diff --git a/libraries/BLE/src/BLEDevice.cpp b/libraries/BLE/src/BLEDevice.cpp
index 473f3ef032e..2be68b5bcf1 100644
--- a/libraries/BLE/src/BLEDevice.cpp
+++ b/libraries/BLE/src/BLEDevice.cpp
@@ -330,7 +330,7 @@ gatts_event_handler BLEDevice::m_customGattsHandler = nullptr;
  * @brief Initialize the %BLE environment.
  * @param deviceName The device name of the device.
  */
-/* STATIC */ void BLEDevice::init(std::string deviceName) {
+/* STATIC */ bool BLEDevice::init(std::string deviceName) {
 	if(!initialized){
 		initialized = true; // Set the initialization flag to ensure we are only initialized once.
 
@@ -338,13 +338,13 @@ gatts_event_handler BLEDevice::m_customGattsHandler = nullptr;
 #ifdef ARDUINO_ARCH_ESP32
 		if (!btStart()) {
 			errRc = ESP_FAIL;
-			return;
+			return false;
 		}
 #else
 		errRc = ::nvs_flash_init();
 		if (errRc != ESP_OK) {
 			log_e("nvs_flash_init: rc=%d %s", errRc, GeneralUtils::errorToString(errRc));
-			return;
+			return false;
 		}
 
 #ifndef CONFIG_BT_CLASSIC_ENABLED
@@ -354,20 +354,20 @@ gatts_event_handler BLEDevice::m_customGattsHandler = nullptr;
 		errRc = esp_bt_controller_init(&bt_cfg);
 		if (errRc != ESP_OK) {
 			log_e("esp_bt_controller_init: rc=%d %s", errRc, GeneralUtils::errorToString(errRc));
-			return;
+			return false;
 		}
 
 #ifndef CONFIG_BT_CLASSIC_ENABLED
 		errRc = esp_bt_controller_enable(ESP_BT_MODE_BLE);
 		if (errRc != ESP_OK) {
 			log_e("esp_bt_controller_enable: rc=%d %s", errRc, GeneralUtils::errorToString(errRc));
-			return;
+			return false;
 		}
 #else
 		errRc = esp_bt_controller_enable(ESP_BT_MODE_BTDM);
 		if (errRc != ESP_OK) {
 			log_e("esp_bt_controller_enable: rc=%d %s", errRc, GeneralUtils::errorToString(errRc));
-			return;
+			return false;
 		}
 #endif
 #endif
@@ -377,7 +377,7 @@ gatts_event_handler BLEDevice::m_customGattsHandler = nullptr;
 			errRc = esp_bluedroid_init();
 			if (errRc != ESP_OK) {
 				log_e("esp_bluedroid_init: rc=%d %s", errRc, GeneralUtils::errorToString(errRc));
-				return;
+				return false;
 			}
 		}
 
@@ -385,21 +385,21 @@ gatts_event_handler BLEDevice::m_customGattsHandler = nullptr;
 			errRc = esp_bluedroid_enable();
 			if (errRc != ESP_OK) {
 				log_e("esp_bluedroid_enable: rc=%d %s", errRc, GeneralUtils::errorToString(errRc));
-				return;
+				return false;
 			}
 		}
 
 		errRc = esp_ble_gap_register_callback(BLEDevice::gapEventHandler);
 		if (errRc != ESP_OK) {
 			log_e("esp_ble_gap_register_callback: rc=%d %s", errRc, GeneralUtils::errorToString(errRc));
-			return;
+			return false;
 		}
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_GATTC_ENABLE   // Check that BLE client is configured in make menuconfig
 		errRc = esp_ble_gattc_register_callback(BLEDevice::gattClientEventHandler);
 		if (errRc != ESP_OK) {
 			log_e("esp_ble_gattc_register_callback: rc=%d %s", errRc, GeneralUtils::errorToString(errRc));
-			return;
+			return false;
 		}
 #endif   // CONFIG_GATTC_ENABLE
 
@@ -407,14 +407,20 @@ gatts_event_handler BLEDevice::m_customGattsHandler = nullptr;
 		errRc = esp_ble_gatts_register_callback(BLEDevice::gattServerEventHandler);
 		if (errRc != ESP_OK) {
 			log_e("esp_ble_gatts_register_callback: rc=%d %s", errRc, GeneralUtils::errorToString(errRc));
-			return;
+			return false;
 		}
 #endif   // CONFIG_GATTS_ENABLE
-
-		errRc = ::esp_ble_gap_set_device_name(deviceName.c_str());
+		
+		// makes sure it fails with any device name that has more than the possible advertising payload length
+		if (deviceName.length() > ESP_BLE_ADV_DATA_LEN_MAX - 2) {  // 1 byte for Length + 1 bytes for ID
+			deviceName = "bad length name: max 29 bytes";
+			errRc = ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG;
+		} else {
+		        errRc = ::esp_ble_gap_set_device_name(deviceName.c_str());
+		}
 		if (errRc != ESP_OK) {
 			log_e("esp_ble_gap_set_device_name: rc=%d %s", errRc, GeneralUtils::errorToString(errRc));
-			return;
+			return false;
 		};
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_BLE_SMP_ENABLE   // Check that BLE SMP (security) is configured in make menuconfig
@@ -422,11 +428,12 @@ gatts_event_handler BLEDevice::m_customGattsHandler = nullptr;
 		errRc = ::esp_ble_gap_set_security_param(ESP_BLE_SM_IOCAP_MODE, &iocap, sizeof(uint8_t));
 		if (errRc != ESP_OK) {
 			log_e("esp_ble_gap_set_security_param: rc=%d %s", errRc, GeneralUtils::errorToString(errRc));
-			return;
+			return false;
 		};
 #endif // CONFIG_BLE_SMP_ENABLE
 	}
 	vTaskDelay(200 / portTICK_PERIOD_MS); // Delay for 200 msecs as a workaround to an apparent Arduino environment issue.
+	return true;
 } // init
 
 
diff --git a/libraries/BLE/src/BLEDevice.h b/libraries/BLE/src/BLEDevice.h
index 9b9cdf03d15..77fcc21bae5 100644
--- a/libraries/BLE/src/BLEDevice.h
+++ b/libraries/BLE/src/BLEDevice.h
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ class BLEDevice {
 	static BLEAddress  getAddress();      // Retrieve our own local BD address.
 	static BLEScan*    getScan();         // Get the scan object
 	static std::string getValue(BLEAddress bdAddress, BLEUUID serviceUUID, BLEUUID characteristicUUID);	  // Get the value of a characteristic of a service on a server.
-	static void        init(std::string deviceName);   // Initialize the local BLE environment.
+	static bool        init(std::string deviceName);   // Initialize the local BLE environment.
 	static void        setPower(esp_power_level_t powerLevel, esp_ble_power_type_t powerType=ESP_BLE_PWR_TYPE_DEFAULT);  // Set our power level.
 	static void        setValue(BLEAddress bdAddress, BLEUUID serviceUUID, BLEUUID characteristicUUID, std::string value);   // Set the value of a characteristic on a service on a server.
 	static std::string toString();        // Return a string representation of our device.