Android - How to set HttpResponse timeout in Java

I have created the following function for checking the connection status:

private void checkConnectionStatus() { 
    HttpClient httpClient = new DefaultHttpClient(); 
 
    try { 
      String url = "http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:8000/GaitLink/" 
                   + strSessionString + "/ConnectionStatus"; 
      Log.d("phobos", "performing get " + url); 
      HttpGet method = new HttpGet(new URI(url)); 
      HttpResponse response = httpClient.execute(method); 
 
      if (response != null) { 
        String result = getResponse(response.getEntity()); 
        ... 

When I shut down the server for testing the execution waits a long time at line

HttpResponse response = httpClient.execute(method); 

Does anyone know how to set the timeout in order to avoid waiting too long?

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