ESP8266-01 won't connect to HiveMQ Cloud (MQTT)

Hello.
I have been trying for a while to connect my ESP8266-01 to the Cloud, through MQTT. My eESP module is connected through serial communication to an Arduino UNO board, but I bypassed the Arduino board so I can work only with the ESP module.
The ESP module connects to the local WiFi with success, and the MQTT communication works as well.
I get an error rc=-2, which would correspond to some issues related to the client ID. I double checked the username, password, port and address of my cloud. I will attach the simple code I’ve been trying.
Any help is crucial and very much appreciated!
Thank you!

#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>
#include <PubSubClient.h>

const char* ssid = "TP-Link_11F8";
const char* password = "********";
const char* mqtt_broker = "*********************.s1.eu.hivemq.cloud";
const char* mqtt_username = "test123";
const char* mqtt_password = "*****";
const int mqtt_port = 8883;

WiFiClientSecure espClient;
PubSubClient client(espClient);

static const char *root_ca PROGMEM = R"EOF(
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
MIIFazCCA1OgAwIBAgIRAIIQz7DSQONZRGPgu2OCiwAwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQELBQAw
TzELMAkGA1UEBhMCVVMxKTAnBgNVBAoTIEludGVybmV0IFNlY3VyaXR5IFJlc2Vh
cmNoIEdyb3VwMRUwEwYDVQQDEwxJU1JHIFJvb3QgWDEwHhcNMTUwNjA0MTEwNDM4
WhcNMzUwNjA0MTEwNDM4WjBPMQswCQYDVQQGEwJVUzEpMCcGA1UEChMgSW50ZXJu
ZXQgU2VjdXJpdHkgUmVzZWFyY2ggR3JvdXAxFTATBgNVBAMTDElTUkcgUm9vdCBY
MTCCAiIwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEBBQADggIPADCCAgoCggIBAK3oJHP0FDfzm54rVygc
h77ct984kIxuPOZXoHj3dcKi/vVqbvYATyjb3miGbESTtrFj/RQSa78f0uoxmyF+
0TM8ukj13Xnfs7j/EvEhmkvBioZxaUpmZmyPfjxwv60pIgbz5MDmgK7iS4+3mX6U
A5/TR5d8mUgjU+g4rk8Kb4Mu0UlXjIB0ttov0DiNewNwIRt18jA8+o+u3dpjq+sW
T8KOEUt+zwvo/7V3LvSye0rgTBIlDHCNAymg4VMk7BPZ7hm/ELNKjD+Jo2FR3qyH
B5T0Y3HsLuJvW5iB4YlcNHlsdu87kGJ55tukmi8mxdAQ4Q7e2RCOFvu396j3x+UC
B5iPNgiV5+I3lg02dZ77DnKxHZu8A/lJBdiB3QW0KtZB6awBdpUKD9jf1b0SHzUv
KBds0pjBqAlkd25HN7rOrFleaJ1/ctaJxQZBKT5ZPt0m9STJEadao0xAH0ahmbWn
OlFuhjuefXKnEgV4We0+UXgVCwOPjdAvBbI+e0ocS3MFEvzG6uBQE3xDk3SzynTn
jh8BCNAw1FtxNrQHusEwMFxIt4I7mKZ9YIqioymCzLq9gwQbooMDQaHWBfEbwrbw
qHyGO0aoSCqI3Haadr8faqU9GY/rOPNk3sgrDQoo//fb4hVC1CLQJ13hef4Y53CI
rU7m2Ys6xt0nUW7/vGT1M0NPAgMBAAGjQjBAMA4GA1UdDwEB/wQEAwIBBjAPBgNV
HRMBAf8EBTADAQH/MB0GA1UdDgQWBBR5tFnme7bl5AFzgAiIyBpY9umbbjANBgkq
hkiG9w0BAQsFAAOCAgEAVR9YqbyyqFDQDLHYGmkgJykIrGF1XIpu+ILlaS/V9lZL
ubhzEFnTIZd+50xx+7LSYK05qAvqFyFWhfFQDlnrzuBZ6brJFe+GnY+EgPbk6ZGQ
3BebYhtF8GaV0nxvwuo77x/Py9auJ/GpsMiu/X1+mvoiBOv/2X/qkSsisRcOj/KK
NFtY2PwByVS5uCbMiogziUwthDyC3+6WVwW6LLv3xLfHTjuCvjHIInNzktHCgKQ5
ORAzI4JMPJ+GslWYHb4phowim57iaztXOoJwTdwJx4nLCgdNbOhdjsnvzqvHu7Ur
TkXWStAmzOVyyghqpZXjFaH3pO3JLF+l+/+sKAIuvtd7u+Nxe5AW0wdeRlN8NwdC
jNPElpzVmbUq4JUagEiuTDkHzsxHpFKVK7q4+63SM1N95R1NbdWhscdCb+ZAJzVc
oyi3B43njTOQ5yOf+1CceWxG1bQVs5ZufpsMljq4Ui0/1lvh+wjChP4kqKOJ2qxq
4RgqsahDYVvTH9w7jXbyLeiNdd8XM2w9U/t7y0Ff/9yi0GE44Za4rF2LN9d11TPA
mRGunUHBcnWEvgJBQl9nJEiU0Zsnvgc/ubhPgXRR4Xq37Z0j4r7g1SgEEzwxA57d
emyPxgcYxn/eR44/KJ4EBs+lVDR3veyJm+kXQ99b21/+jh5Xos1AnX5iItreGCc=
-----END CERTIFICATE-----
)EOF";

