diff --git a/llarp/net/ip_range.hpp b/llarp/net/ip_range.hpp
index 747914f1e..fcb3b97fe 100644
--- a/llarp/net/ip_range.hpp
+++ b/llarp/net/ip_range.hpp
@@ -20,12 +20,12 @@ namespace llarp
       return IPRange{net::ExpandV4(ipaddr_ipv4_bits(a, b, c, d)), netmask_ipv6_bits(mask + 96)};
     }
 
-    /// return true if this iprange is in the SIIT range for containing ipv4 addresses
+    /// return true if this iprange is in the IPv4 mapping range for containing ipv4 addresses
     constexpr bool
     IsV4() const
     {
-      constexpr auto siit = IPRange{huint128_t{0x0000'ffff'0000'0000UL}, netmask_ipv6_bits(96)};
-      return siit.Contains(addr);
+      constexpr auto ipv4_map = IPRange{huint128_t{0x0000'ffff'0000'0000UL}, netmask_ipv6_bits(96)};
+      return ipv4_map.Contains(addr);
     }
 
     /// return the number of bits set in the hostmask
diff --git a/llarp/net/net.cpp b/llarp/net/net.cpp
index ceb3d3b14..d795e4d93 100644
--- a/llarp/net/net.cpp
+++ b/llarp/net/net.cpp
@@ -599,7 +599,7 @@ namespace llarp
     (void)addr;
     return false;
 #else
-    if (!ipv6_is_siit(addr))
+    if (!ipv6_is_mapped_ipv4(addr))
     {
       static in6_addr zero = {};
       if (addr == zero)
diff --git a/llarp/net/net_bits.hpp b/llarp/net/net_bits.hpp
index b57603eb2..0f6c5359c 100644
--- a/llarp/net/net_bits.hpp
+++ b/llarp/net/net_bits.hpp
@@ -37,12 +37,15 @@ namespace llarp
     return huint32_t{(d) | (c << 8) | (b << 16) | (a << 24)};
   }
 
+  // IPv4 mapped address live at ::ffff:0:0/96
+  constexpr std::array<uint8_t, 12> ipv4_map_prefix{0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0xff, 0xff};
+
   constexpr bool
-  ipv6_is_siit(const in6_addr& addr)
+  ipv6_is_mapped_ipv4(const in6_addr& addr)
   {
-    return addr.s6_addr[11] == 0xff && addr.s6_addr[10] == 0xff && addr.s6_addr[9] == 0
-        && addr.s6_addr[8] == 0 && addr.s6_addr[7] == 0 && addr.s6_addr[6] == 0
-        && addr.s6_addr[5] == 0 && addr.s6_addr[4] == 0 && addr.s6_addr[3] == 0
-        && addr.s6_addr[2] == 0 && addr.s6_addr[1] == 0 && addr.s6_addr[0] == 0;
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < ipv4_map_prefix.size(); i++)
+      if (addr.s6_addr[i] != ipv4_map_prefix[i])
+        return false;
+    return true;
   }
 }  // namespace llarp
diff --git a/llarp/net/sock_addr.cpp b/llarp/net/sock_addr.cpp
index 495cea5b1..416af3fdb 100644
--- a/llarp/net/sock_addr.cpp
+++ b/llarp/net/sock_addr.cpp
@@ -19,10 +19,6 @@ namespace llarp
   /// shared utility functions
   ///
 
-  constexpr auto addrIsV4 = [](const in6_addr& addr) -> bool {
-    return addr.s6_addr[10] == 0xff and addr.s6_addr[11] == 0xff;
-  };
-
   void
   SockAddr::init()
   {
@@ -31,13 +27,9 @@ namespace llarp
   }
 
   void
-  SockAddr::applySIITBytes()
+  SockAddr::applyIPv4MapBytes()
   {
-    uint8_t* ip6 = m_addr.sin6_addr.s6_addr;
-
-    // SIIT == Stateless IP/ICMP Translation (represent IPv4 with IPv6)
-    ip6[10] = 0xff;
-    ip6[11] = 0xff;
+    std::memcpy(m_addr.sin6_addr.s6_addr, ipv4_map_prefix.data(), ipv4_map_prefix.size());
   }
 
   SockAddr::SockAddr()
@@ -52,9 +44,8 @@ namespace llarp
   }
 
   SockAddr::SockAddr(uint8_t a, uint8_t b, uint8_t c, uint8_t d, uint16_t port)
+      : SockAddr{a, b, c, d}
   {
-    init();
-    setIPv4(a, b, c, d);
     setPort(port);
   }
   SockAddr::SockAddr(std::string_view addr)
@@ -62,6 +53,12 @@ namespace llarp
     init();
     fromString(addr);
   }
+  SockAddr::SockAddr(std::string_view addr, uint16_t port)
+  {
+    init();
+    setPort(port);
+    fromString(addr, false);
+  }
 
   SockAddr::SockAddr(const AddressInfo& info) : SockAddr{info.ip}
   {
@@ -89,9 +86,9 @@ namespace llarp
   SockAddr::operator=(const sockaddr& other)
   {
     if (other.sa_family == AF_INET6)
-      *this = (const sockaddr_in6&)other;
+      *this = reinterpret_cast<const sockaddr_in6&>(other);
     else if (other.sa_family == AF_INET)
-      *this = (const sockaddr_in&)other;
+      *this = reinterpret_cast<const sockaddr_in&>(other);
     else
       throw std::invalid_argument("Invalid sockaddr (not AF_INET or AF_INET6)");
 
