diff --git a/Net/include/Poco/Net/TCPServer.h b/Net/include/Poco/Net/TCPServer.h
index d63c00769..f90185ebb 100644
--- a/Net/include/Poco/Net/TCPServer.h
+++ b/Net/include/Poco/Net/TCPServer.h
@@ -162,6 +162,9 @@ public:
 	int currentThreads() const;
 		/// Returns the number of currently used connection threads.
 
+	int maxThreads() const;
+		/// Returns the maximum number of threads available.
+
 	int totalConnections() const;
 		/// Returns the total number of handled connections.
 		
diff --git a/Net/include/Poco/Net/TCPServerDispatcher.h b/Net/include/Poco/Net/TCPServerDispatcher.h
index 47360a4ce..41cfcd5ea 100644
--- a/Net/include/Poco/Net/TCPServerDispatcher.h
+++ b/Net/include/Poco/Net/TCPServerDispatcher.h
@@ -85,6 +85,9 @@ public:
 			
 	int currentThreads() const;
 		/// Returns the number of currently used threads.
+
+	int maxThreads() const;
+		/// Returns the maximum number of threads available.
 		
 	int totalConnections() const;
 		/// Returns the total number of handled connections.
diff --git a/Net/src/TCPServer.cpp b/Net/src/TCPServer.cpp
index 702d5f87c..b3ce9ea52 100644
--- a/Net/src/TCPServer.cpp
+++ b/Net/src/TCPServer.cpp
@@ -52,19 +52,29 @@ namespace Net {
 
 TCPServer::TCPServer(TCPServerConnectionFactory::Ptr pFactory, Poco::UInt16 portNumber, TCPServerParams::Ptr pParams):
 	_socket(ServerSocket(portNumber)),
-	_pDispatcher(new TCPServerDispatcher(pFactory, Poco::ThreadPool::defaultPool(), pParams)),
 	_thread(threadName(_socket)),
 	_stopped(true)
 {
+	
+	Poco::ThreadPool& pool = Poco::ThreadPool::defaultPool();
+	if(pParams && (pParams->getMaxThreads() > pool.capacity())){
+		pool.addCapacity(pParams->getMaxThreads());
+	}
+	_pDispatcher = new TCPServerDispatcher(pFactory, pool, pParams);
+	
 }
 
 
 TCPServer::TCPServer(TCPServerConnectionFactory::Ptr pFactory, const ServerSocket& socket, TCPServerParams::Ptr pParams):
 	_socket(socket),
-	_pDispatcher(new TCPServerDispatcher(pFactory, Poco::ThreadPool::defaultPool(), pParams)),
 	_thread(threadName(socket)),
 	_stopped(true)
 {
+	Poco::ThreadPool& pool = Poco::ThreadPool::defaultPool();
+	if(pParams && (pParams->getMaxThreads() > pool.capacity())){
+		pool.addCapacity(pParams->getMaxThreads());
+	}
+	_pDispatcher = new TCPServerDispatcher(pFactory, pool, pParams);
 }
 
 
@@ -146,6 +156,11 @@ int TCPServer::currentThreads() const
 	return _pDispatcher->currentThreads();
 }
 
+int TCPServer::maxThreads() const
+{
+	return _pDispatcher->maxThreads();
+}
+
 	
 int TCPServer::totalConnections() const
 {
diff --git a/Net/src/TCPServerDispatcher.cpp b/Net/src/TCPServerDispatcher.cpp
index dddab3cd8..54f369aa4 100644
--- a/Net/src/TCPServerDispatcher.cpp
+++ b/Net/src/TCPServerDispatcher.cpp
@@ -197,6 +197,13 @@ int TCPServerDispatcher::currentThreads() const
 	return _currentThreads;
 }
 
+int TCPServerDispatcher::maxThreads() const
+{
+	FastMutex::ScopedLock lock(_mutex);
+	
+	return _threadPool.capacity();
+}
+
 
 int TCPServerDispatcher::totalConnections() const
 {
diff --git a/Net/testsuite/src/TCPServerTest.cpp b/Net/testsuite/src/TCPServerTest.cpp
index aabbf8e79..9b5b4f7e9 100644
--- a/Net/testsuite/src/TCPServerTest.cpp
+++ b/Net/testsuite/src/TCPServerTest.cpp
@@ -175,6 +175,7 @@ void TCPServerTest::testMultiConnections()
 	srv.start();
 	assert (srv.currentConnections() == 0);
 	assert (srv.currentThreads() == 0);
+	assert (srv.maxThreads() >= 4);
 	assert (srv.queuedConnections() == 0);
 	assert (srv.totalConnections() == 0);
 	
@@ -252,6 +253,16 @@ void TCPServerTest::testMultiConnections()
 	assert (srv.currentConnections() == 0);
 }
 
+void TCPServerTest::testThreadCapacity(){
+	ServerSocket svs(0);
+	TCPServerParams* pParams = new TCPServerParams;
+	pParams->setMaxThreads(64);
+	TCPServer srv(new TCPServerConnectionFactoryImpl<EchoConnection>(), svs, pParams);
+	srv.start();
+	assert (srv.maxThreads() >= 64);
+}
+
+
 
 void TCPServerTest::setUp()
 {
@@ -270,6 +281,7 @@ CppUnit::Test* TCPServerTest::suite()
 	CppUnit_addTest(pSuite, TCPServerTest, testOneConnection);
 	CppUnit_addTest(pSuite, TCPServerTest, testTwoConnections);
 	CppUnit_addTest(pSuite, TCPServerTest, testMultiConnections);
+	CppUnit_addTest(pSuite, TCPServerTest, testThreadCapacity);
 
 	return pSuite;
 }
diff --git a/Net/testsuite/src/TCPServerTest.h b/Net/testsuite/src/TCPServerTest.h
index 16b8bb041..5904a5945 100644
--- a/Net/testsuite/src/TCPServerTest.h
+++ b/Net/testsuite/src/TCPServerTest.h
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ public:
 	void testOneConnection();
 	void testTwoConnections();
 	void testMultiConnections();
+	void testThreadCapacity();
 
 	void setUp();
 	void tearDown();