diff --git a/api-report/driver-base.api.md b/api-report/driver-base.api.md
index b3fad25e664f..0585ef0c78cb 100644
--- a/api-report/driver-base.api.md
+++ b/api-report/driver-base.api.md
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ import { TypedEventEmitter } from '@fluidframework/common-utils';
 
 // @public
 export class DocumentDeltaConnection extends TypedEventEmitter<IDocumentDeltaConnectionEvents> implements IDocumentDeltaConnection, IDisposable {
-    protected constructor(socket: SocketIOClient.Socket, documentId: string, logger: ITelemetryLogger);
+    protected constructor(socket: SocketIOClient.Socket, documentId: string, logger: ITelemetryLogger, enableLongPollingDowngrades?: boolean);
     // (undocumented)
     protected addTrackedListener(event: string, listener: (...args: any[]) => void): void;
     checkpointSequenceNumber: number | undefined;
diff --git a/packages/drivers/driver-base/src/documentDeltaConnection.ts b/packages/drivers/driver-base/src/documentDeltaConnection.ts
index d3ff2535a388..96342ffffc49 100644
--- a/packages/drivers/driver-base/src/documentDeltaConnection.ts
+++ b/packages/drivers/driver-base/src/documentDeltaConnection.ts
@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@ export class DocumentDeltaConnection
 
     private _details: IConnected | undefined;
 
+    private reconnectAttempts: number = 0;
+
     // Listeners only needed while the connection is in progress
     private readonly connectionListeners: Map<string, (...args: any[]) => void> = new Map();
     // Listeners used throughout the lifetime of the DocumentDeltaConnection
@@ -109,11 +111,13 @@ export class DocumentDeltaConnection
      * @param socket - websocket to be used
      * @param documentId - ID of the document
      * @param logger - for reporting telemetry events
+     * @param enableLongPollingDowngrades - allow connection to be downgraded to long-polling on websocket failure
      */
     protected constructor(
         protected readonly socket: SocketIOClient.Socket,
         public documentId: string,
         logger: ITelemetryLogger,
+        private readonly enableLongPollingDowngrades: boolean = false,
     ) {
         super();
 
@@ -362,16 +366,46 @@ export class DocumentDeltaConnection
 
             // Listen for connection issues
             this.addConnectionListener("connect_error", (error) => {
+                let isWebSocketTransportError = false;
                 try {
                     const description = error?.description;
                     if (description && typeof description === "object") {
+                        if (error.type === "TransportError") {
+                            isWebSocketTransportError = true;
+                        }
                         // That's a WebSocket. Clear it as we can't log it.
                         description.target = undefined;
                     }
                 } catch(_e) {}
+
+                // Handle socket transport downgrading.
+                if (isWebSocketTransportError &&
+                    this.enableLongPollingDowngrades &&
+                    this.socket.io.opts.transports?.[0] !== "polling") {
+                    // Downgrade transports to polling upgrade mechanism.
+                    this.socket.io.opts.transports = ["polling", "websocket"];
+                    // Don't alter reconnection behavior if already enabled.
+                    if (!this.socket.io.reconnection()) {
+                        // Allow single reconnection attempt using polling upgrade mechanism.
+                        this.socket.io.reconnection(true);
+                        this.socket.io.reconnectionAttempts(1);
+                    }
+                }
+
+                // Allow built-in socket.io reconnection handling.
+                if (this.socket.io.reconnection() &&
+                    this.reconnectAttempts < this.socket.io.reconnectionAttempts()) {
+                    // Reconnection is enabled and maximum reconnect attempts have not been reached.
+                    return;
+                }
+
                 fail(true, this.createErrorObject("connectError", error));
             });
 
+            this.addConnectionListener("reconnect_attempt", () => {
+                this.reconnectAttempts++;
+            });
+
             // Listen for timeouts
             this.addConnectionListener("connect_timeout", () => {
                 fail(true, this.createErrorObject("connectTimeout"));
diff --git a/packages/drivers/routerlicious-driver/src/documentDeltaConnection.ts b/packages/drivers/routerlicious-driver/src/documentDeltaConnection.ts
index 9dbe787b7d99..2dc45ee61cfc 100644
--- a/packages/drivers/routerlicious-driver/src/documentDeltaConnection.ts
+++ b/packages/drivers/routerlicious-driver/src/documentDeltaConnection.ts
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ export class R11sDocumentDeltaConnection extends DocumentDeltaConnection
                     tenantId,
                 },
                 reconnection: false,
+                // Default to websocket connection, with long-polling disabled
                 transports: ["websocket"],
                 timeout: timeoutMs,
             });
@@ -46,7 +47,9 @@ export class R11sDocumentDeltaConnection extends DocumentDeltaConnection
             versions: protocolVersions,
         };
 
-        const deltaConnection = new R11sDocumentDeltaConnection(socket, id, logger);
+        // TODO: expose to host at factory level
+        const enableLongPollingDowngrades = true;
+        const deltaConnection = new R11sDocumentDeltaConnection(socket, id, logger, enableLongPollingDowngrades);
 
         await deltaConnection.initialize(connectMessage, timeoutMs);
         return deltaConnection;
diff --git a/server/routerlicious/packages/services-shared/src/socketIoServer.ts b/server/routerlicious/packages/services-shared/src/socketIoServer.ts
index cb8e3bf3b2f7..fa127135eafc 100644
--- a/server/routerlicious/packages/services-shared/src/socketIoServer.ts
+++ b/server/routerlicious/packages/services-shared/src/socketIoServer.ts
@@ -117,12 +117,12 @@ export function create(
 
     // Create and register a socket.io connection on the server
     const io = new Server(server, {
-        // enable compatibility with socket.io v2 clients
+        // Enable compatibility with socket.io v2 clients
         allowEIO3: true,
         // Indicates whether a connection should use compression
         perMessageDeflate: true,
-        // ensure long polling is never used
-        transports: [ "websocket" ],
+        // Enable long-polling as a fallback
+        transports: ["websocket", "polling"],
         cors: {
             // Explicitly allow all origins by reflecting request origin.
             // As a service that has potential to host countless different client apps,