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(74880);
  WiFi.begin(ssid, password);
  WiFi.mode(WIFI_STA);

  while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) {
    delay(500);
    Serial.println("Connecting to WiFi...");
    if (WiFi.status() == WL_CONNECT_FAILED) {
      Serial.println("Connection failed. Check credentials.");
      while (1) delay(1000); // Stuck here if WiFi connection fails
    }
  }

  Serial.println("Connected to WiFi");
  client.setServer(mqtt_broker, mqtt_port);

  while (!client.connected()) {
    Serial.println("Attempting MQTT connection...");
    if (client.connect("ESP8266Client", mqtt_username, mqtt_password)) { // **The code fails here**
      Serial.println("Connected to MQTT");
    } else {
      Serial.print("Failed to connect to MQTT, rc="); // **This is printed infinitely**
      Serial.print(client.state());
      Serial.println(" Retrying in 5 seconds");
      delay(5000);
    }
  }
}

void loop() {
  if (!client.connected()) {
    Serial.println("MQTT disconnected. Reconnecting...");
    reconnect();
  }
  client.loop();
}

void reconnect() {
  if (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) {
    Serial.println("WiFi connection lost. Reconnecting...");
    setup(); // Re-attempt WiFi connection if lost
  }
  
  while (!client.connected()) {
    Serial.println("Attempting MQTT reconnection...");
    if (client.connect("ESP8266Client", mqtt_username, mqtt_password)) {
      Serial.println("Reconnected to MQTT");
    } else {
      Serial.print("Reconnection failed, rc=");
      Serial.print(client.state());
      Serial.println(" Retrying in 5 seconds");
      delay(5000);
    }
  }
}

Hello @Denisucu55

Welcome to HiveMQ Community! I wanted to share with you a basic sample for the ESP8266 that I’ve personally used on my device. This sample is designed to provide you with a clear understanding of how to effectively connect and publish a message to HiveMQ Cloud, so you can adapt the code to your needs.

/*
 Basic sample of connecting ESP8266 with HiveMQ Cloud 

  - Time has to be obtained from NTP, because of CA expiration date validation.
 
 It connects to HiveMQ Cloud broker then:
  - Publishes "Hello World!" to the topic "testTopic" every two seconds.
  - Subscribes to the topic "testTopic", printing out any messages (string payload) it receives.

