diff --git a/kasa/cli.py b/kasa/cli.py
index 167179e36..de9eb95cc 100755
--- a/kasa/cli.py
+++ b/kasa/cli.py
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ async def state(ctx, dev: SmartDevice):
     """Print out device state and versions."""
     await dev.update()
     click.echo(click.style(f"== {dev.alias} - {dev.model} ==", bold=True))
-    click.echo(f"\tHost: {dev.host}")
+    click.echo(f"\tHost: {dev.protocol.host}")
     click.echo(
         click.style(
             "\tDevice state: {}\n".format("ON" if dev.is_on else "OFF"),
diff --git a/kasa/discover.py b/kasa/discover.py
index 7aaf85245..efdcedaa1 100755
--- a/kasa/discover.py
+++ b/kasa/discover.py
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ def __init__(
         self.timeout = timeout
         self.interface = interface
         self.on_discovered = on_discovered
-        self.protocol = TPLinkSmartHomeProtocol()
+        self.protocol = TPLinkSmartHomeProtocol(target)
         self.target = (target, Discover.DISCOVERY_PORT)
         self.discovered_devices = {}
         self.discovered_devices_raw = {}
@@ -201,13 +201,13 @@ async def discover(
     async def discover_single(host: str) -> SmartDevice:
         """Discover a single device by the given IP address.
 
-        :param host: Hostname of device to query
+        :param host: fname of device to query
         :rtype: SmartDevice
         :return: Object for querying/controlling found device.
         """
-        protocol = TPLinkSmartHomeProtocol()
+        protocol = TPLinkSmartHomeProtocol(host)
 
-        info = await protocol.query(host, Discover.DISCOVERY_QUERY)
+        info = await protocol.query(Discover.DISCOVERY_QUERY)
 
         device_class = Discover._get_device_class(info)
         if device_class is not None:
diff --git a/kasa/protocol.py b/kasa/protocol.py
index 6ee6f72d6..864fae677 100755
--- a/kasa/protocol.py
+++ b/kasa/protocol.py
@@ -28,14 +28,21 @@ class TPLinkSmartHomeProtocol:
     DEFAULT_PORT = 9999
     DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = 5
 
-    @staticmethod
-    async def query(host: str, request: Union[str, Dict], retry_count: int = 3) -> Dict:
-        """Request information from a TP-Link SmartHome Device.
+    def __init__(self, host: str, retry_count: int = 3):
+        """Initialize a new instance of protocol.
 
         :param str host: host name or ip address of the device
+        :param int retry_count: how many retries to do in case of failure
+        """
+        self.host = host
+        self.port = TPLinkSmartHomeProtocol.DEFAULT_PORT
+        self.retry_count = retry_count
+
+    async def query(self, request: Union[str, Dict]) -> Dict:
+        """Request information from a TP-Link SmartHome Device.
+
         :param request: command to send to the device (can be either dict or
         json string)
-        :param retry_count: how many retries to do in case of failure
         :return: response dict
         """
         if isinstance(request, dict):
@@ -43,11 +50,9 @@ async def query(host: str, request: Union[str, Dict], retry_count: int = 3) -> D
 
         timeout = TPLinkSmartHomeProtocol.DEFAULT_TIMEOUT
         writer = None
-        for retry in range(retry_count + 1):
+        for retry in range(self.retry_count + 1):
             try:
-                task = asyncio.open_connection(
-                    host, TPLinkSmartHomeProtocol.DEFAULT_PORT
-                )
+                task = asyncio.open_connection(self.host, self.port)
                 reader, writer = await asyncio.wait_for(task, timeout=timeout)
                 _LOGGER.debug("> (%i) %s", len(request), request)
                 writer.write(TPLinkSmartHomeProtocol.encrypt(request))
@@ -73,7 +78,7 @@ async def query(host: str, request: Union[str, Dict], retry_count: int = 3) -> D
                 return json_payload
 
             except Exception as ex:
-                if retry >= retry_count:
+                if retry >= self.retry_count:
                     _LOGGER.debug("Giving up after %s retries", retry)
                     raise SmartDeviceException(
                         "Unable to query the device: %s" % ex
diff --git a/kasa/smartdevice.py b/kasa/smartdevice.py
index 19589bbad..12e1c683a 100755
--- a/kasa/smartdevice.py
+++ b/kasa/smartdevice.py
@@ -218,11 +218,9 @@ def __init__(self, host: str) -> None:
 
