diff --git a/src/consumer.ts b/src/consumer.ts
index c4bfc25..5049b49 100644
--- a/src/consumer.ts
+++ b/src/consumer.ts
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ export class Consumer extends TypedEventEmitter {
   private visibilityTimeout: number;
   private terminateVisibilityTimeout: boolean;
   private waitTimeSeconds: number;
-  private authenticationErrorTimeout: number;
+  private connectionErrorTimeout: number;
   private pollingWaitTimeMs: number;
   private pollingCompleteWaitTimeMs: number;
   private heartbeatInterval: number;
@@ -76,8 +76,8 @@ export class Consumer extends TypedEventEmitter {
       options.terminateVisibilityTimeout || false;
     this.heartbeatInterval = options.heartbeatInterval;
     this.waitTimeSeconds = options.waitTimeSeconds ?? 20;
-    this.authenticationErrorTimeout =
-      options.authenticationErrorTimeout ?? 10000;
+    this.connectionErrorTimeout =
+      options.connectionErrorTimeout ?? 10000;
     this.pollingWaitTimeMs = options.pollingWaitTimeMs ?? 0;
     this.pollingCompleteWaitTimeMs = options.pollingCompleteWaitTimeMs ?? 0;
     this.shouldDeleteMessages = options.shouldDeleteMessages ?? true;
@@ -249,14 +249,14 @@ export class Consumer extends TypedEventEmitter {
       )
       .catch((err): void => {
         this.emitError(err);
+
         if (isConnectionError(err)) {
-          logger.debug("authentication_error", {
+          logger.debug("connection_error", {
             detail:
-              "There was an authentication error. Pausing before retrying.",
+              `${err.code}: There was an connection error. Pausing before retrying.`,
           });
-          currentPollingTimeout = this.authenticationErrorTimeout;
+          currentPollingTimeout = this.connectionErrorTimeout;
         }
-        return;
       })
       .then((): void => {
         if (this.pollingTimeoutId) {
diff --git a/src/errors.ts b/src/errors.ts
index 71a2580..201671d 100644
--- a/src/errors.ts
+++ b/src/errors.ts
@@ -44,10 +44,13 @@ function isConnectionError(err: Error): boolean {
   if (err instanceof SQSError) {
     return (
       err.statusCode === 403 ||
+      err.name === "SQSError" ||
       err.code === "CredentialsError" ||
       err.code === "UnknownEndpoint" ||
       err.code === "AWS.SimpleQueueService.NonExistentQueue" ||
-      err.code === "CredentialsProviderError"
+      err.code === "CredentialsProviderError" ||
+      err.code === "QueueDoesNotExist" ||
+      err.code === "InvalidAddress"
     );
   }
   return false;
diff --git a/src/types.ts b/src/types.ts
index 2f01b0b..c178b1c 100644
--- a/src/types.ts
+++ b/src/types.ts
@@ -40,10 +40,10 @@ export interface ConsumerOptions {
    */
   waitTimeSeconds?: number;
   /**
-   * The duration (in milliseconds) to wait before retrying after an authentication error.
+   * The duration (in milliseconds) to wait before retrying after a connection or authentication error.
    * @defaultvalue `10000`
    */
-  authenticationErrorTimeout?: number;
+  connectionErrorTimeout?: number;
   /**
    * The duration (in milliseconds) to wait before repolling the queue.
    * @defaultvalue `0`
diff --git a/test/tests/consumer.test.ts b/test/tests/consumer.test.ts
index ab5300a..925b405 100644
--- a/test/tests/consumer.test.ts
+++ b/test/tests/consumer.test.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import { logger } from "../../src/logger.js";
 
 const sandbox = sinon.createSandbox();
 
-const AUTHENTICATION_ERROR_TIMEOUT = 20;
+const CONNECTION_ERROR_TIMEOUT = 20;
 const POLLING_TIMEOUT = 100;
 const QUEUE_URL = "some-queue-url";
 const REGION = "some-region";
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ describe("Consumer", () => {
       region: REGION,
       handleMessage,
       sqs,
-      authenticationErrorTimeout: AUTHENTICATION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
+      connectionErrorTimeout: CONNECTION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
     });
   });
 
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ describe("Consumer", () => {
           new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 1000)),
         handleMessageTimeout,
         sqs,
-        authenticationErrorTimeout: AUTHENTICATION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
+        connectionErrorTimeout: CONNECTION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
       });
 
       consumer.start();
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ describe("Consumer", () => {
           throw new Error("unexpected parsing error");
         },
         sqs,
-        authenticationErrorTimeout: AUTHENTICATION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
+        connectionErrorTimeout: CONNECTION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
       });
 
       consumer.start();
@@ -315,7 +315,7 @@ describe("Consumer", () => {
           throw new CustomError("unexpected parsing error");
         },
         sqs,
-        authenticationErrorTimeout: AUTHENTICATION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
+        connectionErrorTimeout: CONNECTION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
       });
 
       consumer.start();
@@ -339,7 +339,7 @@ describe("Consumer", () => {
           throw customError;
         },
         sqs,
-        authenticationErrorTimeout: AUTHENTICATION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
+        connectionErrorTimeout: CONNECTION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
       });
 
       consumer.start();
@@ -418,7 +418,7 @@ describe("Consumer", () => {
       consumer.on("error", errorListener);
 
       consumer.start();
-      await clock.tickAsync(AUTHENTICATION_ERROR_TIMEOUT);
+      await clock.tickAsync(CONNECTION_ERROR_TIMEOUT);
       consumer.stop();
 
       sandbox.assert.calledTwice(errorListener);
@@ -438,7 +438,7 @@ describe("Consumer", () => {
       consumer.on("error", errorListener);
 
