diff -uNr a/blatta/lib/client.py b/blatta/lib/client.py
--- a/blatta/lib/client.py eac411466552678c425d22b90318ad903bcad61213f50ddc38a35dd9db76c771414f6e63e4df35282fef40c3c0b12177b8856dc41be4887307ab871080fc9e3b
+++ b/blatta/lib/client.py 2e8badabcb9694cac1263be7cc37e5ddee7e2719520e6a8ca50bee27f1ac28508c38fcf217056e37fc552e74987b4134b3c43d9b96a7d53e0ad0aa214827d6e1
@@ -437,7 +437,7 @@
                 if peer:
                     self.pest_reply("keys:")
                     for key in peer.keys:
-                        self.pest_reply("%s" % key)
+                        self.pest_reply("'%s'" % key)
                 else:
                     self.pest_reply("unknown peer: %s" % handle)
                 
@@ -450,8 +450,11 @@
                     self.state.add_peer(arguments[0])
                     self.pest_reply("added new peer %s" % arguments[0])
                     self.message(":%s JOIN %s" % (arguments[0], self.server.channel_name))
-                except:
+                except Exception, ex:
                     self.pest_reply("error attempting to add peer %s" % arguments[0])
+                    stack = traceback.format_exc()
+                    logging.debug(ex)
+                    logging.debug(stack)
             else:
                 self.pest_reply("Usage: PEER <HANDLE>")
 
@@ -461,9 +464,10 @@
                     self.state.remove_peer(arguments[0])
                     self.pest_reply("removed peer %s" % arguments[0])
                     self.message(":%s PART %s" % (arguments[0], self.server.channel_name))
-                except Exception, e:
-                    logging.debug(e)
-                    self.pest_reply("Error attempting to remove peer")
+                except Exception, ex:
+                   self.pest_reply("Error attempting to remove peer: %s" % ex)
+                   stack = traceback.format_exc()
+                   logging.debug(stack)
             else:
                 self.pest_reply("Usage: UNPEER <HANDLE>")
 
@@ -503,13 +507,14 @@
                 try:
                     handle, address = arguments
                     address_ip, port = string.split(address, ":") 
-                    self.state.update_at({"handle": handle,
-                                                            "address": address_ip,
-                                                            "port": port},
-                                                            False)
+                    self.state.update_at(
+                        {"handle": handle,
+                        "address": address_ip,
+                        "port": int(port)},
+                        False)
                     self.pest_reply("updated address table: %s %s" % (handle, address))
                 except Exception as ex:
-                   self.pest_reply("Error attempting to update address table")
+                   self.pest_reply("Error attempting to update address table: %s" % ex)
                    stack = traceback.format_exc()
                    logging.debug(stack)
                 return
diff -uNr a/blatta/lib/infosec.py b/blatta/lib/infosec.py
--- a/blatta/lib/infosec.py f6b26aa5d1367c471975ff5e943315e7136ab40d21c7a329e030a2cfffc06b4e8c3c143844560db05b9233087617d571b0d460f0c4ff63e61afc58d79fd4a986
+++ b/blatta/lib/infosec.py 842d56751fd2e61caa10c290815b740c3d4a0170d705c8f47ff4ce5604b73fb82494b3b4cbe656f25df2adc8d348e001c4fb6568b3149bc2f977417d29df4668
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@
                 logging.error("aborting send: message modified by station!")
                 return
 
-            for peer in self.state.get_keyed_peers():
+            for peer in self.state.get_keyed_peers(exclude_addressless=True):
                 
                 # we don't want to send a broadcast back to the originator
                 if message.peer and (peer.peer_id == message.peer.peer_id):
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@
         if message.command != IGNORE:
             logging.debug("packing message bytes: %s" % message.body)
         else:
-            logging.debug("packing rubbish message bytes: %s" % binascii.hexlify(message.body))
+            logging.debug("packing rubbish message bytes: %s" % binascii.hexlify(message.body)[0:8])
 
         message_bytes = struct.pack(MESSAGE_PACKET_FORMAT, message.timestamp, self_chain, net_chain, speaker, message.body)
         return message_bytes
diff -uNr a/blatta/lib/server.py b/blatta/lib/server.py
--- a/blatta/lib/server.py 81527bdb79d3f7c5f42234e6355a530d86fcdc3974a0461782dcd4fe5fc245f8cdca423f4f033cf207224544525ec222a647f8bf56e70bf5a0f04fbb73120d89
+++ b/blatta/lib/server.py 110bba88ae7779dc404b10c2b80f93c6bbbcdf72f05511702cc4afacc22640bdc3c0326fd8d7aaafa92f22e35c39aa808a7ba0cfd892259aa292946fbaec8f17
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-VERSION = "9985"
+VERSION = "9984"
 
 import os
 import select
diff -uNr a/blatta/lib/state.py b/blatta/lib/state.py
--- a/blatta/lib/state.py 034e0af7be67265b08fa39744e1ae5637f0b6bf28021748b964cbc1dcb5147f95b6b94ee94160946c54198669f4dad4f1c98552ade5b16bb78f327c20958777f
+++ b/blatta/lib/state.py 19d07b2cc67c9bfd80a99ea29c8b9064d30253381e6afe2a4cb6bb30d329d6a92258d4d9671588896d71b0619973604c07312fe005f1e926a955efbe40784a52
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import imp
 import hashlib
 import logging
+import datetime
 from itertools import chain
 
 class State(object):
@@ -23,8 +24,7 @@
             cursor.execute("create table if not exists at(handle_id integer,\
                                                           address text not null,\
                                                           port    integer not null,\
-                                                          active_at datetime default null,\
-                                                          updated_at datetime default current_timestamp,\
+                                                          updated_at datetime default null,\
                                                           unique(handle_id, address, port))")
 
