diff --git a/mq/mq.go b/mq/mq.go
index bbc208da..ca0f942e 100644
--- a/mq/mq.go
+++ b/mq/mq.go
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ func Keepalive(ctx context.Context) {
 						id = servAddr.ID
 					}
 				}
-				if id != "" {
+				if id == "" {
 					logger.Log(0, "leader not defined for network", network.NetID)
 					continue
 				}
diff --git a/netclient/functions/daemon.go b/netclient/functions/daemon.go
index 154c51d6..9f208bd1 100644
--- a/netclient/functions/daemon.go
+++ b/netclient/functions/daemon.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package functions
 import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
 	"os"
@@ -66,7 +67,7 @@ func SetupMQTT(cfg *config.ClientConfig) mqtt.Client {
 	opts := mqtt.NewClientOptions()
 	for _, server := range cfg.Node.NetworkSettings.DefaultServerAddrs {
 		if server.Address != "" && server.IsLeader {
-			ncutils.Log(fmt.Sprintf("adding server (%s) to listen on network %s \n", server.Address, cfg.Node.Network))
+			ncutils.Log(fmt.Sprintf("adding server (%s) to listen on network %s", server.Address, cfg.Node.Network))
 			opts.AddBroker(server.Address + ":1883")
 			break
 		}
@@ -106,13 +107,13 @@ func MessageQueue(ctx context.Context, network string) {
 		log.Fatal(token.Error())
 	}
 	if cfg.DebugOn {
-		ncutils.Log(fmt.Sprintf("subscribed to node updates for node %s update/%s/%s \n", cfg.Node.Name, cfg.Node.Network, cfg.Node.ID))
+		ncutils.Log(fmt.Sprintf("subscribed to node updates for node %s update/%s/%s", cfg.Node.Name, cfg.Node.Network, cfg.Node.ID))
 	}
 	if token := client.Subscribe(fmt.Sprintf("peers/%s/%s", cfg.Node.Network, cfg.Node.ID), 0, mqtt.MessageHandler(UpdatePeers)); token.Wait() && token.Error() != nil {
 		log.Fatal(token.Error())
 	}
 	if cfg.DebugOn {
-		ncutils.Log(fmt.Sprintf("subscribed to peer updates for node %s peers/%s/%s \n", cfg.Node.Name, cfg.Node.Network, cfg.Node.ID))
+		ncutils.Log(fmt.Sprintf("subscribed to peer updates for node %s peers/%s/%s", cfg.Node.Name, cfg.Node.Network, cfg.Node.ID))
 	}
 	var id string
 	for _, server := range cfg.NetworkSettings.DefaultServerAddrs {
@@ -124,7 +125,7 @@ func MessageQueue(ctx context.Context, network string) {
 				log.Fatal(token.Error())
 			}
 			if cfg.DebugOn {
-				ncutils.Log("subscribed to server keepalives")
+				ncutils.Log("subscribed to server keepalives for server " + id)
 			}
 		} else {
 			ncutils.Log("leader not defined for network" + cfg.Network)
@@ -295,6 +296,7 @@ func MonitorKeepalive(ctx context.Context, client mqtt.Client, cfg *config.Clien
 			return
 		case <-time.After(time.Second * 150):
 			if time.Since(keepalive[id]) > time.Second*200 { // more than 3+ minutes
+				ncutils.Log("server keepalive not recieved in more than minutes, resubscribe to message queue")
 				Resubscribe(client, cfg)
 			}
 		}
@@ -303,7 +305,10 @@ func MonitorKeepalive(ctx context.Context, client mqtt.Client, cfg *config.Clien
 
 // ServerKeepAlive -- handler to react to keepalive messages published by server
 func ServerKeepAlive(client mqtt.Client, msg mqtt.Message) {
-	serverid := string(msg.Payload())
+	serverid, err := getID(msg.Topic())
+	if err != nil {
+		ncutils.Log("invalid ID in serverkeepalive topic")
+	}
 	keepalive[serverid] = time.Now()
 	ncutils.Log("keepalive from server")
 }
@@ -412,14 +417,14 @@ func PublishNodeUpdate(cfg *config.ClientConfig) {
 		ncutils.Log("error marshling node update " + err.Error())
 	}
 	if err = publish(cfg, fmt.Sprintf("update/%s", cfg.Node.ID), data); err != nil {
-		ncutils.Log(fmt.Sprintf("error publishing endpoint update, %v \n", err))
+		ncutils.Log(fmt.Sprintf("error publishing endpoint update, %v", err))
 	}
 }
 
 // Hello -- ping the broker to let server know node is alive and doing fine
 func Hello(cfg *config.ClientConfig, network string) {
 	if err := publish(cfg, fmt.Sprintf("ping/%s", cfg.Node.ID), []byte("hello world!")); err != nil {
-		ncutils.Log(fmt.Sprintf("error publishing ping, %v \n", err))
+		ncutils.Log(fmt.Sprintf("error publishing ping, %v", err))
 	}
 }
 
@@ -478,3 +483,13 @@ func shouldResub(currentServers, newServers []models.ServerAddr) bool {
 	}
 	return false
 }
+
+func getID(topic string) (string, error) {
+	parts := strings.Split(topic, "/")
+	count := len(parts)
+	if count == 1 {
+		return "", errors.New("invalid topic")
+	}
+	//the last part of the topic will be the network.ID
+	return parts[count-1], nil
+}