 It will reconnect to the server if the connection is lost using a blocking reconnect function.
*/

#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>
#include <PubSubClient.h>

//---- WiFi settings
const char* ssid = "TYPE_WiFi_SSID";
const char* password = "TYPE_WiFi_PASSWORD";

//---- HiveMQ Cloud Broker settings
const char* mqtt_server = "TYPE_YOUR_HIVEMQ_CLOUD_URL";
const char* mqtt_user = "TYPE_YOUR_USERNAME";
const char* mqtt_password = "TYPE_YOUR_PASSWORD";

BearSSL::WiFiClientSecure espClient;
PubSubClient client(espClient);
unsigned long lastMsg = 0;
#define MSG_BUFFER_SIZE	(50)
char msg[MSG_BUFFER_SIZE];
int value = 0;

// HiveMQ Cloud Let's Encrypt CA certificate (hardcoded)
static const char ca_cert[] PROGMEM = R"EOF(
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----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=
-----END CERTIFICATE-----
)EOF";

void setClock()
{
  configTime(3 * 3600, 0, "pool.ntp.org", "time.nist.gov");

  Serial.print("Waiting for NTP time sync: ");
  time_t now = time(nullptr);
  while (now < 8 * 3600 * 2) {
    delay(500);
    Serial.print(".");
    now = time(nullptr);
  }
  Serial.println("");
  struct tm timeinfo;
  gmtime_r(&now, &timeinfo);
  Serial.print("Current time: ");
  Serial.print(asctime(&timeinfo));
}

void setup_wifi() {
  delay(10);
  // We start by connecting to a WiFi network
  Serial.println();
  Serial.print("Connecting to ");
  Serial.println(ssid);

  WiFi.mode(WIFI_STA);
  WiFi.begin(ssid, password);

  while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) {
    delay(500);
    Serial.print(".");
  }

  randomSeed(micros());

  Serial.println("");
  Serial.println("WiFi connected");
  Serial.println("IP address: ");
  Serial.println(WiFi.localIP());
}

void callback(char* topic, byte* payload, unsigned int length) {
  Serial.print("Message arrived [");
  Serial.print(topic);
  Serial.print("] ");
  for (int i = 0; i < length; i++) {
    Serial.print((char)payload[i]);
  }
  Serial.println();
}

void reconnect() {
  char err_buf[256];
  
  // Loop until we're reconnected
  while (!client.connected()) {
    Serial.print("Attempting MQTT connection...");
    // MQTT client ID
    String clientId = "ESP8266Client";
    // Attempt to connect
    if (client.connect(clientId.c_str(), mqtt_user, mqtt_password)) {
      Serial.println("connected");
      // Once connected, publish an announcement...
      client.publish("testTopic", "Hello World!");
      // ... and resubscribe
      client.subscribe("testTopic");
    } else {
      Serial.print("failed, rc=");
      Serial.println(client.state());
      espClient.getLastSSLError(err_buf, sizeof(err_buf));
      Serial.print("SSL error: ");
      Serial.println(err_buf);
      Serial.println(" try again in 5 seconds");
      // Wait 5 seconds before retrying
      delay(5000);
    }
  }
}

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);
  BearSSL::X509List *serverTrustedCA = new BearSSL::X509List(ca_cert);
  espClient.setTrustAnchors(serverTrustedCA);
  setup_wifi();
  setClock(); // Required for X.509 validation
  client.setServer(mqtt_server, 8883);
  client.setCallback(callback);
}

void loop() {
  if (!client.connected()) {
    reconnect();
  }
  client.loop();

  unsigned long now = millis();
  if (now - lastMsg > 2000) {
    lastMsg = now;
    ++value;
    snprintf (msg, MSG_BUFFER_SIZE, "Hello World! #%ld", value);
    Serial.print("Publish message: ");
    Serial.println(msg);
    client.publish("testTopic", msg);
  }
}

Kind regards,
Diego from HiveMQ Team

The changes in code solved the issue for me. It might have been some problems related to the certifications.
Thank you so much for the answer, Diego!