@@ -107,7 +104,7 @@ namespace llarp
   SockAddr::operator=(const sockaddr_in& other)
   {
     init();
-    applySIITBytes();
+    applyIPv4MapBytes();
 
     // avoid byte order conversion (this is NBO -> NBO)
     memcpy(m_addr.sin6_addr.s6_addr + 12, &other.sin_addr.s_addr, sizeof(in_addr));
@@ -130,7 +127,7 @@ namespace llarp
     init();
 
     memcpy(&m_addr, &other, sizeof(sockaddr_in6));
-    if (addrIsV4(other.sin6_addr))
+    if (ipv6_is_mapped_ipv4(other.sin6_addr))
       setIPv4(
           other.sin6_addr.s6_addr[12],
           other.sin6_addr.s6_addr[13],
@@ -153,7 +150,7 @@ namespace llarp
     init();
 
     memcpy(&m_addr.sin6_addr.s6_addr, &other.s6_addr, sizeof(m_addr.sin6_addr.s6_addr));
-    if (addrIsV4(other))
+    if (ipv6_is_mapped_ipv4(other))
       setIPv4(other.s6_addr[12], other.s6_addr[13], other.s6_addr[14], other.s6_addr[15]);
     m_empty = false;
 
@@ -202,7 +199,7 @@ namespace llarp
   }
 
   void
-  SockAddr::fromString(std::string_view str)
+  SockAddr::fromString(std::string_view str, bool allow_port)
   {
     if (str.empty())
     {
@@ -233,33 +230,19 @@ namespace llarp
     if (ipSplits.size() != 4)
       throw std::invalid_argument(stringify(str, " is not a valid IPv4 address"));
 
-    uint8_t ipBytes[4] = {0};
-
+    std::array<uint8_t, 4> ipBytes;
     for (int i = 0; i < 4; ++i)
-    {
-      auto byteStr = ipSplits[i];
-      auto result = std::from_chars(byteStr.data(), byteStr.data() + byteStr.size(), ipBytes[i]);
-
-      if (result.ec != std::errc())
-        throw std::runtime_error(stringify(str, " contains invalid number"));
-
-      if (result.ptr != (byteStr.data() + byteStr.size()))
-        throw std::runtime_error(stringify(str, " contains non-numeric values"));
-    }
+      if (not parse_int(ipSplits[i], ipBytes[i]))
+        throw std::runtime_error(stringify(str, " contains invalid numeric value"));
 
     // attempt port before setting IPv4 bytes
     if (splits.size() == 2)
     {
-      uint16_t port = 0;
-      auto portStr = splits[1];
-      auto result = std::from_chars(portStr.data(), portStr.data() + portStr.size(), port);
-
-      if (result.ec != std::errc())
-        throw std::runtime_error(stringify(str, " contains invalid port"));
-
-      if (result.ptr != (portStr.data() + portStr.size()))
-        throw std::runtime_error(stringify(str, " contains junk after port"));
-
+      if (not allow_port)
+        throw std::runtime_error{stringify("invalid ip address (port not allowed here): ", str)};
+      uint16_t port;
+      if (not parse_int(splits[1], port))
+        throw std::runtime_error{stringify(splits[1], " is not a valid port")};
       setPort(port);
     }
 
@@ -278,7 +261,7 @@ namespace llarp
 
     if (ip6[10] == 0xff and ip6[11] == 0xff)
     {
-      // treat SIIT like IPv4
+      // handle IPv4 mapped addrs
       constexpr auto MaxIPv4PlusPortStringSize = 22;
       str.reserve(MaxIPv4PlusPortStringSize);
       char buf[128] = {0x0};
@@ -317,7 +300,7 @@ namespace llarp
     uint8_t* ip6 = m_addr.sin6_addr.s6_addr;
     llarp::Zero(ip6, sizeof(m_addr.sin6_addr.s6_addr));
 
-    applySIITBytes();
+    applyIPv4MapBytes();
 
     ip6[12] = a;
     ip6[13] = b;
diff --git a/llarp/net/sock_addr.hpp b/llarp/net/sock_addr.hpp
index 5784f3ab1..15696ae30 100644
--- a/llarp/net/sock_addr.hpp
+++ b/llarp/net/sock_addr.hpp
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ namespace llarp
     SockAddr(uint8_t a, uint8_t b, uint8_t c, uint8_t d);
     SockAddr(uint8_t a, uint8_t b, uint8_t c, uint8_t d, uint16_t port);
     SockAddr(std::string_view addr);
+    SockAddr(std::string_view addr, uint16_t port);
 
     SockAddr(const AddressInfo&);
 
@@ -64,7 +65,7 @@ namespace llarp
     operator==(const SockAddr& other) const;
 
     void
-    fromString(std::string_view str);
+    fromString(std::string_view str, bool allow_port = true);
 
     std::string
     toString() const;
@@ -113,7 +114,7 @@ namespace llarp
     init();
 
     void
-    applySIITBytes();
+    applyIPv4MapBytes();
   };
 
   std::ostream&