diff --git a/fabric-client/lib/Client.js b/fabric-client/lib/Client.js
index d2c0d6d31c..d5a5c77834 100644
--- a/fabric-client/lib/Client.js
+++ b/fabric-client/lib/Client.js
@@ -204,7 +204,8 @@ const Client = class extends BaseClient {
 		const method = 'getConnectionOptions';
 		logger.debug('%s - start', method);
 		let return_options = Object.assign({}, Client.getConfigSetting('connection-options'));
-		return_options = Object.assign({}, this._connection_options);
+		return_options = Object.assign(return_options, this._connection_options);
+		return_options = Object.assign(return_options, this._getLegacyOptions()); // keep for a while legacy options
 		return_options = Object.assign(return_options, options);
 
 		if (!return_options.clientCert) {
@@ -214,6 +215,34 @@ const Client = class extends BaseClient {
 		return return_options;
 	}
 
+	// @deprecated
+	// Deprecated, but keep for a while for backward compatibility. Code is moved here from Remote.js;
+	_getLegacyOptions() {
+		const MAX_SEND = 'grpc.max_send_message_length';
+		const MAX_RECEIVE = 'grpc.max_receive_message_length';
+		const MAX_SEND_V10 = 'grpc-max-send-message-length';
+		const MAX_RECEIVE_V10 = 'grpc-max-receive-message-length';
+		const LEGACY_WARN_MESSAGE = 'Setting grpc options by utils.setConfigSetting() is deprecated. Use utils.g(s)etConfigSetting("connection-options")';
+		const result = {};
+
+		if (typeof sdkUtils.getConfigSetting(MAX_RECEIVE) !== 'undefined') {
+			Object.assign(result, {[MAX_RECEIVE]: sdkUtils.getConfigSetting(MAX_RECEIVE)});
+		}
+		if (typeof sdkUtils.getConfigSetting(MAX_RECEIVE_V10) !== 'undefined') {
+			Object.assign(result, {[MAX_RECEIVE]: sdkUtils.getConfigSetting(MAX_RECEIVE_V10)});
+		}
+		if (typeof sdkUtils.getConfigSetting(MAX_SEND) !== 'undefined') {
+			Object.assign(result, {[MAX_SEND]: sdkUtils.getConfigSetting(MAX_SEND)});
+		}
+		if (typeof sdkUtils.getConfigSetting(MAX_SEND_V10) !== 'undefined') {
+			Object.assign(result, {[MAX_SEND]: sdkUtils.getConfigSetting(MAX_SEND_V10)});
+		}
+		if (Object.keys(result).length > 0) {
+			logger.warn(LEGACY_WARN_MESSAGE);
+		}
+		return result;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Add a set of connection options to this client. These will be
 	 * available to be merged into an application's options when new
diff --git a/fabric-client/lib/Remote.js b/fabric-client/lib/Remote.js
index eff58d2c75..fb4ce7ffca 100644
--- a/fabric-client/lib/Remote.js
+++ b/fabric-client/lib/Remote.js
@@ -94,7 +94,9 @@ class Remote {
 		if (typeof grpc_receive_max === 'undefined') {
 			grpc_receive_max = -1; // default is unlimited
 		}
-		this._options[MAX_RECEIVE] = grpc_receive_max;
+		// keep this for backward compatibility until remove probably deprecated code (lines 83-115)
+		this._options[MAX_RECEIVE] = (this._options[MAX_RECEIVE] && (this._options[MAX_RECEIVE] !== -1))
+			? this._options[MAX_RECEIVE] : grpc_receive_max;
 
 		let grpc_send_max;
 		if (opts[MAX_SEND_V10]) {
@@ -110,7 +112,7 @@ class Remote {
 		if (typeof grpc_send_max === 'undefined') {
 			grpc_send_max = -1; // default is unlimited
 		}
-		this._options[MAX_SEND] = grpc_send_max;
+		this._options[MAX_SEND] = (this._options[MAX_SEND] && (this._options[MAX_SEND] !== -1)) ? this._options[MAX_SEND] : grpc_send_max;
 
