diff --git a/Networking/Sources/MsQuicSwift/QuicStream.swift b/Networking/Sources/MsQuicSwift/QuicStream.swift
index 9690d75f..d19a421e 100644
--- a/Networking/Sources/MsQuicSwift/QuicStream.swift
+++ b/Networking/Sources/MsQuicSwift/QuicStream.swift
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ private struct Storage {
     let connection: QuicConnection
 }
 
+public enum SendError: Error {
+    case emptyData
+}
+
 public final class QuicStream: Sendable {
     public let id: UniqueId
     private let logger: Logger
@@ -97,9 +101,13 @@ public final class QuicStream: Sendable {
                 throw QuicError.alreadyClosed
             }
 
-            // TODO: improve the case when data is empty
             let messageLength = data.count
 
+            if messageLength == 0 {
+                logger.trace("No data to send.")
+                throw SendError.emptyData // Throw a specific error or return
+            }
+
             let sendBufferRaw = UnsafeMutableRawPointer.allocate( // !! allocate
                 byteCount: MemoryLayout<QUIC_BUFFER>.size + messageLength,
                 alignment: MemoryLayout<QUIC_BUFFER>.alignment
@@ -107,8 +115,7 @@ public final class QuicStream: Sendable {
 
             let sendBuffer = sendBufferRaw.assumingMemoryBound(to: QUIC_BUFFER.self)
             let bufferPointer = sendBufferRaw.advanced(by: MemoryLayout<QUIC_BUFFER>.size).assumingMemoryBound(to: UInt8.self)
-            data.copyBytes(to: bufferPointer, count: messageLength) // TODO: figure out a better way to avoid memory copy here
-
+            data.withUnsafeBytes { bufferPointer.update(from: $0.baseAddress!.assumingMemoryBound(to: UInt8.self), count: messageLength) }
             sendBuffer.pointee.Buffer = bufferPointer
             sendBuffer.pointee.Length = UInt32(messageLength)
 
diff --git a/Networking/Sources/Networking/Connection.swift b/Networking/Sources/Networking/Connection.swift
index 46f2e7e4..998b2116 100644
--- a/Networking/Sources/Networking/Connection.swift
+++ b/Networking/Sources/Networking/Connection.swift
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import AsyncChannels
 import Foundation
 import MsQuicSwift
+import Synchronization
 import TracingUtils
 import Utils
 
@@ -36,8 +37,7 @@ public final class Connection<Handler: StreamHandler>: Sendable, ConnectionInfoP
 
     public let role: PeerRole
     public let remoteAddress: NetAddr
-    private let lastActive: ThreadSafeContainer<TimeInterval> = .init(0)
-
+    private let lastActive: Atomic<TimeInterval> = Atomic(0)
     let presistentStreams: ThreadSafeContainer<
         [Handler.PresistentHandler.StreamKind: Stream<Handler>]
     > = .init([:])
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ public final class Connection<Handler: StreamHandler>: Sendable, ConnectionInfoP
         }
     }
 
-    public var lastActiveTimeStamp: TimeInterval {
-        lastActive.read { $0 }
+    func getLastActive() -> TimeInterval {
+        lastActive.load(ordering: .sequentiallyConsistent)
     }
 
     public var id: UniqueId {
@@ -73,11 +73,11 @@ public final class Connection<Handler: StreamHandler>: Sendable, ConnectionInfoP
         self.role = role
         self.remoteAddress = remoteAddress
         self.initiatedByLocal = initiatedByLocal
-        lastActive.write { $0 = Date().timeIntervalSince1970 }
+        updateLastActive()
     }
 
     func updateLastActive() {
-        lastActive.write { $0 = Date().timeIntervalSince1970 }
+        lastActive.store(Date().timeIntervalSince1970, ordering: .releasing)
     }
 
     func opened(publicKey: Data) throws {
diff --git a/Networking/Sources/Networking/Peer.swift b/Networking/Sources/Networking/Peer.swift
index 16d7717a..fcccccca 100644
--- a/Networking/Sources/Networking/Peer.swift
+++ b/Networking/Sources/Networking/Peer.swift
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ public struct PeerOptions<Handler: StreamHandler>: Sendable {
     }
 }
 
-// TODO: reopen UP stream, peer reputation system to ban peers not following the protocol
+// TODO: peer reputation system to ban peers not following the protocol
 public final class Peer<Handler: StreamHandler>: Sendable {
     private let impl: PeerImpl<Handler>
 
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ final class PeerImpl<Handler: StreamHandler>: Sendable {
                 let currentCount = connections.byAddr.values.filter { $0.role == role }.count
                 if currentCount >= self.settings.maxBuilderConnections {
                     if let conn = connections.byAddr.values.filter({ $0.role == .builder })
-                        .sorted(by: { $0.lastActiveTimeStamp < $1.lastActiveTimeStamp }).first
+                        .sorted(by: { $0.getLastActive() < $1.getLastActive() }).first
                     {
                         self.logger.warning("Replacing least active builder connection at \(conn.remoteAddress)")
                         conn.close(abort: false)