MQTT Connection Troubleshooting

Verify credential format, broker health, and network reachability so your LinknLink device can reliably connect to Home Assistant (HA) via MQTT.

Step 1: Credential format

  • Username/password must be alphanumeric only (A–Z, a–z, 0–9), with no spaces or special characters.

  • If special characters were used before, update both the broker and the device to a new alphanumeric pair.

Step 2: Confirm the MQTT broker

  1. In HA: Settings → Devices & Services → Add Integration → search “MQTT” → Configure.

  2. Success indicates the Broker IP, port, and credentials are correct.

  3. On failure:

    • HA OS: install and enable Mosquitto broker from the Add-on Store;

    • Other setups: ensure Mosquitto is running and listening on 1883 (when TLS is off).

Step 3: Verify network connectivity (device ↔ HA)

  1. Add the Ping (ICMP) integration in HA and enter the LinknLink device IP;

  2. connected means same LAN/reachable;

  3. If it fails: check different subnets/VLANs, AP isolation/guest network, or router/firewall rules blocking internal traffic.

  • Broker IP, port (1883 by default), username/password;

  • Save and Check HA MQTT integration device list

Step 5: Confirm HA receives messages

  1. Open Developer Tools → MQTT (or the MQTT integration’s Listen to a topic);

  2. In Topic, enter home/#Start listening;

  3. If you see topics/payloads from the device, the connection and messaging are good.

Step 6: Deep-dive with MQTT Explorer (optional)

  1. Download MQTT Explorer from https://mqtt-explorer.com/;

  2. In Connections, add a profile with name, Host (broker IP), Port (usually 1883), and credentials;

  3. Save → Connect to browse the full topic tree for easier troubleshooting.

Once these checks pass, the LinknLink device should connect to MQTT without issues.

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