diff --git a/internal/command/controller/run.go b/internal/command/controller/run.go
index a31f1e2..788073a 100644
--- a/internal/command/controller/run.go
+++ b/internal/command/controller/run.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strconv"
+	"time"
 )
 
 var ErrRunFailed = errors.New("failed to run controller")
@@ -26,6 +27,7 @@ var noTLS bool
 var sshNoClientAuth bool
 var experimentalRPCV2 bool
 var noExperimentalRPCV2 bool
+var experimentalPingInterval time.Duration
 
 func newRunCommand() *cobra.Command {
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
@@ -65,6 +67,10 @@ func newRunCommand() *cobra.Command {
 	_ = cmd.PersistentFlags().MarkHidden("experimental-rpc-v2")
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&noExperimentalRPCV2, "no-experimental-rpc-v2", false,
 		"disable experimental RPC v2 (https://github.com/cirruslabs/orchard/issues/235)")
+	cmd.PersistentFlags().DurationVar(&experimentalPingInterval, "experimental-ping-interval", 0,
+		"interval between WebSocket PING's sent by the controller to workers and clients, "+
+			"useful when facing intermediate load balancers/proxies that have timeouts "+
+			"smaller than the controller's default 30 second interval")
 
 	return cmd
 }
@@ -156,6 +162,14 @@ func runController(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) (err error) {
 		controllerOpts = append(controllerOpts, controller.WithExperimentalRPCV2())
 	}
 
+	if experimentalPingInterval != 0 {
+		if experimentalPingInterval < 5*time.Second {
+			return fmt.Errorf("--experimental-ping-interval's value cannot be less than 5 seconds")
+		}
+
+		controllerOpts = append(controllerOpts, controller.WithPingInterval(experimentalPingInterval))
+	}
+
 	controllerInstance, err := controller.New(controllerOpts...)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
diff --git a/internal/controller/api_rpc_portforward.go b/internal/controller/api_rpc_portforward.go
index a91faca..af746cf 100644
--- a/internal/controller/api_rpc_portforward.go
+++ b/internal/controller/api_rpc_portforward.go
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ func (controller *Controller) rpcPortForward(ctx *gin.Context) responder.Respond
 		case <-proxyCtx.Done():
 			// Do not close the WebSocket connection as it should be already closed by our rendezvous party
 			return responder.Empty()
-		case <-time.After(30 * time.Second):
+		case <-time.After(controller.pingInterval):
 			pingCtx, pingCtxCancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 5*time.Second)
 
 			if err := wsConn.Ping(pingCtx); err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/controller/api_rpc_watch.go b/internal/controller/api_rpc_watch.go
index 474a73e..c46c162 100644
--- a/internal/controller/api_rpc_watch.go
+++ b/internal/controller/api_rpc_watch.go
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ func (controller *Controller) rpcWatch(ctx *gin.Context) responder.Responder {
 				return controller.wsError(wsConn, websocket.StatusInternalError, "watch RPC",
 					"failure to write the watch instruction", err)
 			}
-		case <-time.After(30 * time.Second):
+		case <-time.After(controller.pingInterval):
 			pingCtx, pingCtxCancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 5*time.Second)
 
 			if err := wsConn.Ping(pingCtx); err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/controller/api_vms_portforward.go b/internal/controller/api_vms_portforward.go
index 0395879..1a94532 100644
--- a/internal/controller/api_vms_portforward.go
+++ b/internal/controller/api_vms_portforward.go
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ func (controller *Controller) portForward(
 				}
 
 				return responder.Empty()
-			case <-time.After(30 * time.Second):
+			case <-time.After(controller.pingInterval):
 				pingCtx, pingCtxCancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 5*time.Second)
 
 				if err := wsConn.Ping(pingCtx); err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/controller/controller.go b/internal/controller/controller.go
index e1fbf42..59538f7 100644
--- a/internal/controller/controller.go
+++ b/internal/controller/controller.go
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ type Controller struct {
 	workerOfflineTimeout time.Duration
 	maxWorkersPerLicense uint
 	experimentalRPCV2    bool
+	pingInterval         time.Duration
 
 	sshListenAddr   string
 	sshSigner       ssh.Signer
@@ -75,6 +76,7 @@ func New(opts ...Option) (*Controller, error) {
 		ipRendezvous:         rendezvous.New[rendezvous.ResultWithErrorMessage[string]](),
 		workerOfflineTimeout: 3 * time.Minute,
 		maxWorkersPerLicense: maxWorkersPerDefaultLicense,
+		pingInterval:         30 * time.Second,
 	}
 
 	// Apply options
diff --git a/internal/controller/option.go b/internal/controller/option.go
index e49bb0c..23687a9 100644
--- a/internal/controller/option.go
+++ b/internal/controller/option.go
@@ -59,6 +59,12 @@ func WithExperimentalRPCV2() Option {
 	}
 }
 
+func WithPingInterval(pingInterval time.Duration) Option {
+	return func(controller *Controller) {
+		controller.pingInterval = pingInterval
+	}
+}
+
 func WithLogger(logger *zap.Logger) Option {
 	return func(controller *Controller) {
 		controller.logger = logger.Sugar()