 		// service connection
 		this._url = url;
diff --git a/fabric-client/test/Client.js b/fabric-client/test/Client.js
index 8dd937259b..13f5e2b66c 100644
--- a/fabric-client/test/Client.js
+++ b/fabric-client/test/Client.js
@@ -2974,10 +2974,10 @@ describe('Client', () => {
 			newOpts.hope.should.equal('found');
 		});
 
-		it('should call _buildConnectionOptions and return opts', () => {
+		it('should call _buildConnectionOptions and return default opts', () => {
 			const client = new Client();
 			const opts = client.getConfigSetting('connection-options');
-			const newOpts = client._buildConnectionOptions(opts);
+			const newOpts = client._buildConnectionOptions();
 			newOpts.should.deep.equal(opts);
 		});
 	});
diff --git a/test/integration/grpc.js b/test/integration/grpc.js
index 5434718c7b..3ad6d47ce8 100644
--- a/test/integration/grpc.js
+++ b/test/integration/grpc.js
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ test('\n\n*** GRPC message size tests ***\n\n', async (t) => {
 			}
 		};
 
-		// setup reusable artificates
+		// setup reusable certificates
 		const opts = {
 			pem: Buffer.from(data).toString(),
 			clientCert: tlsInfo.certificate,
@@ -97,6 +97,11 @@ test('\n\n*** GRPC message size tests ***\n\n', async (t) => {
 
 		t.pass('Successfully setup grpc testing environment');
 
+		// check default connection settings are loaded from the config/default.json
+		const defaultConnectionOptions = Client.getConfigSetting('connection-options');
+		const clientOptionsSubset = getClientOptionsDefinedInDefault(client, defaultConnectionOptions);
+		t.deepEqual(defaultConnectionOptions, clientOptionsSubset, 'Test default connection settings are applied');
+
 		// use the connection profile defined peer which includes a GRPC max setting
 		response = await sendToConnectionProfile(client, channel, connection_profile, go_cc, 1);
 		checkResponse(t, response, 'Test golang cc able to use connection profile set with grpc max receive', 'Received|max|1024');
@@ -160,18 +165,11 @@ test('\n\n*** GRPC message size tests ***\n\n', async (t) => {
 });
 
 async function send(client, channel, url, cc, opts, megs, grpc_send_max, grpc_receive_max, sdk_send_max, sdk_receive_max) {
-	if (grpc_send_max !== null) {
-		utils.setConfigSetting('grpc.max_send_message_length', grpc_send_max);
-	}
-	if (grpc_receive_max !== null) {
-		utils.setConfigSetting('grpc.max_receive_message_length', grpc_receive_max);
-	}
-	if (sdk_send_max !== null) {
-		utils.setConfigSetting('grpc-max-send-message-length', sdk_send_max);
-	}
-	if (sdk_receive_max !== null) {
-		utils.setConfigSetting('grpc-max-receive-message-length', sdk_receive_max);
-	}
+
+	sentConnectionOptionsIfDefined('grpc.max_send_message_length', grpc_send_max);
+	sentConnectionOptionsIfDefined('grpc.max_receive_message_length', grpc_receive_max);
+	sentConnectionOptionsIfDefined('grpc-max-send-message-length', sdk_send_max);
+	sentConnectionOptionsIfDefined('grpc-max-receive-message-length', sdk_receive_max);
 
 	// replace the default loading
 	client._connection_options = {};
@@ -223,3 +221,18 @@ function checkResponse(t, response, message, error_message) {
 		t.fail('Failed to get an error message for ' + message);
 	}
 }
+
+function sentConnectionOptionsIfDefined(optionName, optionValue) {
+	if (optionValue !== null) {
+		let connectionOptions = utils.getConfigSetting('connection-options');
+		connectionOptions = Object.assign(connectionOptions, {[optionName]:optionValue});
+		utils.setConfigSetting('connection-options', connectionOptions);
+	}
+}
+
+function getClientOptionsDefinedInDefault(client, defaultConnectionOptions) {
+	const clientConnectionOptions = client._buildConnectionOptions();
+	const clientOptionsSubset = {};
+	Object.keys(defaultConnectionOptions).forEach(key => clientOptionsSubset[key] = clientConnectionOptions[key]);
+	return clientOptionsSubset;
+}