diff --git a/protocols/p4runtime/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/p4runtime/api/P4RuntimeController.java b/protocols/p4runtime/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/p4runtime/api/P4RuntimeController.java
index d8bb9c7..3cd81f2 100644
--- a/protocols/p4runtime/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/p4runtime/api/P4RuntimeController.java
+++ b/protocols/p4runtime/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/p4runtime/api/P4RuntimeController.java
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 package org.onosproject.p4runtime.api;
 
 import com.google.common.annotations.Beta;
-import io.grpc.ManagedChannelBuilder;
 import org.onosproject.event.ListenerService;
 import org.onosproject.net.DeviceId;
 import org.onosproject.net.device.ChannelListener;
@@ -29,18 +28,30 @@
 public interface P4RuntimeController extends ListenerService<P4RuntimeEvent, P4RuntimeEventListener> {
 
     /**
-     * Instantiates a new client to operate on the device identified by the given information and reachable using the
-     * given gRPC channel builder. As a result of this method, a {@link P4RuntimeClient} can be later obtained by
-     * invoking {@link #getClient(DeviceId)}. Only one client can exist for the same device identifier. Returns true if
-     * the client was created and the channel to the device is open, false otherwise.
+     * Instantiates a new client to operate on a P4Runtime device identified by
+     * the given information. As a result of this method, a {@link
+     * P4RuntimeClient} can be later obtained by invoking {@link
+     * #getClient(DeviceId)}. Returns true if the client was created and the
+     * channel to the device is open, false otherwise.
+     * <p>
+     * Only one client can exist for the same device ID. Calls to this method
+     * are idempotent for the same [device ID, address, port, p4DeviceId] tuple,
+     * i.e. returns true if such client already exists but a new one is not
+     * created. Throws an {@link IllegalStateException} if a client for device
+     * ID already exists but for different [address, port, p4DeviceId].
      *
-     * @param deviceId       device identifier
-     * @param p4DeviceId     P4Runtime-specific device identifier
-     * @param channelBuilder gRPC channel builder pointing at the P4Runtime server in execution on the device
-     * @return true if the client was created and the channel to the device is open
-     * @throws IllegalStateException if a client already exists for the given device identifier
+     * @param deviceId   device identifier
+     * @param serverAddr address of the P4Runtime server
+     * @param serverPort port of the P4Runtime server
+     * @param p4DeviceId P4Runtime-specific device identifier
+     * @return true if the client was created and the channel to the device is
+     * open
+     * @throws IllegalStateException if a client already exists for this device
+     *                               ID but for different [address, port,
+     *                               p4DeviceId].
      */
-    boolean createClient(DeviceId deviceId, long p4DeviceId, ManagedChannelBuilder channelBuilder);
+    boolean createClient(DeviceId deviceId, String serverAddr, int serverPort,
+                         long p4DeviceId);
 
     /**
      * Returns a client to operate on the given device.
@@ -70,7 +81,7 @@
     /**
      * Returns true if the P4Runtime server running on the given device is reachable, i.e. the channel is open and the
      * server is able to respond to RPCs, false otherwise. Reachability can be tested only if a client was previously
-     * created using {@link #createClient(DeviceId, long, ManagedChannelBuilder)}, otherwise this method returns false.
+     * created using {@link #createClient(DeviceId, String, int, long)}, otherwise this method returns false.
      *
      * @param deviceId device identifier.
      * @return true if a client was created and is able to contact the P4Runtime server, false otherwise.
diff --git a/protocols/p4runtime/ctl/BUCK b/protocols/p4runtime/ctl/BUCK
index 90a0266..cc62acb 100644
--- a/protocols/p4runtime/ctl/BUCK
+++ b/protocols/p4runtime/ctl/BUCK
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
     '//protocols/p4runtime/proto:onos-protocols-p4runtime-proto',
     '//incubator/grpc-dependencies:grpc-core-repkg-' + GRPC_VER,
     '//lib:grpc-stub-' + GRPC_VER,
+    '//lib:grpc-netty-' + GRPC_VER,
     '//lib:protobuf-java-' + PROTOBUF_VER,
 ]
 
