This hack enables node.js to handle connection timeouts.

net.Stream.setConnTimeout.hack.js

var net = require('net');
var sys = require('sys');

// START setConnTimeout hack
net.Stream.prototype._orig_connect = net.Stream.prototype.connect;
net.Stream.prototype.connect = function () {
  var self = this;
  if (typeof self.conn_timeout !== 'undefined' && self.conn_timeout > 0) {
    self.addListener('connect', function () {
      clearTimeout(self.conn_timer);
    });
    self.conn_timer = setTimeout(function () {
      self.emit('timeout');
      self.destroy();
    }, self.conn_timeout);
  }
  self._orig_connect.apply(self, arguments);
};
net.Stream.prototype.setConnTimeout = function (timeout) {
  this.conn_timeout = parseInt(timeout);
};
// END setConnTimeout hack


var sock = new net.Stream();
sock.setConnTimeout(1000);
sock.addListener('error', function (err) {
  sys.puts("Error: " + sys.inspect(err));
});
sock.addListener('conn_timeout', function () {
  sys.puts("Connection timeout occured.");
});
sock.connect(12345, "23.23.23.23");