diff --git a/src/TinyMqtt.cpp b/src/TinyMqtt.cpp
index 8679a76..5768387 100644
--- a/src/TinyMqtt.cpp
+++ b/src/TinyMqtt.cpp
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ void MqttClient::connect(std::string broker, uint16_t port, uint16_t ka)
 #ifdef TINY_MQTT_ASYNC
   client->onData(onData, this);
   client->onConnect(onConnect, this);
-  client->connect(broker.c_str(), port);
+  client->connect(broker.c_str(), port, ka);
 #else
   if (client->connect(broker.c_str(), port))
   {
@@ -259,7 +259,7 @@ bool MqttBroker::compareString(
 
 void MqttMessage::getString(const char* &buff, uint16_t& len)
 {
-  len = (buff[0]<<8)|(buff[1]);
+  len = getSize(buff);
   buff+=2;
 }
 
@@ -321,8 +321,8 @@ void MqttClient::onConnect(void *mqttclient_ptr, TcpClient*)
   msg.add(0x4);  // Mqtt protocol version 3.1.1
   msg.add(0x0);  // Connect flags         TODO user / name
 
-  msg.add(0x00);      // keep_alive
-  msg.add((char)mqtt->keep_alive);
+  msg.add((char)(mqtt->keep_alive >> 8));   // keep_alive
+  msg.add((char)(mqtt->keep_alive & 0xFF));
   msg.add(mqtt->clientId);
   debug("cnx: mqtt connecting");
   msg.sendTo(mqtt);
@@ -443,7 +443,7 @@ void MqttClient::processMessage(MqttMessage* mesg)
       }
       payload = header+10;
       mqtt_flags = header[7];
-      keep_alive = (header[8]<<8)|(header[9]);
+      keep_alive = MqttMessage::getSize(header+8);
       if (strncmp("MQTT", header+2,4))
       {
         debug("bad mqtt header");
diff --git a/src/TinyMqtt.h b/src/TinyMqtt.h
index 0887751..275eedd 100644
--- a/src/TinyMqtt.h
+++ b/src/TinyMqtt.h
@@ -104,6 +104,11 @@ class MqttMessage
       Create=6
     };
 
+    static inline uint32_t getSize(const char* buffer)
+    {
+      const unsigned char* bun = (const unsigned char*)buffer;
+      return (*bun << 8) | bun[1]; }
+
     MqttMessage() { reset(); }
     MqttMessage(Type t, uint8_t bits_d3_d0=0) { create(t); buffer[0] |= bits_d3_d0; }
     void incoming(char byte);
@@ -250,6 +255,7 @@ class MqttClient
 #ifdef EPOXY_DUINO
     static std::map<MqttMessage::Type, int> counters;  // Number of processed messages
 #endif
+    uint32_t keepAlive() const { return keep_alive; }
 
   private:
 
@@ -312,6 +318,8 @@ class MqttBroker
         client->dump(indent);
     }
 
+    const std::vector<MqttClient*>  getClients() const { return clients; }
+
   private:
     friend class MqttClient;
 
diff --git a/tests/network-tests/network-tests.ino b/tests/network-tests/network-tests.ino
index 7080414..8f9b0c4 100644
--- a/tests/network-tests/network-tests.ino
+++ b/tests/network-tests/network-tests.ino
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #include <iomanip>
 #include <sstream>
 #include <string>
+#include <iostream>
 
 /**
   * TinyMqtt network unit tests.
@@ -140,6 +141,41 @@ test(suback)
   assertEqual(MqttClient::counters[MqttMessage::Type::SubAck], 1);
 }
 
+test(network_client_keep_alive_high)
+{
+  const uint32_t keep_alive=1000;
+  start_servers(2, true);
+  assertEqual(WiFi.status(), WL_CONNECTED);
+
+  MqttBroker broker(1883);
+  broker.begin();
+  IPAddress broker_ip = WiFi.localIP();
+
+  ESP8266WiFiClass::selectInstance(2);
+  MqttClient client;
+  client.connect(broker_ip.toString().c_str(), 1883, keep_alive);
+  broker.loop();
+
+  assertTrue(broker.clientsCount() == 1);
+  assertTrue(client.connected());
+
+  MqttClient::counters[MqttMessage::Type::SubAck] = 0;
+  client.subscribe("a/b");
+
+  // TODO how to avoid these loops ???
+  broker.loop();
+  client.loop();
+
+  assertEqual(MqttClient::counters[MqttMessage::Type::SubAck], 1);
+
+  uint32_t sz = broker.getClients().size();
+  assertEqual(sz , (uint32_t)1);
+
+  uint32_t ka = broker.getClients()[0]->keepAlive();
+  assertEqual(ka, keep_alive);
+
+}
+
 test(network_client_to_broker_connexion)
 {
   start_servers(2, true);
diff --git a/tests/nowifi-tests/Makefile b/tests/nowifi-tests/Makefile
index 3d297d7..7a0ccfb 100644
--- a/tests/nowifi-tests/Makefile
+++ b/tests/nowifi-tests/Makefile
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ EXTRA_CXXFLAGS=-g3 -O0
 CXXFLAGS = -Wextra -Wall -std=gnu++11 -fno-exceptions -fno-threadsafe-statics
 
 APP_NAME := nowifi-tests
-ARDUINO_LIBS := AUnit AceCommon AceTime TinyMqtt EspMock ESP8266WiFi  ESPAsyncTCP
+ARDUINO_LIBS := AUnit AceCommon AceTime TinyMqtt EspMock ESP8266WiFi  ESPAsyncTCP TinyConsole
 ARDUINO_LIB_DIRS := ../../../EspMock/libraries
 EPOXY_CORE := EPOXY_CORE_ESP8266
 include ../../../EpoxyDuino/EpoxyDuino.mk
diff --git a/tests/string-indexer-tests/Makefile b/tests/string-indexer-tests/Makefile
index dd82877..a6c4dc0 100644
--- a/tests/string-indexer-tests/Makefile
+++ b/tests/string-indexer-tests/Makefile
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 EXTRA_CXXFLAGS=-g3 -O0
 
 APP_NAME := string-indexer-tests
-ARDUINO_LIBS := AUnit AceCommon AceTime TinyMqtt EspMock ESP8266WiFi  ESPAsync
+ARDUINO_LIBS := AUnit AceCommon AceTime TinyMqtt EspMock ESP8266WiFi  ESPAsync TinyConsole
 ARDUINO_LIB_DIRS := ../../../EspMock/libraries
 EPOXY_CORE := EPOXY_CORE_ESP8266
 include ../../../EpoxyDuino/EpoxyDuino.mk
diff --git a/tests/topic-tests/Makefile b/tests/topic-tests/Makefile
index faa3b40..a15c2e6 100644
--- a/tests/topic-tests/Makefile
+++ b/tests/topic-tests/Makefile
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 EXTRA_CXXFLAGS=-g3 -O0
 
 APP_NAME := topic-tests
-ARDUINO_LIBS := AUnit AceCommon AceTime TinyMqtt EspMock ESP8266WiFi  ESPAsync
+ARDUINO_LIBS := AUnit AceCommon AceTime TinyMqtt EspMock ESP8266WiFi  ESPAsync TinyConsole
 ARDUINO_LIB_DIRS := ../../../EspMock/libraries
 EPOXY_CORE := EPOXY_CORE_ESP8266
 include ../../../EpoxyDuino/EpoxyDuino.mk