diff --git a/veilid-core/src/network_manager/tasks.rs b/veilid-core/src/network_manager/tasks.rs
index 8ad0d0e1..0b8748c5 100644
--- a/veilid-core/src/network_manager/tasks.rs
+++ b/veilid-core/src/network_manager/tasks.rs
@@ -345,9 +345,10 @@ impl NetworkManager {
                 // This is so we can preserve the inbound NAT mappings at our router
                 for did in &dids {
                     // Do we need to do this ping?
+                    // Check if we have already pinged over this low-level-protocol/address-type/port combo
+                    // We want to ensure we do the bare minimum required here
                     let pt = did.dial_info.protocol_type();
                     let at = did.dial_info.address_type();
-
                     let needs_ping = if let Some((llpt, port)) =
                         mapped_port_info.protocol_to_port.get(&(pt, at))
                     {
diff --git a/veilid-core/src/network_manager/tests/test_connection_table.rs b/veilid-core/src/network_manager/tests/test_connection_table.rs
index 0618af12..6b9c5953 100644
--- a/veilid-core/src/network_manager/tests/test_connection_table.rs
+++ b/veilid-core/src/network_manager/tests/test_connection_table.rs
@@ -10,18 +10,18 @@ pub async fn test_add_get_remove() {
     let mut table = ConnectionTable::new(config);
 
     let a1 = ConnectionDescriptor::new_no_local(PeerAddress::new(
-        SocketAddress::new(Address::IPV4(Ipv4Addr::new(127, 0, 0, 1)), 8080),
+        SocketAddress::new(Address::IPV4(Ipv4Addr::new(192, 168, 0, 1)), 8080),
         ProtocolType::TCP,
     ))
     .unwrap();
     let a2 = a1;
     let a3 = ConnectionDescriptor::new(
         PeerAddress::new(
-            SocketAddress::new(Address::IPV6(Ipv6Addr::new(0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1)), 8090),
+            SocketAddress::new(Address::IPV6(Ipv6Addr::new(191, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1)), 8090),
             ProtocolType::TCP,
         ),
         SocketAddress::from_socket_addr(SocketAddr::V6(SocketAddrV6::new(
-            Ipv6Addr::new(0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1),
+            Ipv6Addr::new(191, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1),
             8080,
             0,
             0,
@@ -30,11 +30,11 @@ pub async fn test_add_get_remove() {
     .unwrap();
     let a4 = ConnectionDescriptor::new(
         PeerAddress::new(
-            SocketAddress::new(Address::IPV6(Ipv6Addr::new(0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1)), 8090),
+            SocketAddress::new(Address::IPV6(Ipv6Addr::new(192, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1)), 8090),
             ProtocolType::TCP,
         ),
         SocketAddress::from_socket_addr(SocketAddr::V6(SocketAddrV6::new(
-            Ipv6Addr::new(1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1),
+            Ipv6Addr::new(192, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1),
             8080,
             0,
             0,
@@ -43,11 +43,11 @@ pub async fn test_add_get_remove() {
     .unwrap();
     let a5 = ConnectionDescriptor::new(
         PeerAddress::new(
-            SocketAddress::new(Address::IPV6(Ipv6Addr::new(0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1)), 8090),
+            SocketAddress::new(Address::IPV6(Ipv6Addr::new(192, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1)), 8090),
             ProtocolType::WSS,
         ),
         SocketAddress::from_socket_addr(SocketAddr::V6(SocketAddrV6::new(
-            Ipv6Addr::new(0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1),
+            Ipv6Addr::new(193, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1),
             8080,
             0,
             0,
diff --git a/veilid-server/src/settings.rs b/veilid-server/src/settings.rs
index e62242e4..f1bb3147 100644
--- a/veilid-server/src/settings.rs
+++ b/veilid-server/src/settings.rs
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ core:
             set_value_timeout:
             set_value_count: 20
             set_value_fanout: 5
-            min_peer_count: 2 # 20
+            min_peer_count: 20
             min_peer_refresh_time_ms: 2000
             validate_dial_info_receipt_time_ms: 2000
         upnp: false
@@ -1457,10 +1457,10 @@ mod tests {
 
         assert_eq!(s.core.network.connection_initial_timeout_ms, 2_000u32);
         assert_eq!(s.core.network.connection_inactivity_timeout_ms, 60_000u32);
-        assert_eq!(s.core.network.max_connections_per_ip4, 8u32);
-        assert_eq!(s.core.network.max_connections_per_ip6_prefix, 8u32);
+        assert_eq!(s.core.network.max_connections_per_ip4, 32u32);
+        assert_eq!(s.core.network.max_connections_per_ip6_prefix, 32u32);
         assert_eq!(s.core.network.max_connections_per_ip6_prefix_size, 56u32);
-        assert_eq!(s.core.network.max_connection_frequency_per_min, 8u32);
+        assert_eq!(s.core.network.max_connection_frequency_per_min, 128u32);
         assert_eq!(s.core.network.client_whitelist_timeout_ms, 300_000u32);
         assert_eq!(s.core.network.reverse_connection_receipt_time_ms, 5_000u32);
         assert_eq!(s.core.network.hole_punch_receipt_time_ms, 5_000u32);