diff --git a/backend/src/lib/drivers/daikin.js b/backend/src/lib/drivers/daikin.js
index eba5695..9e34084 100644
--- a/backend/src/lib/drivers/daikin.js
+++ b/backend/src/lib/drivers/daikin.js
@@ -15,12 +15,19 @@
 // whenever a lease changes. This only needs plain outbound HTTP, which already works
 // through the container's normal NAT/routing (same path proven by the MHI Modbus TCP
 // driver) — no macvlan/broadcast plumbing required.
+//
+// Uses node:http, NOT fetch() — confirmed live 2026-08-25 that this adapter's embedded
+// webserver sends a connection-close-delimited body (no Content-Length, HTTP/1.0-style)
+// and undici's fetch() reliably reads it as 0 bytes even though the connection itself
+// succeeds fast (~150ms). wget/curl and node:http both read it correctly by consuming
+// until the socket closes. Do not "simplify" this back to fetch() — it silently breaks.
+import http from 'node:http'
 import { pool } from '../../db.js'
 
 export const DEVICE_TYPE = 'daikin'
 
 const SWEEP_CONCURRENCY = 50
-const SWEEP_TIMEOUT_MS = 500
+const SWEEP_TIMEOUT_MS = 800
 
 // Mode/fan-rate encodings per the widely-used community reverse-engineering of Daikin's
 // local BRP-adapter API (same wire format across the BRP069/BRP072 firmware family) —
@@ -76,6 +83,21 @@ function cidrToHosts(cidr) {
   return hosts
 }
 
+// Connection: close forces the adapter to actually close the socket at the end of the
+// body (rather than us guessing when a keep-alive stream is "done") — read to 'end'.
+function httpGet(url, timeoutMs) {
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    const req = http.get(url, { headers: { Connection: 'close' }, timeout: timeoutMs }, res => {
+      let body = ''
+      res.setEncoding('utf8')
+      res.on('data', chunk => { body += chunk })
+      res.on('end', () => resolve({ statusCode: res.statusCode, body }))
+    })
+    req.on('timeout', () => req.destroy(new Error(`timeout after ${timeoutMs}ms`)))
+    req.on('error', reject)
+  })
+}
+
 async function mapWithConcurrency(items, limit, fn) {
   const results = new Array(items.length)
   let idx = 0
@@ -91,9 +113,9 @@ async function mapWithConcurrency(items, limit, fn) {
 
 async function probeOne(ip, timeoutMs) {
   try {
-    const res = await fetch(`http://${ip}/common/basic_info`, { signal: AbortSignal.timeout(timeoutMs) })
-    if (!res.ok) return null
-    const info = parseKV(await res.text())
+    const { statusCode, body } = await httpGet(`http://${ip}/common/basic_info`, timeoutMs)
+    if (statusCode !== 200) return null
+    const info = parseKV(body)
     if (info.ret !== 'OK' || info.type !== 'aircon' || !info.mac) return null
     return {
       external_ref: info.mac,
@@ -154,11 +176,11 @@ export async function getStatus(externalRef) {
 
   try {
     const [controlRes, sensorRes] = await Promise.all([
-      fetch(`http://${device.device_ip}/aircon/get_control_info`, { signal: AbortSignal.timeout(5000) }),
-      fetch(`http://${device.device_ip}/aircon/get_sensor_info`, { signal: AbortSignal.timeout(5000) }),
+      httpGet(`http://${device.device_ip}/aircon/get_control_info`, 5000),
+      httpGet(`http://${device.device_ip}/aircon/get_sensor_info`, 5000),
     ])
-    const control = parseKV(await controlRes.text())
-    const sensor = parseKV(await sensorRes.text())
+    const control = parseKV(controlRes.body)
+    const sensor = parseKV(sensorRes.body)
     if (control.ret !== 'OK') throw new Error(`Unit returned ${control.ret || 'no response'}`)
 
     return {
@@ -184,8 +206,8 @@ export async function setTarget(externalRef, { onOff, mode, tempC, fanSpeed } =
   if (!device?.device_ip) return false
 
   try {
-    const curRes = await fetch(`http://${device.device_ip}/aircon/get_control_info`, { signal: AbortSignal.timeout(5000) })
-    const current = parseKV(await curRes.text())
+    const curRes = await httpGet(`http://${device.device_ip}/aircon/get_control_info`, 5000)
+    const current = parseKV(curRes.body)
     if (current.ret !== 'OK') throw new Error(`Unit returned ${current.ret || 'no response'}`)
 
     const params = new URLSearchParams({
@@ -196,8 +218,8 @@ export async function setTarget(externalRef, { onOff, mode, tempC, fanSpeed } =
       f_rate: fanSpeed ? (FAN_TO_DAIKIN[fanSpeed] ?? current.f_rate) : current.f_rate,
       f_dir: current.f_dir ?? '0',
     })
-    const setRes = await fetch(`http://${device.device_ip}/aircon/set_control_info?${params}`, { signal: AbortSignal.timeout(5000) })
-    const result = parseKV(await setRes.text())
+    const setRes = await httpGet(`http://${device.device_ip}/aircon/set_control_info?${params}`, 5000)
+    const result = parseKV(setRes.body)
     return result.ret === 'OK'
   } catch (err) {
     console.error(`[daikin driver] setTarget failed for ${externalRef}:`, err.message)