diff --git a/pkg/hive/hive.go b/pkg/hive/hive.go
index 4293aaf8d9d..8bc07f42791 100644
--- a/pkg/hive/hive.go
+++ b/pkg/hive/hive.go
@@ -35,12 +35,11 @@ import (
 const loggerName = "hive"
 
 const (
-	protocolName           = "hive"
-	protocolVersion        = "1.1.0"
-	peersStreamName        = "peers"
-	messageTimeout         = 1 * time.Minute // maximum allowed time for a message to be read or written.
-	maxBatchSize           = 30
-	batchValidationTimeout = 5 * time.Minute // prevent lock contention on peer validation
+	protocolName    = "hive"
+	protocolVersion = "1.1.0"
+	peersStreamName = "peers"
+	messageTimeout  = 1 * time.Minute // maximum allowed time for a message to be read or written.
+	maxBatchSize    = 30
 )
 
 var (
@@ -261,17 +260,15 @@ func (s *Service) startCheckPeersHandler() {
 				return
 			case newPeers := <-s.peersChan:
 				s.wg.Go(func() {
-					cctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, batchValidationTimeout)
-					defer cancel()
-					s.checkAndAddPeers(cctx, newPeers)
+					s.checkAndAddPeers(newPeers)
 				})
 			}
 		}
 	})
 }
 
-func (s *Service) checkAndAddPeers(ctx context.Context, peers pb.Peers) {
-	var peersToAdd []swarm.Address
+func (s *Service) checkAndAddPeers(peers pb.Peers) {
+	peersToAdd := make([]swarm.Address, 0, len(peers.Peers))
 
 	for _, p := range peers.Peers {
 		multiUnderlays, err := bzz.DeserializeUnderlays(p.Underlay)
diff --git a/pkg/p2p/libp2p/libp2p.go b/pkg/p2p/libp2p/libp2p.go
index 0a26f7b287d..c1731d15833 100644
--- a/pkg/p2p/libp2p/libp2p.go
+++ b/pkg/p2p/libp2p/libp2p.go
@@ -391,34 +391,28 @@ func New(ctx context.Context, signer beecrypto.Signer, networkID uint64, overlay
 	if o.EnableWSS {
 		wsOpt := ws.WithTLSConfig(certManager.TLSConfig())
 		transports = append(transports, libp2p.Transport(ws.New, wsOpt))
-		// AddrsFactory takes the multiaddrs we're listening on and sets the multiaddrs to advertise to the network.
-		// We use the AutoTLS address factory so that the `*` in the AutoTLS address string is replaced with the
-		// actual IP address of the host once detected
-		certManagerAddressFactory := certManager.AddressFactory()
-		opts = append(opts, libp2p.AddrsFactory(func(addrs []ma.Multiaddr) []ma.Multiaddr {
-			addrs = includeNatResolvedAddresses(addrs, newCompositeAddressResolver(tcpResolver, wssResolver), logger)
-
-			addrs = certManagerAddressFactory(addrs)
-
-			slices.SortStableFunc(addrs, func(a, b ma.Multiaddr) int {
-				aPub := manet.IsPublicAddr(a)
-				bPub := manet.IsPublicAddr(b)
-				switch {
-				case aPub == bPub:
-					return 0
-				case aPub:
-					return -1
-				case bPub:
-					return 1
-				}
-				return 0
-			})
-			return addrs
-		}))
 	} else if o.EnableWS {
 		transports = append(transports, libp2p.Transport(ws.New))
 	}
 
+	compositeResolver := newCompositeAddressResolver(tcpResolver, wssResolver)
+
+	var addrFactory config.AddrsFactory
+	if o.EnableWSS {
+		certManagerFactory := certManager.AddressFactory()
+		addrFactory = func(addrs []ma.Multiaddr) []ma.Multiaddr {
+			addrs = includeNatResolvedAddresses(addrs, compositeResolver, logger)
+			addrs = certManagerFactory(addrs)
+			return addrs
+		}
+	} else {
+		addrFactory = func(addrs []ma.Multiaddr) []ma.Multiaddr {
+			return includeNatResolvedAddresses(addrs, compositeResolver, logger)
+		}
+	}
+
+	opts = append(opts, libp2p.AddrsFactory(addrFactory))
+
 	opts = append(opts, transports...)
 
 	if o.hostFactory == nil {
@@ -1076,23 +1070,6 @@ func (s *Service) Connect(ctx context.Context, addrs []ma.Multiaddr) (address *b
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("connect full close %w", err)
 	}
 
-	var pingErr error
-	for _, addr := range addrs {
-		pingCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 500*time.Millisecond)
-		_, err := s.Ping(pingCtx, addr)
-		cancel() // Cancel immediately after use
-		if err == nil {
-			pingErr = nil
-			break
-		}
-		pingErr = err
-	}
-
-	if pingErr != nil {
-		_ = s.Disconnect(overlay, "peer disconnected immediately after handshake")
-		return nil, p2p.ErrPeerNotFound
-	}
-
 	if !s.peers.Exists(overlay) {
 		return nil, p2p.ErrPeerNotFound
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/pushsync/pushsync.go b/pkg/pushsync/pushsync.go
index 78720473e6f..05c4aef3d41 100644
--- a/pkg/pushsync/pushsync.go
+++ b/pkg/pushsync/pushsync.go
@@ -188,6 +188,7 @@ func (ps *PushSync) handler(ctx context.Context, p p2p.Peer, stream p2p.Stream)
 			if !attemptedWrite {
 				if writeErr := w.WriteMsgWithContext(ctx, &pb.Receipt{Err: err.Error()}); writeErr == nil {
 					_ = stream.FullClose()
+					return
 				}
 			}
 			_ = stream.Reset()