diff --git a/examples/ESP/main.cpp b/examples/ESP/main.cpp
index 198d39a6..b9f46a7b 100644
--- a/examples/ESP/main.cpp
+++ b/examples/ESP/main.cpp
@@ -18,16 +18,14 @@ ESP8266WiFiMulti WiFiMulti;
 #define STASSID "YOUR_WIFI_SSID"
 #define STAPSK  "YOUR_WIFI_PW"
 
-#define OCPP_HOST "echo.websocket.events"
-#define OCPP_PORT 80
-#define OCPP_URL "ws://echo.websocket.events/"
+#define OCPP_BACKEND_URL   "ws://echo.websocket.events"
+#define OCPP_CHARGE_BOX_ID ""
 
 //
 //  Settings which worked for my SteVe instance:
 //
-//#define OCPP_HOST "my.instance.com"
-//#define OCPP_PORT 80
-//#define OCPP_URL "ws://my.instance.com/steve/websocket/CentralSystemService/esp-charger"
+//#define OCPP_BACKEND_URL   "ws://192.168.178.100:8180/steve/websocket/CentralSystemService"
+//#define OCPP_CHARGE_BOX_ID "esp-charger"
 
 void setup() {
 
@@ -60,7 +58,7 @@ void setup() {
     /*
      * Initialize the OCPP library
      */
-    mocpp_initialize(OCPP_HOST, OCPP_PORT, OCPP_URL, "My Charging Station", "My company name");
+    mocpp_initialize(OCPP_BACKEND_URL, OCPP_CHARGE_BOX_ID, "My Charging Station", "My company name");
 
     /*
      * Integrate OCPP functionality. You can leave out the following part if your EVSE doesn't need it.
diff --git a/src/MicroOcpp.cpp b/src/MicroOcpp.cpp
index cc9f9085..262ffb43 100644
--- a/src/MicroOcpp.cpp
+++ b/src/MicroOcpp.cpp
@@ -56,24 +56,90 @@ using namespace MicroOcpp::Facade;
 using namespace MicroOcpp::Ocpp16;
 
 #ifndef MO_CUSTOM_WS
-void mocpp_initialize(const char *CS_hostname, uint16_t CS_port, const char *CS_url, const char *chargePointModel, const char *chargePointVendor, FilesystemOpt fsOpt, const char *login, const char *password, const char *CA_cert, bool autoRecover) {
+void mocpp_initialize(const char *backendUrl, const char *chargeBoxId, const char *chargePointModel, const char *chargePointVendor, FilesystemOpt fsOpt, const char *password, const char *CA_cert, bool autoRecover) {
     if (context) {
         MO_DBG_WARN("already initialized. To reinit, call mocpp_deinitialize() before");
         return;
     }
 
+    if (!backendUrl || !chargePointModel || !chargePointVendor) {
+        MO_DBG_ERR("invalid args");
+        return;
+    }
+
+    if (!chargeBoxId) {
+        chargeBoxId = "";
+    }
+
+    /*
+     * parse backendUrl so that it suits the links2004/arduinoWebSockets interface
+     */
+    std::string url = backendUrl;
+
+    //tolower protocol specifier
+    for (auto c = url.begin(); *c != ':' && c != url.end(); c++) {
+        *c = tolower(*c);
+    }
+
+    bool isTLS = true;
+    if (!strncmp(url.c_str(),"wss://",strlen("wss://"))) {
+        isTLS = true;
+    } else if (!strncmp(url.c_str(),"ws://",strlen("ws://"))) {
+        isTLS = false;
+    } else {
+        MO_DBG_ERR("only ws:// and wss:// supported");
+        return;
+    }
+
+    //parse host, port
+    std::string host_port_path = url.substr(url.find_first_of("://") + strlen("://"));
+    std::string host_port = host_port_path.substr(0, host_port_path.find_first_of('/'));
+    std::string host = host_port.substr(0, host_port.find_first_of(':'));
+    if (host.empty()) {
+        MO_DBG_ERR("could not parse host: %s", url.c_str());
+        return;
+    }
+    uint16_t port = 0;
+    std::string port_str = host_port.substr(host.length());
+    if (port_str.empty()) {
+        port = isTLS ? 443U : 80U;
+    } else {
+        //skip leading ':'
+        port_str = port_str.substr(1);
+        for (auto c = port_str.begin(); c != port_str.end(); c++) {
+            if (*c < '0' || *c > '9') {
+                MO_DBG_ERR("could not parse port: %s", url.c_str());
+                return; 
+            }
+            auto p = port * 10U + (*c - '0');
+            if (p < port) {
+                MO_DBG_ERR("could not parse port (overflow): %s", url.c_str());
+                return;
+            }
+            port = p;
+        }
+    }
+
+    if (url.back() != '/') {
+        url += '/';
+    }
+
+    url += chargeBoxId;
+
+    MO_DBG_INFO("connecting to %s -- (host: %s, port: %u)", url.c_str(), host.c_str(), port);
+
     if (!webSocket)
         webSocket = new WebSocketsClient();
 
