Client hangs when broker service is misconfigured

[nirs]

Problem

When the broker service cannot start (e.g., missing log directory, permission issues), the client hangs indefinitely instead of failing with a clear error.

Expected behavior

The client should:

1. Implement a connection timeout (e.g., 5-10 seconds)
2. Return a clear error like "broker not responding" or "connection timeout"

How to reproduce

1. Break the install (e.g., remove log directory)
2. Try to acquire a network from a client
3. Client hangs forever

Notes

Discovered while testing the install workflow - when log directory creation was skipped, the test workflow hung on client connection.