diff --git a/protocols/p4runtime/ctl/src/main/java/org/onosproject/p4runtime/ctl/ClientKey.java b/protocols/p4runtime/ctl/src/main/java/org/onosproject/p4runtime/ctl/ClientKey.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ee5e2a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/protocols/p4runtime/ctl/src/main/java/org/onosproject/p4runtime/ctl/ClientKey.java
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2018-present Open Networking Foundation
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.onosproject.p4runtime.ctl;
+
+import com.google.common.base.MoreObjects;
+import org.onosproject.net.DeviceId;
+
+import java.util.Objects;
+
+/**
+ * Key the uniquely identifies a P4Runtime client.
+ */
+final class ClientKey {
+
+    private final DeviceId deviceId;
+    private final String serverAddr;
+    private final int serverPort;
+    private final long p4DeviceId;
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a new client key.
+     *
+     * @param deviceId   ONOS device ID
+     * @param serverAddr P4Runtime server address
+     * @param serverPort P4Runtime server port
+     * @param p4DeviceId P4Runtime server-internal device ID
+     */
+    ClientKey(DeviceId deviceId, String serverAddr, int serverPort, long p4DeviceId) {
+        this.deviceId = deviceId;
+        this.serverAddr = serverAddr;
+        this.serverPort = serverPort;
+        this.p4DeviceId = p4DeviceId;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the device ID.
+     *
+     * @return device ID.
+     */
+    public DeviceId deviceId() {
+        return deviceId;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the P4Runtime server address.
+     *
+     * @return P4Runtime server address
+     */
+    public String serverAddr() {
+        return serverAddr;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the P4Runtime server port.
+     *
+     * @return P4Runtime server port
+     */
+    public int serverPort() {
+        return serverPort;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the P4Runtime server-internal device ID.
+     *
+     * @return P4Runtime server-internal device ID
+     */
+    public long p4DeviceId() {
+        return p4DeviceId;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int hashCode() {
+        return Objects.hash(serverAddr, serverPort, p4DeviceId);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean equals(Object obj) {
+        if (this == obj) {
+            return true;
+        }
+        if (obj == null || getClass() != obj.getClass()) {
+            return false;
+        }
+        final ClientKey other = (ClientKey) obj;
+        return Objects.equals(this.serverAddr, other.serverAddr)
+                && Objects.equals(this.serverPort, other.serverPort)
+                && Objects.equals(this.p4DeviceId, other.p4DeviceId);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String toString() {
+        return MoreObjects.toStringHelper(this)
+                .add("deviceId", deviceId)
+                .add("serverAddr", serverAddr)
+                .add("serverPort", serverPort)
+                .add("p4DeviceId", p4DeviceId)
+                .toString();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/protocols/p4runtime/ctl/src/main/java/org/onosproject/p4runtime/ctl/P4RuntimeControllerImpl.java b/protocols/p4runtime/ctl/src/main/java/org/onosproject/p4runtime/ctl/P4RuntimeControllerImpl.java
index 47ebe68..987356b 100644
--- a/protocols/p4runtime/ctl/src/main/java/org/onosproject/p4runtime/ctl/P4RuntimeControllerImpl.java
+++ b/protocols/p4runtime/ctl/src/main/java/org/onosproject/p4runtime/ctl/P4RuntimeControllerImpl.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 import io.grpc.ManagedChannelBuilder;
 import io.grpc.NameResolverProvider;
 import io.grpc.internal.DnsNameResolverProvider;
+import io.grpc.netty.NettyChannelBuilder;
 import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Activate;
 import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Component;
 import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Deactivate;
@@ -53,7 +54,6 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.locks.ReentrantReadWriteLock;
 
 import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
-import static java.lang.String.format;
 import static org.slf4j.LoggerFactory.getLogger;
 
 /**
@@ -69,7 +69,8 @@
     private static final int DEVICE_LOCK_EXPIRE_TIME_IN_MIN = 10;
     private final Logger log = getLogger(getClass());
     private final NameResolverProvider nameResolverProvider = new DnsNameResolverProvider();
-    private final Map<DeviceId, P4RuntimeClient> clients = Maps.newHashMap();
+    private final Map<DeviceId, ClientKey> deviceIdToClientKey = Maps.newHashMap();
+    private final Map<ClientKey, P4RuntimeClient> clientKeyToClient = Maps.newHashMap();
     private final Map<DeviceId, GrpcChannelId> channelIds = Maps.newHashMap();
     private final Map<DeviceId, List<ChannelListener>> channelListeners = Maps.newConcurrentMap();
     private final LoadingCache<DeviceId, ReadWriteLock> deviceLocks = CacheBuilder.newBuilder()
@@ -84,10 +85,10 @@
     private AtomicCounter electionIdGenerator;
 
     @Reference(cardinality = ReferenceCardinality.MANDATORY_UNARY)
-    public GrpcController grpcController;
+    private GrpcController grpcController;
 
     @Reference(cardinality = ReferenceCardinality.MANDATORY_UNARY)
-    public StorageService storageService;
+    private StorageService storageService;
 
     @Activate
     public void activate() {
@@ -105,31 +106,44 @@
         log.info("Stopped");
     }
 
-
     @Override
-    public boolean createClient(DeviceId deviceId, long p4DeviceId, ManagedChannelBuilder channelBuilder) {
+    public boolean createClient(DeviceId deviceId, String serverAddr,
+                                int serverPort, long p4DeviceId) {
         checkNotNull(deviceId);
-        checkNotNull(channelBuilder);
+        checkNotNull(serverAddr);
+
+        ClientKey newKey = new ClientKey(deviceId, serverAddr, serverPort, p4DeviceId);
+
+        ManagedChannelBuilder channelBuilder = NettyChannelBuilder
+                .forAddress(serverAddr, serverPort)
+                .usePlaintext(true);
 