-    if (!strncmp(CS_url,"wss",3) || !strncmp(CS_url,"https",5))
+    if (isTLS)
     {
         // server address, port, URL and TLS certificate
-        webSocket->beginSslWithCA(CS_hostname, CS_port, CS_url, CA_cert, "ocpp1.6");
+        webSocket->beginSslWithCA(host.c_str(), port, url.c_str(), CA_cert, "ocpp1.6");
     }
     else
     {
         // server address, port, URL
-        webSocket->begin(CS_hostname, CS_port, CS_url, "ocpp1.6");
+        webSocket->begin(host.c_str(), port, url.c_str(), "ocpp1.6");
     }
 
     // try ever 5000 again if connection has failed
@@ -86,8 +152,8 @@ void mocpp_initialize(const char *CS_hostname, uint16_t CS_port, const char *CS_
     webSocket->enableHeartbeat(15000, 3000, 2); //comment this one out to for specific OCPP servers
 
     // add authentication data (optional)
-    if (login && password && strlen(login) + strlen(password) >= 2) {
-        webSocket->setAuthorization(login, password);
+    if (password && strlen(password) + strlen(chargeBoxId) >= 4) {
+        webSocket->setAuthorization(chargeBoxId, password);
     }
 
     delete connection;
diff --git a/src/MicroOcpp.h b/src/MicroOcpp.h
index 44e6939a..7d7685e2 100644
--- a/src/MicroOcpp.h
+++ b/src/MicroOcpp.h
@@ -36,19 +36,16 @@ using MicroOcpp::OnReceiveErrorListener;
  * https://github.com/matth-x/MicroOcpp/issues/36#issuecomment-989716573 for recommendations on
  * how to track down the issue with the connection.
  * 
- * This is a convenience function only available for Arduino. For a full initialization with TLS,
- * please refer to https://github.com/matth-x/MicroOcpp/tree/master/examples/ESP-TLS
+ * This is a convenience function only available for Arduino.
  */
 void mocpp_initialize(
-            const char *CS_hostname, //e.g. "example.com"
-            uint16_t CS_port,        //e.g. 80
-            const char *CS_url,      //e.g. "ws://example.com/steve/websocket/CentralSystemService/charger001"
+            const char *backendUrl,    //e.g. "wss://example.com:8443/steve/websocket/CentralSystemService"
+            const char *chargeBoxId,   //e.g. "charger001"
             const char *chargePointModel = "Demo Charger",     //model name of this charger
             const char *chargePointVendor = "My Company Ltd.", //brand name
             MicroOcpp::FilesystemOpt fsOpt = MicroOcpp::FilesystemOpt::Use_Mount_FormatOnFail, //If this library should format the flash if necessary. Find further options in ConfigurationOptions.h
-            const char *login = "", //login present in the websocket message header
-            const char *password = "", //password present in the websocket message header
-            const char *CA_cert = NULL, //TLS certificate
+            const char *password = nullptr, //password present in the websocket message header
+            const char *CA_cert = nullptr, //TLS certificate
             bool autoRecover = false); //automatically sanitize the local data store when the lib detects recurring crashes. Not recommended during development
 #endif