diff --git a/smolmix/examples/tunnel_https.rs b/smolmix/examples/tunnel_https.rs
index fd80126095..a789b568c4 100644
--- a/smolmix/examples/tunnel_https.rs
+++ b/smolmix/examples/tunnel_https.rs
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ async fn main() -> Result<(), BoxError> {
 
     // Hand the TLS stream to hyper for proper HTTP/1.1 handling.
     let (mut sender, conn) = hyper::client::conn::http1::handshake(TokioIo::new(tls)).await?;
-    tokio::spawn(conn);
+    let conn_handle = tokio::spawn(conn);
 
     let req = Request::get(path)
         .header("Host", host)
@@ -94,6 +94,10 @@ async fn main() -> Result<(), BoxError> {
     let slowdown = mixnet_duration.as_millis() as f64 / clearnet_duration.as_millis().max(1) as f64;
     info!("  Slowdown:    {slowdown:.1}x");
 
+    // Drop the sender so hyper knows we're done, then wait for the connection task.
+    drop(sender);
+    let _ = conn_handle.await;
+
     tunnel.shutdown().await;
     Ok(())
 }
diff --git a/smolmix/examples/tunnel_websocket.rs b/smolmix/examples/tunnel_websocket.rs
index ba6230b87b..d59be5d9e7 100644
--- a/smolmix/examples/tunnel_websocket.rs
+++ b/smolmix/examples/tunnel_websocket.rs
@@ -47,12 +47,15 @@ async fn main() -> Result<(), BoxError> {
         .install_default()
         .expect("Failed to install rustls crypto provider");
 
-    // Resolve hostname via clearnet DNS (smolmix-dns will handle this later).
+    // WARNING: This resolves the hostname via clearnet DNS, leaking the target
+    // to a local observer. In production, resolve DNS through the tunnel itself
+    // (see tunnel_dns.rs) or use smolmix-dns when available. We use clearnet
+    // here only because this example needs a known IP before the tunnel is up.
     let addr = tokio::net::lookup_host(format!("{WS_HOST}:443"))
         .await?
         .next()
         .ok_or("DNS resolution failed")?;
-    info!("Resolved {WS_HOST} -> {addr}");
+    info!("Resolved {WS_HOST} -> {addr} (via clearnet DNS)");
 
     let connector = tls_connector();
     let domain = ServerName::try_from(WS_HOST)?.to_owned();
diff --git a/smolmix/src/lib.rs b/smolmix/src/lib.rs
index 815f456a84..8c30d74dd6 100644
--- a/smolmix/src/lib.rs
+++ b/smolmix/src/lib.rs
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ mod error;
 mod tunnel;
 
 pub use error::SmolmixError;
-pub use tunnel::{NetworkEnvironment, TcpStream, Tunnel, UdpSocket};
+pub use tunnel::{IpPair, NetworkEnvironment, Recipient, TcpStream, Tunnel, UdpSocket};
 
 /// Initialise the default tracing/logging subscriber.
 pub fn init_logging() {
diff --git a/smolmix/src/tunnel.rs b/smolmix/src/tunnel.rs
index 70aa2eab41..4a2ba27ec9 100644
--- a/smolmix/src/tunnel.rs
+++ b/smolmix/src/tunnel.rs
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 use std::net::SocketAddr;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
-use nym_ip_packet_requests::IpPair;
+pub use nym_ip_packet_requests::IpPair;
 use nym_sdk::ipr_wrapper::IpMixStream;
 use smoltcp::iface::Config;
 use smoltcp::wire::{HardwareAddress, IpAddress, IpCidr, Ipv4Address};
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ use tokio_smoltcp::{Net, NetConfig};
 
 // Re-export so users only need `use smolmix::*` — no direct dep on nym-sdk or tokio-smoltcp.
 pub use nym_sdk::ipr_wrapper::NetworkEnvironment;
+pub use nym_sdk::mixnet::Recipient;
 pub use tokio_smoltcp::{TcpStream, UdpSocket};
 
 struct ShutdownState {
@@ -69,6 +70,22 @@ impl Tunnel {
         Self::from_stream(ipr_stream).await
     }
 
+    /// Create a new tunnel connected to a specific IPR exit node.
+    ///
+    /// Use this for testing against a known exit gateway, or when you want to
+    /// bypass automatic IPR discovery:
+    /// ```ignore
+    /// let ipr: Recipient = "gateway-address...".parse()?;
+    /// let tunnel = Tunnel::new_with_ipr(NetworkEnvironment::Mainnet, ipr).await?;
+    /// ```
+    pub async fn new_with_ipr(
+        env: NetworkEnvironment,
+        ipr_address: Recipient,
+    ) -> Result<Self, SmolmixError> {
+        let ipr_stream = IpMixStream::new_with_ipr(env, ipr_address).await?;
+        Self::from_stream(ipr_stream).await
+    }
+
     /// Create a tunnel from a pre-configured [`IpMixStream`].
     ///
     /// Use this if you need to customize the mixnet client (e.g. custom gateway,