             cursor.execute("create table if not exists wot(peer_id integer primary key)")
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@
         cursor = self.cursor()
         at = []
         if handle == None:
-            results = cursor.execute("select handle_id,address,port,active_at from at\
+            results = cursor.execute("select handle_id, address, port, updated_at from at\
                                            order by updated_at desc").fetchall()
         else:
             result = cursor.execute("select handle_id from handles where handle=?",
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@
                 handle_id = result[0]
             else:
                 return []
-            results = cursor.execute("select handle_id,address,port,active_at from at \
+            results = cursor.execute("select handle_id, address, port, updated_at from at \
                                            where handle_id=? order by updated_at desc",
                                            (handle_id,)).fetchall()
         for result in results:
@@ -158,25 +158,52 @@
         if row != None:
             handle_id = row[0]
         else:
-            return
+            raise Exception("handle not found")
         
-        try:
-            cursor.execute("insert into at(handle_id, address, port) values(?, ?, ?)",
-                                (handle_id, peer["address"], peer["port"]))
-        except sqlite3.IntegrityError as ex:
-            cursor.execute("update at set updated_at = current_timestamp\
-                                 where handle_id=? and address=? and port=?",
-                                 (handle_id, peer["address"], peer["port"]))
-        if set_active_at:
-            cursor.execute("update at set active_at = current_timestamp\
-                                 where handle_id=? and address=? and port=?",
-                                 (handle_id, peer["address"], peer["port"]))
+        at_entry = cursor.execute("select handle_id, address, port from at where handle_id=?",
+                            (handle_id,)).fetchone()
+
+        # if there are no AT entries for this handle, insert one
+        timestamp = datetime.datetime.now() if set_active_at else None
+        if at_entry == None:
+            cursor.execute("insert into at(handle_id, address, port, updated_at) values(?, ?, ?, ?)",
+                                (handle_id,
+                                peer["address"],
+                                peer["port"],
+                                timestamp))
+            logging.debug("inserted new at entry for %s: %s:%d" % (
+                peer['handle'],
+                peer['address'],
+                peer['port']))
+
+        # otherwise update the existing entry if it differs
+        else:
+            try:
+                if (at_entry[1] != peer['address'] or
+                    at_entry[2] != peer['port']):
+                    cursor.execute("update at set updated_at = ?,\
+                    address = ?,\
+                    port = ?\
+                    where handle_id=?",
+                    (timestamp,
+                    peer["address"],
+                    peer["port"],
+                    handle_id))
+
+                    logging.debug("updated at entry for %s: %s:%d" % (
+                        peer['handle'],
+                        peer['address'],
+                        peer['port']))
+            except sqlite3.IntegrityError:
+                cursor.execute("delete from at where handle_id=?", (handle_id,))
+                
+
         self.conn.commit()
 
     def add_peer(self, handle):
         cursor = self.cursor()
         cursor.execute("insert into wot(peer_id) values(null)")
-        peer_id = self.cursor.lastrowid 
+        peer_id = cursor.lastrowid 
         cursor.execute("insert into handles(peer_id, handle) values(?, ?)",
                              (peer_id, handle))
         self.conn.commit()
@@ -189,7 +216,7 @@
         result = cursor.execute("select peer_id from handles where handle=?",
                                      (handle,)).fetchone()
         if result == None:
-            return
+            raise Exception("handle not found")
         else:
             peer_id = result[0]
             # get all aliases 
@@ -248,7 +275,7 @@
     def listify(self, results):
         return list(chain.from_iterable(results))
         
-    def get_keyed_peers(self):
+    def get_keyed_peers(self, exclude_addressless=False):
         cursor = self.cursor()
         peer_ids = self.listify(cursor.execute("select peer_id from keys").fetchall())
         peers = []
@@ -257,7 +284,7 @@
             peer = self.get_peer_by_handle(handle)
             if self.is_duplicate(peers, peer):
                 continue 
-            if peer.address == None or peer.port == None:
+            if exclude_addressless and (peer.address == None or peer.port == None):
                 continue 
             peers.append(peer)
         return peers
diff -uNr a/blatta/start_test_net.sh b/blatta/start_test_net.sh
--- a/blatta/start_test_net.sh 2d26b4e88714111204fdffb51aa603bc94f517781589411bd72be924abe9fc4ddf6f344ebf3dec070580c4211b0fd533b3c8a45617f8c07a685166a33ae3118d
+++ b/blatta/start_test_net.sh bb6a2ca2267f79b30c0f393a552ec5cf79bd1b248a71093e72631955fa1f8d637ae3e0b2d5bc6fca90a9615347df64d79bbb390173a4f5b494c192545421e7a9
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 # start 3 servers on different ports
-./blatta --log-level info --channel-name \#aleth --irc-port 9968 --udp-port 7778 --db-path a.db --address-table-path test_net_configs/a.py > logs/a &
-./blatta --log-level info --channel-name \#aleth --irc-port 6669 --udp-port 7779 --db-path b.db --address-table-path test_net_configs/b.py > logs/b &
+./blatta --log-level debug --channel-name \#aleth --irc-port 9968 --udp-port 7778 --db-path a.db --address-table-path test_net_configs/a.py > logs/a &
+# ./blatta --log-level info --channel-name \#aleth --irc-port 6669 --udp-port 7779 --db-path b.db --address-table-path test_net_configs/b.py > logs/b &
 ./blatta --log-level debug --channel-name \#aleth --irc-port 6670 --udp-port 7780 --db-path c.db --address-table-path test_net_configs/c.py > logs/c &