diff --git a/demo/client.ts b/demo/client.ts
index 2d7c800d..01789402 100644
--- a/demo/client.ts
+++ b/demo/client.ts
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ declare let window: IWindowWithTerminal;
 Terminal.applyAddon(fit);
 
 let term;
-let attachAddon: AttachAddon;
 let searchAddon: SearchAddon;
 let protocol;
 let socketURL;
@@ -90,8 +89,6 @@ function createTerminal(): void {
   // Load addons
   const typedTerm = term as TerminalType;
   typedTerm.loadAddon(new WebLinksAddon());
-  attachAddon = new AttachAddon();
-  typedTerm.loadAddon(attachAddon);
   searchAddon = new SearchAddon();
   typedTerm.loadAddon(searchAddon);
 
@@ -152,7 +149,14 @@ function createTerminal(): void {
 }
 
 function runRealTerminal(): void {
-  attachAddon.attach(socket);
+  /**
+   * The demo defaults to string transport by default.
+   * To run it with UTF8 binary transport, swap comment on
+   * the lines below. (Must also be switched in server.js)
+   */
+  term.loadAddon(new AttachAddon(socket));
+  // term.loadAddon(new AttachAddon(socket, {inputUtf8: true}));
+
   term._initialized = true;
 }
 
diff --git a/demo/server.js b/demo/server.js
index 8270a398..e3473400 100644
--- a/demo/server.js
+++ b/demo/server.js
@@ -3,6 +3,13 @@ var expressWs = require('express-ws');
 var os = require('os');
 var pty = require('node-pty');
 
+/**
+ * Whether to use UTF8 binary transport.
+ * (Must also be switched in client.ts)
+ */
+const USE_BINARY_UTF8 = false;
+
+
 function startServer() {
   var app = express();
   expressWs(app);
@@ -36,7 +43,8 @@ function startServer() {
           cols: cols || 80,
           rows: rows || 24,
           cwd: process.env.PWD,
-          env: process.env
+          env: process.env,
+          encoding: USE_BINARY_UTF8 ? null : 'utf8'
         });
 
     console.log('Created terminal with PID: ' + term.pid);
@@ -65,6 +73,7 @@ function startServer() {
     console.log('Connected to terminal ' + term.pid);
     ws.send(logs[term.pid]);
 
+    // string message buffering
     function buffer(socket, timeout) {
       let s = '';
       let sender = null;
@@ -79,7 +88,25 @@ function startServer() {
         }
       };
     }
-    const send = buffer(ws, 5);
+    // binary message buffering
+    function bufferUtf8(socket, timeout) {
+      let buffer = [];
+      let sender = null;
+      let length = 0;
+      return (data) => {
+        buffer.push(data);
+        length += data.length;
+        if (!sender) {
+          sender = setTimeout(() => {
+            socket.send(Buffer.concat(buffer, length));
+            buffer = [];
+            sender = null;
+            length = 0;
+          }, timeout);
+        }
+      };
+    }
+    const send = USE_BINARY_UTF8 ? bufferUtf8(ws, 5) : buffer(ws, 5);
 
     term.on('data', function(data) {
       try {
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index cafa43b1..043b76cb 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -40,13 +40,13 @@
     "ts-loader": "^4.5.0",
     "tslint": "^5.9.1",
     "tslint-consistent-codestyle": "^1.13.0",
-    "utf8": "^3.0.0",
     "typescript": "3.4",
+    "utf8": "^3.0.0",
     "vinyl-buffer": "^1.0.0",
     "vinyl-source-stream": "^1.1.0",
     "webpack": "^4.17.1",
     "webpack-cli": "^3.1.0",
-    "xterm-addon-attach": "0.1.0-beta7",
+    "xterm-addon-attach": "0.1.0-beta8",
     "xterm-addon-search": "0.1.0-beta4",
     "xterm-addon-web-links": "0.1.0-beta6",
     "zmodem.js": "^0.1.5"
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 3db8e9a4..321fe6f3 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -7236,10 +7236,10 @@ xregexp@4.0.0:
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/xtend/-/xtend-4.0.1.tgz#a5c6d532be656e23db820efb943a1f04998d63af"
   integrity sha1-pcbVMr5lbiPbgg77lDofBJmNY68=
 
-xterm-addon-attach@0.1.0-beta7:
-  version "0.1.0-beta7"
-  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/xterm-addon-attach/-/xterm-addon-attach-0.1.0-beta7.tgz#787f6cce709611ee08ab731b95a62fa1c0bce6a9"
-  integrity sha512-nQr6LcYtpZcyDoHyL/BDIPJcTgL7qlHR/rvm8lSizQysGVT0pSzr5M7SjY3kQHw33U3hTer3c6oZzwjfj4ohOw==
+xterm-addon-attach@0.1.0-beta8:
+  version "0.1.0-beta8"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/xterm-addon-attach/-/xterm-addon-attach-0.1.0-beta8.tgz#e469ed9d6ab7e535d0a9ffae23ef4f2efe58163b"
+  integrity sha512-HtQuwqnvcR+SwI9/JbBMd//Il+oEeo3rWrIucLLKHT8sB+OAOkdhmo5KIM/hhnovjI040WJ+tTHkDgPFwIJtmw==
 
 xterm-addon-search@0.1.0-beta4:
   version "0.1.0-beta4"