         deviceLocks.getUnchecked(deviceId).writeLock().lock();
-        log.info("Creating client for {} (with internal device id {})...", deviceId, p4DeviceId);
+        log.info("Creating client for {} (server={}:{}, p4DeviceId={})...",
+                 deviceId, serverAddr, serverPort, p4DeviceId);
 
         try {
-            if (clients.containsKey(deviceId)) {
-                // TODO might want to consider a more fine-grained check such as same port/p4DeviceId
-                log.warn("A client already exists for {}", deviceId);
-                throw new IllegalStateException(format("A client already exists for %s", deviceId));
+            if (deviceIdToClientKey.containsKey(deviceId)) {
+                final ClientKey existingKey = deviceIdToClientKey.get(deviceId);
+                if (newKey.equals(existingKey)) {
+                    return true;
+                } else {
+                    throw new IllegalStateException(
+                            "A client for the same device ID but different " +
+                                    "server endpoints already exists");
+                }
             } else {
-                return doCreateClient(deviceId, p4DeviceId, channelBuilder);
+                return doCreateClient(newKey, channelBuilder);
             }
         } finally {
             deviceLocks.getUnchecked(deviceId).writeLock().unlock();
         }
     }
 
-    private boolean doCreateClient(DeviceId deviceId, long p4DeviceId, ManagedChannelBuilder channelBuilder) {
+    private boolean doCreateClient(ClientKey clientKey, ManagedChannelBuilder channelBuilder) {
 
-        GrpcChannelId channelId = GrpcChannelId.of(deviceId, "p4runtime");
+        GrpcChannelId channelId = GrpcChannelId.of(clientKey.deviceId(),
+                                                   "p4runtime-" + clientKey.p4DeviceId());
 
         // Channel defaults.
         channelBuilder.nameResolverFactory(nameResolverProvider);
@@ -138,14 +152,17 @@
         try {
             channel = grpcController.connectChannel(channelId, channelBuilder);
         } catch (IOException e) {
-            log.warn("Unable to connect to gRPC server of {}: {}", deviceId, e.getMessage());
+            log.warn("Unable to connect to gRPC server of {}: {}",
+                     clientKey.deviceId(), e.getMessage());
             return false;
         }
 
-        P4RuntimeClient client = new P4RuntimeClientImpl(deviceId, p4DeviceId, channel, this);
+        P4RuntimeClient client = new P4RuntimeClientImpl(
+                clientKey.deviceId(), clientKey.p4DeviceId(), channel, this);
 
-        channelIds.put(deviceId, channelId);
-        clients.put(deviceId, client);
+        channelIds.put(clientKey.deviceId(), channelId);
+        deviceIdToClientKey.put(clientKey.deviceId(), clientKey);
+        clientKeyToClient.put(clientKey, client);
 
         return true;
     }
@@ -156,7 +173,11 @@
         deviceLocks.getUnchecked(deviceId).readLock().lock();
 
         try {
-            return clients.get(deviceId);
+            if (!deviceIdToClientKey.containsKey(deviceId)) {
+                return null;
+            } else {
+                return clientKeyToClient.get(deviceIdToClientKey.get(deviceId));
+            }
         } finally {
             deviceLocks.getUnchecked(deviceId).readLock().unlock();
         }
@@ -168,10 +189,11 @@
         deviceLocks.getUnchecked(deviceId).writeLock().lock();
 
         try {
-            if (clients.containsKey(deviceId)) {
-                clients.get(deviceId).shutdown();
+            if (deviceIdToClientKey.containsKey(deviceId)) {
+                final ClientKey clientKey = deviceIdToClientKey.get(deviceId);
                 grpcController.disconnectChannel(channelIds.get(deviceId));
-                clients.remove(deviceId);
+                clientKeyToClient.remove(clientKey).shutdown();
+                deviceIdToClientKey.remove(deviceId);
                 channelIds.remove(deviceId);
             }
         } finally {
@@ -184,7 +206,7 @@
         deviceLocks.getUnchecked(deviceId).readLock().lock();
 
         try {
-            return clients.containsKey(deviceId);
+            return deviceIdToClientKey.containsKey(deviceId);
         } finally {
             deviceLocks.getUnchecked(deviceId).readLock().unlock();
         }
@@ -196,8 +218,8 @@
         deviceLocks.getUnchecked(deviceId).readLock().lock();
 
         try {
-            if (!clients.containsKey(deviceId)) {
-                log.warn("No client for {}, can't check for reachability", deviceId);
+            if (!deviceIdToClientKey.containsKey(deviceId)) {
+                log.debug("No client for {}, can't check for reachability", deviceId);
                 return false;
             }
 
@@ -239,7 +261,7 @@
         });
     }
 
-    public void postEvent(P4RuntimeEvent event) {
+    void postEvent(P4RuntimeEvent event) {
         if (event.type().equals(P4RuntimeEvent.Type.CHANNEL_EVENT)) {
             DefaultChannelEvent channelError = (DefaultChannelEvent) event.subject();
             DeviceId deviceId = event.subject().deviceId();
@@ -270,4 +292,5 @@
             post(event);
         }
     }
+
 }