diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index b25c15b..5bdf2ad 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 *~
+src/my_credentials.h
diff --git a/src/TinyMqtt.cpp b/src/TinyMqtt.cpp
index 5bc9dff..24d1c5c 100644
--- a/src/TinyMqtt.cpp
+++ b/src/TinyMqtt.cpp
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ void MqttClient::close()
 	}
 }
 
-void MqttClient::connect(std::string broker, uint16_t port)
+void MqttClient::connect(std::string broker, uint16_t port, uint16_t ka)
 {
 	debug("cnx: closing");
 	close();
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ void MqttClient::connect(std::string broker, uint16_t port)
 		message.add(0x4);	// Mqtt protocol version 3.1.1
 		message.add(0x0);	// Connect flags         TODO user / name
 
-		keep_alive = 1;			// TODO not configurable
+		keep_alive = ka;			// TODO not configurable
 		message.add(0x00); // keep_alive
 		message.add((char)keep_alive);
 		message.add(clientId);
diff --git a/src/TinyMqtt.h b/src/TinyMqtt.h
index 7990b88..8109942 100644
--- a/src/TinyMqtt.h
+++ b/src/TinyMqtt.h
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ class MqttClient
 		~MqttClient();
 
 		void connect(MqttBroker* parent);
-		void connect(std::string broker, uint16_t port);
+		void connect(std::string broker, uint16_t port, uint16_t ka=10);
 
 		bool connected() { return
 			(parent!=nullptr and client==nullptr) or