EagerConnection_Success()
-    {
-        var config = Configurations.Laptop.Latest(loggerFactory);
-        config = config.WithTransportStrategy(config.TransportStrategy.WithEagerConnectionTimeout(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5)));
-        // just validating that we can construct the client when the eager connection is successful
-        var client = new CacheClient(config, authProvider, defaultTtl);
-    }
-
     [Fact]
     public void CacheClientConstructor_WithChannelsAndMaxConn_Success()
     {
@@ -56,13 +47,12 @@ public void CacheClientConstructor_WithChannelsAndMaxConn_Success()
     }
 
     [Fact]
-    public void CacheClientConstructor_EagerConnection_BadEndpoint()
+    public async void CacheClientCreate_EagerConnection_BadEndpoint()
     {
         var config = Configurations.Laptop.Latest(loggerFactory);
-        config = config.WithTransportStrategy(config.TransportStrategy.WithEagerConnectionTimeout(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(2)));
         var authProviderWithBadCacheEndpoint = authProvider.WithCacheEndpoint("cache.cell-external-beta-1.prod.a.momentohq.com:65000");
         Console.WriteLine($"Hello developer!  We are about to run a test that verifies that the cache client is still operational even if our eager connection (ping) fails.  So you will see the test log a warning message about that.  It's expected, don't worry!");
-        // validating that the constructor doesn't fail when the eager connection fails
-        var client = new CacheClient(config, authProviderWithBadCacheEndpoint, defaultTtl);
+        
+        await Assert.ThrowsAsync<ConnectionException>(async () => await CacheClient.CreateAsync(config, authProviderWithBadCacheEndpoint, defaultTtl, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(2)));
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/Unit/Momento.Sdk.Tests/ConfigTest.cs b/tests/Unit/Momento.Sdk.Tests/ConfigTest.cs
index 9b86fecd..78e49fda 100644
--- a/tests/Unit/Momento.Sdk.Tests/ConfigTest.cs
+++ b/tests/Unit/Momento.Sdk.Tests/ConfigTest.cs
@@ -19,11 +19,4 @@ public void V1VConfigs_EqualLatest_HappyPath()
         Assert.Equal(Configurations.InRegion.Default.Latest(), Configurations.InRegion.Default.V1());
         Assert.Equal(Configurations.InRegion.LowLatency.Latest(), Configurations.InRegion.LowLatency.V1());
     }
-
-    [Fact]
-    public void LambdaLatest_HasEagerConnectionTimeout_HappyPath()
-    {
-        var config = Configurations.InRegion.Lambda.Latest();
-        Assert.Equal(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30), config.TransportStrategy.EagerConnectionTimeout);
-    }
 }