         :param str host: host name or ip address on which the device listens
         """
-        self.host = host
-
-        self.protocol = TPLinkSmartHomeProtocol()
+        self.protocol = TPLinkSmartHomeProtocol(host)
         self.emeter_type = "emeter"
-        _LOGGER.debug("Initializing %s of type %s", self.host, type(self))
+        _LOGGER.debug("Initializing %s of type %s", self.protocol.host, type(self))
         self._device_type = DeviceType.Unknown
         # TODO: typing Any is just as using Optional[Dict] would require separate checks in
         #       accessors. the @updated_required decorator does not ensure mypy that these
@@ -255,7 +253,7 @@ async def _query_helper(
         request = self._create_request(target, cmd, arg, child_ids)
 
         try:
-            response = await self.protocol.query(host=self.host, request=request)
+            response = await self.protocol.query(request=request)
         except Exception as ex:
             raise SmartDeviceException(f"Communication error on {target}:{cmd}") from ex
 
@@ -300,7 +298,7 @@ async def update(self):
         # Check for emeter if we were never updated, or if the device has emeter
         if self._last_update is None or self.has_emeter:
             req.update(self._create_emeter_request())
-        self._last_update = await self.protocol.query(self.host, req)
+        self._last_update = await self.protocol.query(req)
         # TODO: keep accessible for tests
         self._sys_info = self._last_update["system"]["get_sysinfo"]
 
@@ -741,5 +739,5 @@ def is_color(self) -> bool:
 
     def __repr__(self):
         if self._last_update is None:
-            return f"<{self._device_type} at {self.host} - update() needed>"
-        return f"<{self._device_type} model {self.model} at {self.host} ({self.alias}), is_on: {self.is_on} - dev specific: {self.state_information}>"
+            return f"<{self._device_type} at {self.protocol.host} - update() needed>"
+        return f"<{self._device_type} model {self.model} at {self.protocol.host} ({self.alias}), is_on: {self.is_on} - dev specific: {self.state_information}>"
diff --git a/kasa/smartstrip.py b/kasa/smartstrip.py
index 222c73e45..be79f99b5 100755
--- a/kasa/smartstrip.py
+++ b/kasa/smartstrip.py
@@ -94,7 +94,9 @@ async def update(self):
             _LOGGER.debug("Initializing %s child sockets", len(children))
             for child in children:
                 self.children.append(
-                    SmartStripPlug(self.host, parent=self, child_id=child["id"])
+                    SmartStripPlug(
+                        self.protocol.host, parent=self, child_id=child["id"]
+                    )
                 )
 
     async def turn_on(self, **kwargs):
diff --git a/kasa/tests/conftest.py b/kasa/tests/conftest.py
index 69f1f3b72..0510691c1 100644
--- a/kasa/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/kasa/tests/conftest.py
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ def get_device_for_file(file):
         sysinfo = json.load(f)
         model = basename(file)
         p = device_for_file(model)(host="123.123.123.123")
-        p.protocol = FakeTransportProtocol(sysinfo)
+        p.protocol = FakeTransportProtocol("123.123.123.123", sysinfo)
         asyncio.run(p.update())
         return p
 
diff --git a/kasa/tests/newfakes.py b/kasa/tests/newfakes.py
index 55c3e00cb..a022becc9 100644
--- a/kasa/tests/newfakes.py
+++ b/kasa/tests/newfakes.py
@@ -253,8 +253,9 @@ def success(res):
 
 
 class FakeTransportProtocol(TPLinkSmartHomeProtocol):
-    def __init__(self, info):
+    def __init__(self, host, info):
         self.discovery_data = info
+        self.host = host
         proto = FakeTransportProtocol.baseproto
 
         for target in info:
@@ -415,7 +416,7 @@ def light_state(self, x, *args):
         },
     }
 
-    async def query(self, host, request, port=9999):
+    async def query(self, request):
         proto = self.proto
 
         # collect child ids from context
diff --git a/kasa/tests/test_protocol.py b/kasa/tests/test_protocol.py
index 51c01d49d..535139a45 100644
--- a/kasa/tests/test_protocol.py
+++ b/kasa/tests/test_protocol.py
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@ def aio_mock_writer(_, __):
 
     conn = mocker.patch("asyncio.open_connection", side_effect=aio_mock_writer)
     with pytest.raises(SmartDeviceException):
-        await TPLinkSmartHomeProtocol.query("127.0.0.1", {}, retry_count=retry_count)
+        protocol = TPLinkSmartHomeProtocol("127.0.0.1", retry_count=retry_count)
+        await protocol.query({})
 
     assert conn.call_count == retry_count + 1