diff --git a/src/NetworkManager.ts b/src/NetworkManager.ts
index 6fb38e4..4a26b91 100644
--- a/src/NetworkManager.ts
+++ b/src/NetworkManager.ts
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ export type IPAddress = IPv4Address | IPv6Address;
 
 export const enum IPFamily {
   IPv4 = "IPv4",
-  IPv4MappedIPv6 = "IPv4MappedIPv6",
   IPv6 = "IPv6",
 }
 
diff --git a/src/coder/DNSLabelCoder.ts b/src/coder/DNSLabelCoder.ts
index 2290800..4a383de 100644
--- a/src/coder/DNSLabelCoder.ts
+++ b/src/coder/DNSLabelCoder.ts
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ export class DNSLabelCoder {
   private static readonly NOT_POINTER_MASK = 0x3FFF;
   private static readonly NOT_POINTER_MASK_ONE_BYTE = 0x3F;
 
-  private buffer?: Buffer;
+  public buffer?: Buffer;
   readonly legacyUnicastEncoding: boolean;
   private startOfRR?: number;
   private startOfRData?: number;
diff --git a/src/coder/ResourceRecord.spec.ts b/src/coder/ResourceRecord.spec.ts
index d2471df..0515cfb 100644
--- a/src/coder/ResourceRecord.spec.ts
+++ b/src/coder/ResourceRecord.spec.ts
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ describe(ResourceRecord, () => {
   });
 
   it("should encode IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses in AAAA records", () => {
-    runRecordEncodingTest(new AAAARecord("test.local.", "::ffff:192.168.178.1"));
-    runRecordEncodingTest(new AAAARecord("sub.test.local.", "::ffff:192.168.0.1"));
+    runRecordEncodingTest(new AAAARecord("v4mapped.local.", "::ffff:192.168.178.1"));
+    runRecordEncodingTest(new AAAARecord("sub.v4mapped.local.", "::ffff:192.168.0.1"));
   });
 
   it("should encode CNAME", () => {
diff --git a/src/coder/ResourceRecord.ts b/src/coder/ResourceRecord.ts
index 7aa1657..f298430 100644
--- a/src/coder/ResourceRecord.ts
+++ b/src/coder/ResourceRecord.ts
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@ export abstract class ResourceRecord implements DNSRecord { // RFC 1035 4.1.3.
   ttl: number;
 
   flushFlag = false;
-  address?: AddressInfo;
 
   protected constructor(headerData: RecordRepresentation);
   protected constructor(name: string, type: RType, ttl?: number, flushFlag?: boolean, clazz?: RClass);
diff --git a/src/coder/records/AAAARecord.ts b/src/coder/records/AAAARecord.ts
index 552440f..3c5fc6c 100644
--- a/src/coder/records/AAAARecord.ts
+++ b/src/coder/records/AAAARecord.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import { RecordRepresentation, ResourceRecord } from "../ResourceRecord";
 
 export class AAAARecord extends ResourceRecord {
 
-  public static readonly DEFAULT_TTL = 120;
+  public static readonly DEFAULT_TTL = AAAARecord.RR_DEFAULT_TTL_SHORT;
 
   readonly ipAddress: string;
 
@@ -21,17 +21,10 @@ export class AAAARecord extends ResourceRecord {
       super(name);
     }
 
-    // Enhanced validation to check for IPv6 and IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses
-    assert(net.isIPv6(ipAddress) || this.isIPv4MappedIPv6(ipAddress), "IP address is not in v6 or IPv4-mapped v6 format!");
+    assert(net.isIPv6(ipAddress), "IP address is not in v6 format!");
     this.ipAddress = ipAddress;
   }
-  // Utility method to check for IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses
-  private isIPv4MappedIPv6(ipAddress: string): boolean {
-    //const ipv4MappedIPv6Regex = /^::ffff:(0{1,4}:){0,1}((25[0-5]|(2[0-4]|1{0,1}[0-9]){0,1}[0-9])\.){3,3}(25[0-5]|(2[0-4]|1{0,1}[0-9]){0,1}[0-9])$/i;
-    //return ipv4MappedIPv6Regex.test(ipAddress);
-    return /^::ffff:(\d{1,3}\.){3}\d{1,3}$/i.test(ipAddress);  
-  }  
-  
+
   protected getRDataEncodingLength(): number {
     return 16; // 16 byte ipv6 address
   }
@@ -40,11 +33,11 @@ export class AAAARecord extends ResourceRecord {
     const oldOffset = offset;
 
     const address = enlargeIPv6(this.ipAddress);
-    const bytes = address.split(":");
-    assert(bytes.length === 8, "invalid ip address");
+    const hextets = address.split(":");
+    assert(hextets.length === 8, "invalid IP address");
 
-    for (const byte of bytes) {
-      const number = parseInt(byte, 16);
+    for (const hextet of hextets) {
+      const number = parseInt(hextet, 16);
       buffer.writeUInt16BE(number, offset);
       offset += 2;
     }
diff --git a/src/coder/records/ARecord.ts b/src/coder/records/ARecord.ts
index ebc9fae..8883e10 100644
--- a/src/coder/records/ARecord.ts
+++ b/src/coder/records/ARecord.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import { RecordRepresentation, ResourceRecord } from "../ResourceRecord";
 
 export class ARecord extends ResourceRecord {
 
-  public static readonly DEFAULT_TTL = 120;
+  public static readonly DEFAULT_TTL = ARecord.RR_DEFAULT_TTL_SHORT;
 
   readonly ipAddress: string;
 
