diff --git a/lib/neography/connection.rb b/lib/neography/connection.rb
index b7e4faa..c6268d4 100644
--- a/lib/neography/connection.rb
+++ b/lib/neography/connection.rb
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ def initialize(options = ENV['NEO4J_URL'] || {})
       @client = HTTPClient.new
       @client.send_timeout = 1200 # 10 minutes
       @client.receive_timeout = 1200
+      authenticate
     end
 
     def configure(protocol, server, port, directory)
@@ -42,7 +43,6 @@ def merge_options(options)
       define_method(action) do |path, options = {}|
         query_path = configuration + path
         query_body = merge_options(options)[:body] 
-        authenticate(query_path)
         log path, query_body do
           evaluate_response(@client.send(action.to_sym, query_path, query_body, merge_options(options)[:headers]))    
         end
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ def log(path, body)
       end
     end
 
-    def authenticate(path)
+    def authenticate(path = nil)
       @client.set_auth(path, 
                        @authentication[@authentication.keys.first][:username], 
                        @authentication[@authentication.keys.first][:password]) unless @authentication.empty?
diff --git a/spec/integration/authorization_spec.rb b/spec/integration/authorization_spec.rb
index 6129d01..edee976 100644
--- a/spec/integration/authorization_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/integration/authorization_spec.rb
@@ -2,43 +2,35 @@
 
 describe Neography::Rest, :slow => true do
   describe "basic authentication"  do
-    describe "get_root" do
+    describe "get_root", :reference => true do
       it "can get the root node"do
-        @neo = Neography::Rest.new({:server => '4c36b641.neo4j.atns.de', :port => 7474, :directory => '/9dc1fda5be8b5cde29621e21cae5adece3de0f37', :authentication => 'basic', :username => "abbe3c012", :password => "34d7b22eb"})
+        @neo = Neography::Rest.new({:authentication => 'digest', :username => "username", :password => "password"})
         root_node = @neo.get_root
         root_node.should have_key("reference_node")
       end
-    end
-
+    end    
+    
     describe "create_node" do
       it "can create an empty node" do
-        @neo = Neography::Rest.new({:server => '4c36b641.neo4j.atns.de', :port => 7474, :directory => '/9dc1fda5be8b5cde29621e21cae5adece3de0f37', :authentication => 'basic', :username => "abbe3c012", :password => "34d7b22eb"})
+        @neo = Neography::Rest.new({:authentication => 'basic', :username => "username", :password => "password"})
         new_node = @neo.create_node
         new_node.should_not be_nil
       end
     end
 
     describe "quick initializer" do
-      it "can get the root node" do
-        @neo = Neography::Rest.new("http://abbe3c012:34d7b22eb@4c36b641.neo4j.atns.de:7474/9dc1fda5be8b5cde29621e21cae5adece3de0f37")
-        root_node = @neo.get_root
-        root_node.should have_key("reference_node")
+      it "can create an empty node" do
+        @neo = Neography::Rest.new("http://username:password@localhost:7474")
+        new_node = @neo.create_node
+        new_node.should_not be_nil
       end
     end
   end
 
   describe "digest authentication"  do
-    describe "get_root" do
-      it "can get the root node" do
-        @neo = Neography::Rest.new({:server => '4c36b641.neo4j.atns.de', :port => 7474, :directory => '/9dc1fda5be8b5cde29621e21cae5adece3de0f37', :authentication => 'digest', :username => "abbe3c012", :password => "34d7b22eb"})
-        root_node = @neo.get_root
-        root_node.should have_key("reference_node")
-      end
-    end
-
     describe "create_node" do
       it "can create an empty node" do
-        @neo = Neography::Rest.new({:server => '4c36b641.neo4j.atns.de', :port => 7474, :directory => '/9dc1fda5be8b5cde29621e21cae5adece3de0f37', :authentication => 'digest', :username => "abbe3c012", :password => "34d7b22eb"})
+        @neo = Neography::Rest.new({:authentication => 'digest', :username => "username", :password => "password"})
         new_node = @neo.create_node
         new_node.should_not be_nil
       end