diff --git a/src/OverteClient.cpp b/src/OverteClient.cpp
index ced1b86..5460ebb 100644
--- a/src/OverteClient.cpp
+++ b/src/OverteClient.cpp
@@ -967,23 +967,21 @@ void OverteClient::handleDomainListReply(const char* data, size_t len) {
     
     std::cout << "[OverteClient] Node UUID (our session): " << nodeUUID << std::endl;
     
-    // Read domain local ID (16-bit) - this is in LITTLE-ENDIAN, not big-endian!
-    // Do NOT use ntohs() - just read directly on x86
+    // Read node local ID (16-bit, BIG-ENDIAN / network byte order)
     if (offset + 2 > len) return;
     
     // Debug: show the exact bytes at this position
-    std::cout << "[OverteClient] LocalID bytes at offset " << offset << ": "
+    std::cout << "[OverteClient] Node LocalID bytes at offset " << offset << ": "
               << std::hex << std::setfill('0') << std::setw(2) << (int)(unsigned char)data[offset] << " "
               << std::setw(2) << (int)(unsigned char)data[offset+1] << std::dec << std::endl;
     
-    uint16_t localID;
-    std::memcpy(&localID, data + offset, sizeof(uint16_t)); // Direct read, little-endian
+    uint16_t localID = ntohs(*reinterpret_cast<const uint16_t*>(data + offset)); // Big-endian!
     offset += 2;
     
     // Store our local ID for use in sourced packets
     m_localID = localID;
     
-    std::cout << "[OverteClient] Local ID: " << localID << " (0x" << std::hex << localID << std::dec << ")" << std::endl;
+    std::cout << "[OverteClient] Node Local ID (ours!): " << localID << " (0x" << std::hex << localID << std::dec << ")" << std::endl;
     
     // Read permissions (32-bit)
     if (offset + 4 > len) return;