diff --git a/core/net/rpl/rpl-dag.c b/core/net/rpl/rpl-dag.c
index 58af7501c..7429b9681 100644
--- a/core/net/rpl/rpl-dag.c
+++ b/core/net/rpl/rpl-dag.c
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@
 #define DEBUG DEBUG_NONE
 #include "net/uip-debug.h"
 
+#include "net/neighbor-info.h"
+
 /************************************************************************/
 extern rpl_of_t RPL_OF;
 static rpl_of_t * const objective_functions[] = {&RPL_OF};
@@ -92,6 +94,9 @@ static rpl_of_t * const objective_functions[] = {&RPL_OF};
 #else
 #define RPL_DIO_INTERVAL_DOUBLINGS      RPL_CONF_DIO_INTERVAL_DOUBLINGS
 #endif /* !RPL_CONF_DIO_INTERVAL_DOUBLINGS */
+
+#define INITIAL_ETX  ETX_DIVISOR * 5
+
 /************************************************************************/
 /* Allocate parents from the same static MEMB chunk to reduce memory waste. */
 MEMB(parent_memb, struct rpl_parent, RPL_MAX_PARENTS);
@@ -277,7 +282,7 @@ rpl_add_parent(rpl_dag_t *dag, rpl_dio_t *dio, uip_ipaddr_t *addr)
   memcpy(&p->addr, addr, sizeof(p->addr));
   p->dag = dag;
   p->rank = dio->rank;
-  p->local_confidence = 0;
+  p->etx = INITIAL_ETX;
   p->dtsn = 0;
 
   list_add(dag->parents, p);
@@ -423,7 +428,7 @@ join_dag(uip_ipaddr_t *from, rpl_dio_t *dio)
   }
   PRINTF("succeeded\n");
 
-  p->local_confidence = 0;	/* The lowest confidence for new parents. */
+  p->etx = INITIAL_ETX; /* The lowest confidence for new parents. */
 
   /* Determine the objective function by using the
      objective code point of the DIO. */
diff --git a/core/net/rpl/rpl-of-etx.c b/core/net/rpl/rpl-of-etx.c
index 7c416b9e1..d6404b35b 100644
--- a/core/net/rpl/rpl-of-etx.c
+++ b/core/net/rpl/rpl-of-etx.c
@@ -118,10 +118,10 @@ calculate_rank(rpl_parent_t *p, rpl_rank_t base_rank)
     rank_increase = INITIAL_LINK_METRIC * DEFAULT_MIN_HOPRANKINC;
   } else {
     dag = (rpl_dag_t *)p->dag;
-    if(p->local_confidence == 0) {
-      p->local_confidence = INITIAL_LINK_METRIC * ETX_DIVISOR;
+    if(p->etx == 0) {
+      p->etx = INITIAL_LINK_METRIC * ETX_DIVISOR;
     }
-    rank_increase = (p->local_confidence * dag->min_hoprankinc) / ETX_DIVISOR;
+    rank_increase = (p->etx * dag->min_hoprankinc) / ETX_DIVISOR;
     if(base_rank == 0) {
       base_rank = p->rank;
     }
diff --git a/core/net/rpl/rpl-of0.c b/core/net/rpl/rpl-of0.c
index 8c907a18c..5d7e3c729 100644
--- a/core/net/rpl/rpl-of0.c
+++ b/core/net/rpl/rpl-of0.c
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@
 #define DEBUG DEBUG_ANNOTATE
 #include "net/uip-debug.h"
 
+#include "net/neighbor-info.h"
+
 static void reset(void *);
 static rpl_parent_t *best_parent(rpl_parent_t *, rpl_parent_t *);
 static rpl_rank_t calculate_rank(rpl_parent_t *, rpl_rank_t);
@@ -82,6 +84,7 @@ calculate_rank(rpl_parent_t *p, rpl_rank_t base_rank)
     return INFINITE_RANK;
   }
   return base_rank + DEFAULT_RANK_INCREMENT;
+
 }
 
 static rpl_parent_t *
@@ -90,22 +93,39 @@ best_parent(rpl_parent_t *p1, rpl_parent_t *p2)
   PRINTF("RPL: Comparing parent ");
   PRINT6ADDR(&p1->addr);
   PRINTF(" (confidence %d, rank %d) with parent ",
-        p1->local_confidence, p1->rank);
+        p1->etx, p1->rank);
   PRINT6ADDR(&p2->addr);
   PRINTF(" (confidence %d, rank %d)\n",
-        p2->local_confidence, p2->rank);
+        p2->etx, p2->rank);
 
+
+  /* Compare two parents by looking both and their rank and at the ETX
+     for that parent. We choose the parent that has the most
+     favourable combination. */
+  if(DAG_RANK(p1->rank, (rpl_dag_t *)p1->dag) * ETX_DIVISOR + p1->etx <
+     DAG_RANK(p2->rank, (rpl_dag_t *)p1->dag) * ETX_DIVISOR + p2->etx) {
+    return p1;
+  } else {
+    return p2;
+  }
+
+  /* This is the old code, which isn't used now, but left here in case
+     we would like to use it later (if the above code turns out to not
+     work as well as we expect it to. The old code first favoured the
+     parent with a lower rank, then used the ETX to compare two
+     parents with the same rank. This is not ideal since you may have
+     a parent with a low rank on the edge of your range that will have
+     a very bad ETX. But the code below would nevertheless pick that
+     one. */
   if(p1->rank < p2->rank) {
     return p1;
   } else if(p2->rank < p1->rank) {
     return p2;
   }
 
-  if(p1->local_confidence > p2->local_confidence) {
+  if(p1->etx < p2->etx) {
     return p1;
-  } else if(p2->local_confidence > p1->local_confidence) {
+  } else {
     return p2;
   }
-
-  return p2;
 }
diff --git a/core/net/rpl/rpl.c b/core/net/rpl/rpl.c
index 5cd6f7b6d..4b05793f3 100644
--- a/core/net/rpl/rpl.c
+++ b/core/net/rpl/rpl.c
@@ -150,11 +150,11 @@ rpl_link_neighbor_callback(const rimeaddr_t *addr, int known, int etx)
     return;
   }
 
-  if(etx != parent->local_confidence) {
+  if(etx != parent->etx) {
     /* Trigger DAG rank recalculation. */
     parent->updated = 1;
   }
-  parent->local_confidence = etx;
+  parent->etx = etx;
 
   if(dag->of->parent_state_callback != NULL) {
     dag->of->parent_state_callback(parent, known, etx);
diff --git a/core/net/rpl/rpl.h b/core/net/rpl/rpl.h
index 4c992bcb0..ed4277adc 100644
--- a/core/net/rpl/rpl.h
+++ b/core/net/rpl/rpl.h
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ struct rpl_parent {
   void *dag;
   uip_ipaddr_t addr;
   rpl_rank_t rank;
-  uint8_t local_confidence;
+  uint8_t etx;
   uint8_t dtsn;
   uint8_t updated;
 };