diff --git a/adafruit_espatcontrol/adafruit_espatcontrol_socket.py b/adafruit_espatcontrol/adafruit_espatcontrol_socket.py
index aef2863..2a09197 100644
--- a/adafruit_espatcontrol/adafruit_espatcontrol_socket.py
+++ b/adafruit_espatcontrol/adafruit_espatcontrol_socket.py
@@ -73,6 +73,9 @@ def connect(self, address: Tuple[str, int], conntype: Optional[str] = None) -> N
                 conntype = "TCP"
             elif port == 443:
                 conntype = "SSL"
+            # to cater for MQTT over TCP
+            elif port == 1883:
+                conntype = "TCP"
 
         if not _the_interface.socket_connect(
             conntype, host, port, keepalive=10, retries=3