diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index 1291a73c65..aa174ae052 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -91,8 +91,8 @@ AudioThread *audioThread;
 
 #ifdef HAS_TFT
 #include "DeviceScreen.h"
+#include "sharedMem/MeshPacketClient.h"
 #include "sharedMem/MeshPacketServer.h"
-#include "sharedMem/PacketClient.h"
 
 DeviceScreen *deviceScreen = nullptr;
 #endif
@@ -365,7 +365,7 @@ void setup()
 #endif
 #ifdef HAS_TFT
     deviceScreen = &DeviceScreen::create();
-    deviceScreen->init();
+    deviceScreen->init(new MeshPacketClient);
 #endif
 
     // Currently only the tbeam has a PMU
@@ -874,7 +874,6 @@ void setup()
 
 #ifdef HAS_TFT
     MeshPacketServer::init();
-    PacketClient::init();
 #endif
 
     // Start airtime logger thread.
diff --git a/src/mesh/sharedMem/MeshPacketClient.cpp b/src/mesh/sharedMem/MeshPacketClient.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7560a16041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/mesh/sharedMem/MeshPacketClient.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+#include "MeshPacketClient.h"
+
+void MeshPacketClient::init(void)
+{
+    PacketClient::init();
+}
+
+MeshPacketClient::MeshPacketClient() {}
+
+bool MeshPacketClient::connect(void)
+{
+    PacketClient::connect();
+}
+
+bool MeshPacketClient::disconnect(void)
+{
+    PacketClient::disconnect();
+}
+
+bool MeshPacketClient::isConnected(void)
+{
+    return PacketClient::isConnected();
+}
+
+bool MeshPacketClient::send(meshtastic_ToRadio &&to)
+{
+    static uint32_t id = 0;
+    PacketClient::sendPacket(DataPacket<meshtastic_ToRadio>(++id, to));
+}
+
+meshtastic_FromRadio MeshPacketClient::receive(void)
+{
+    auto p = receivePacket()->move();
+    if (p) {
+        return static_cast<DataPacket<meshtastic_FromRadio> *>(p.get())->getData();
+    } else {
+        return meshtastic_FromRadio();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/mesh/sharedMem/MeshPacketClient.h b/src/mesh/sharedMem/MeshPacketClient.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..48ef8cb1ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/mesh/sharedMem/MeshPacketClient.h
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include "mesh-pb-constants.h"
+#include "sharedMem/PacketClient.h"
+
+/**
+ * @brief This is a wrapper class for the PaketClient to avoid dealing with DataPackets
+ *        in the application code.
+ *
+ */
+class MeshPacketClient : public PacketClient
+{
+  public:
+    MeshPacketClient();
+    virtual void init(void);
+    virtual bool connect(void);
+    virtual bool disconnect(void);
+    virtual bool isConnected(void);
+
+    virtual bool send(meshtastic_ToRadio &&to);
+    virtual meshtastic_FromRadio receive(void);
+};
diff --git a/src/mesh/sharedMem/MeshPacketServer.h b/src/mesh/sharedMem/MeshPacketServer.h
index 858f968df9..2d29db503d 100644
--- a/src/mesh/sharedMem/MeshPacketServer.h
+++ b/src/mesh/sharedMem/MeshPacketServer.h
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+#pragma once
+
 #include "mesh-pb-constants.h"
 #include "sharedMem/PacketServer.h"
 
diff --git a/src/mesh/sharedMem/PacketClient.cpp b/src/mesh/sharedMem/PacketClient.cpp
index 4ef7b0c9dc..2a819d1554 100644
--- a/src/mesh/sharedMem/PacketClient.cpp
+++ b/src/mesh/sharedMem/PacketClient.cpp
@@ -5,18 +5,29 @@
 
 const uint32_t max_packet_queue_size = 10;
 
-PacketClient *packetClient = nullptr;
-
 void PacketClient::init(void)
 {
-    // for now we hard-code (only) one client task, but in principle one could
-    // create as many PacketServer/PacketClient pairs as desired.
-    packetClient = new PacketClient();
-    packetClient->connect(sharedQueue);
+    // sharedQueue is currently defined external, it is not shared between processes
+    connect(sharedQueue);
 }
 
 PacketClient::PacketClient() : queue(nullptr) {}
 
+bool PacketClient::connect(void)
+{
+    is_connected = true;
+}
+
+bool PacketClient::disconnect(void)
+{
+    is_connected = false;
+}
+
+bool PacketClient::isConnected(void)
+{
+    return is_connected;
+}
+
 int PacketClient::connect(SharedQueue *_queue)
 {
     if (!queue) {
diff --git a/src/mesh/sharedMem/PacketClient.h b/src/mesh/sharedMem/PacketClient.h
index 4da3c34ec0..3a8654d03f 100644
--- a/src/mesh/sharedMem/PacketClient.h
+++ b/src/mesh/sharedMem/PacketClient.h
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #pragma once
 
+#include "IClientBase.h"
 #include "Packet.h"
 
 class SharedQueue;
@@ -9,19 +10,27 @@ class SharedQueue;
  *        send packets to the shared queue
  *
  */
-class PacketClient
+class PacketClient : public IClientBase
 {
   public:
     PacketClient();
-    static void init(void);
-    virtual int connect(SharedQueue *_queue);
+    virtual void init(void);
+    virtual bool connect(void);
+    virtual bool disconnect(void);
+    virtual bool isConnected(void);
+
     virtual bool sendPacket(Packet &&p);
     virtual Packet::PacketPtr receivePacket();
+
     virtual bool hasData() const;
     virtual bool available() const;
 
+    virtual ~PacketClient() = default;
+
+  protected:
+    virtual int connect(SharedQueue *_queue);
+
   private:
+    bool is_connected = false;
     SharedQueue *queue;
 };
-
-extern PacketClient *packetClient;
diff --git a/variants/t-deck/platformio.ini b/variants/t-deck/platformio.ini
index b727b29d49..21acca9f25 100644
--- a/variants/t-deck/platformio.ini
+++ b/variants/t-deck/platformio.ini
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 [env:t-deck]
 extends = esp32s3_base
 board = t-deck
+board_build.partitions = default_16MB.csv ; just for test
 upload_protocol = esp-builtin
 build_flags = ${esp32_base.build_flags}
 	-D T_DECK