       consumer.start();
-      await clock.tickAsync(AUTHENTICATION_ERROR_TIMEOUT);
+      await clock.tickAsync(CONNECTION_ERROR_TIMEOUT);
       consumer.stop();
 
       sandbox.assert.calledTwice(errorListener);
@@ -457,7 +457,28 @@ describe("Consumer", () => {
       consumer.on("error", errorListener);
 
       consumer.start();
-      await clock.tickAsync(AUTHENTICATION_ERROR_TIMEOUT);
+      await clock.tickAsync(CONNECTION_ERROR_TIMEOUT);
+      consumer.stop();
+
+      sandbox.assert.calledTwice(errorListener);
+      sandbox.assert.calledTwice(sqs.send);
+      sandbox.assert.calledWithMatch(sqs.send.firstCall, mockReceiveMessage);
+      sandbox.assert.calledWithMatch(sqs.send.secondCall, mockReceiveMessage);
+    });
+
+    it("waits before repolling when a connection error occurs", async () => {
+      const unknownEndpointErr = {
+        name: "SQSError",
+        code: "SQSError",
+        message:
+          "SQS receive message failed: getaddrinfo ENOTFOUND sqs.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com",
+      };
+      sqs.send.withArgs(mockReceiveMessage).rejects(unknownEndpointErr);
+      const errorListener = sandbox.stub();
+      consumer.on("error", errorListener);
+
+      consumer.start();
+      await clock.tickAsync(CONNECTION_ERROR_TIMEOUT);
       consumer.stop();
 
       sandbox.assert.calledTwice(errorListener);
@@ -476,7 +497,7 @@ describe("Consumer", () => {
       consumer.on("error", errorListener);
 
       consumer.start();
-      await clock.tickAsync(AUTHENTICATION_ERROR_TIMEOUT);
+      await clock.tickAsync(CONNECTION_ERROR_TIMEOUT);
       consumer.stop();
 
       sandbox.assert.calledTwice(errorListener);
@@ -495,7 +516,7 @@ describe("Consumer", () => {
       consumer.on("error", errorListener);
 
       consumer.start();
-      await clock.tickAsync(AUTHENTICATION_ERROR_TIMEOUT);
+      await clock.tickAsync(CONNECTION_ERROR_TIMEOUT);
       consumer.stop();
 
       sandbox.assert.calledTwice(errorListener);
@@ -510,7 +531,7 @@ describe("Consumer", () => {
         region: REGION,
         handleMessage,
         sqs,
-        authenticationErrorTimeout: AUTHENTICATION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
+        connectionErrorTimeout: CONNECTION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
         pollingWaitTimeMs: POLLING_TIMEOUT,
       });
 
@@ -560,7 +581,7 @@ describe("Consumer", () => {
         region: REGION,
         handleMessage,
         sqs,
-        authenticationErrorTimeout: AUTHENTICATION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
+        connectionErrorTimeout: CONNECTION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
         preReceiveMessageCallback: preReceiveMessageCallbackStub,
         postReceiveMessageCallback: postReceiveMessageCallbackStub,
       });
@@ -596,7 +617,7 @@ describe("Consumer", () => {
         region: REGION,
         handleMessage,
         sqs,
-        authenticationErrorTimeout: AUTHENTICATION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
+        connectionErrorTimeout: CONNECTION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
         shouldDeleteMessages: false,
       });
 
@@ -701,7 +722,7 @@ describe("Consumer", () => {
           AttributeNames: [],
           MessageAttributeNames: ["attribute-1", "attribute-2"],
           MaxNumberOfMessages: 3,
-          WaitTimeSeconds: AUTHENTICATION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
+          WaitTimeSeconds: CONNECTION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
           VisibilityTimeout: undefined,
         }),
       );
@@ -745,7 +766,7 @@ describe("Consumer", () => {
           AttributeNames: ["ApproximateReceiveCount"],
           MessageAttributeNames: [],
           MaxNumberOfMessages: 1,
-          WaitTimeSeconds: AUTHENTICATION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
+          WaitTimeSeconds: CONNECTION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
           VisibilityTimeout: undefined,
         }),
       );
@@ -881,7 +902,7 @@ describe("Consumer", () => {
         },
         batchSize: 2,
         sqs,
-        authenticationErrorTimeout: AUTHENTICATION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
+        connectionErrorTimeout: CONNECTION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
       });
 
       consumer.start();
@@ -917,7 +938,7 @@ describe("Consumer", () => {
         },
         batchSize: 2,
         sqs,
-        authenticationErrorTimeout: AUTHENTICATION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
+        connectionErrorTimeout: CONNECTION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
       });
 
       consumer.start();
@@ -943,7 +964,7 @@ describe("Consumer", () => {
         },
         batchSize: 2,
         sqs,
-        authenticationErrorTimeout: AUTHENTICATION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
+        connectionErrorTimeout: CONNECTION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
       });
 
       consumer.start();
@@ -1525,7 +1546,7 @@ describe("Consumer", () => {
         handleMessage,
         sqs,
         pollingCompleteWaitTimeMs: 5000,
-        authenticationErrorTimeout: AUTHENTICATION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
+        connectionErrorTimeout: CONNECTION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
       });
 
       consumer.on("stopped", handleStop);
@@ -1579,7 +1600,7 @@ describe("Consumer", () => {
         handleMessage,
         sqs,
         pollingCompleteWaitTimeMs: 500,
-        authenticationErrorTimeout: AUTHENTICATION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
+        connectionErrorTimeout: CONNECTION_ERROR_TIMEOUT,
       });
 
       consumer.on("stopped", handleStop);