@@ -20,14 +20,9 @@ export class ARecord extends ResourceRecord {
       super(name);
     }
 
-    // Adjust validation to accept IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses
-    const isIPv4 = net.isIPv4(ipAddress);
-    //const isIPv4MappedIPv6 = /^::ffff:0{0,4}:((25[0-5]|(2[0-4]|1\d|\d)\d)\.){3}(25[0-5]|(2[0-4]|1\d|\d)\d)$/i.test(ipAddress);
-    const isIPv4MappedIPv6 = /^::ffff:(\d{1,3}\.){3}\d{1,3}$/i.test(ipAddress);
-    assert(isIPv4 || isIPv4MappedIPv6, "IP address is not in v4 or IPv4-mapped v6 format!");
+    assert(net.isIPv4(ipAddress), "IP address is not in IPv4 format!");
 
-    // Store the original IP address or convert IPv4-mapped IPv6 to IPv4
-    this.ipAddress = isIPv4MappedIPv6 ? ipAddress.split(":").pop() as string : ipAddress;
+    this.ipAddress = ipAddress;
   }
 
   protected getRDataEncodingLength(): number {
diff --git a/src/coder/test-utils.ts b/src/coder/test-utils.ts
index 8b3be35..2729888 100644
--- a/src/coder/test-utils.ts
+++ b/src/coder/test-utils.ts
@@ -4,17 +4,9 @@ import { DNSPacket } from "./DNSPacket";
 import { Question } from "./Question";
 import { ResourceRecord } from "./ResourceRecord";
 
-// Utility function to convert IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses to IPv4
-function convertIPv4MappedIPv6ToIPv4(address: string): string {
-  //const ipv4MappedIPv6Regex = /^::ffff:(\d+\.\d+\.\d+\.\d+)$/;
-  //const match = address.match(ipv4MappedIPv6Regex);
-  //return match ? match[1] : address;
-  return address.replace(/^::ffff:/i, "");
-}
-
 // Adjusted decodeContext to use the utility function for the address
 const decodeContext: AddressInfo = {
-  address: convertIPv4MappedIPv6ToIPv4("::ffff:0.0.0.0"),
+  address: "0.0.0.0",
   family: "ipv4",
   port: 5353,
 };
@@ -32,13 +24,13 @@ export function runRecordEncodingTest(record: Question | ResourceRecord, legacyU
   coder = new DNSLabelCoder(legacyUnicast);
   coder.initBuf(buffer);
 
-  // Adjusted to use the potentially converted address in decodeContext
+
+  // test the decodeRecord method
   const decodedRecord = record instanceof Question
     ? Question.decode(decodeContext, coder, buffer, 0)
     : ResourceRecord.decode(decodeContext, coder, buffer, 0);
   expect(decodedRecord.readBytes).toBe(buffer.length);
 
-  //
   const record2 = decodedRecord.data!;
   expect(record2).toBeDefined();
 
diff --git a/src/util/domain-formatter.ts b/src/util/domain-formatter.ts
index 3603477..df30151 100644
--- a/src/util/domain-formatter.ts
+++ b/src/util/domain-formatter.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import assert from "assert";
 import net from "net";
 import { ServiceType } from "../CiaoService";
 import { Protocol } from "../index";
+import { getIPFromV4Mapped, isIPv4Mapped } from "./v4mapped";
 
 function isProtocol(part: string): boolean {
   return part === "_" + Protocol.TCP || part === "_" + Protocol.UDP;
@@ -130,18 +131,11 @@ export function removeTLD(hostname: string): string {
   return hostname.slice(0, lastDot);
 }
 
-// Helper function to check if an address is an IPv4 bridged to IPv6
-function isIPv4BridgedToIPv6(address: string): boolean {
-  return /^::ffff:([0-9a-f]{8})$/i.test(address);
-}
-
-// Add a new function to handle IPv4 bridged to IPv6 addresses
-export function formatIPv4BridgedToIPv6(address: string): string {
-  if (!isIPv4BridgedToIPv6(address)) {
+export function formatMappedIPv4Address(address: string): string {
+  if (!isIPv4Mapped(address)) {
     assert(net.isIPv4(address), "Illegal argument. Must be an IPv4 address!");
   }
 
-
   assert(net.isIPv4(address), "Illegal argument. Must be an IPv4 address!");
 
   // Convert IPv4 address to its hexadecimal representation
@@ -155,62 +149,17 @@ export function formatIPv4BridgedToIPv6(address: string): string {
 export function enlargeIPv6(address: string): string {
   assert(net.isIPv6(address), "Illegal argument. Must be ipv6 address!");
 
-  // Handling IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses
-  if (address.includes(".")) {
-    return address; // Return as is because it's an IPv4-mapped address
-  }
-
-  const ipv4MappedIPv6Regex = /^::ffff:(\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3})$/i;
-  const match = ipv4MappedIPv6Regex.exec(address);
-  if (match) {
-    return match[1]; // Return the IPv4 part
-  }
-
-  let split = address.split(":");
-
-  if (split[0] === "") {
-    split.splice(0, 1);
-
-    while (split.length < 8) {
-      split.unshift("0000");
-    }
-  } else if (split[split.length - 1] === "") {
-    split.splice(split.length -1, 1);
-
-    while (split.length < 8) {
-      split.push("0000");
-    }
-  } else if (split.length < 8) {
-    let emptySection: number;
-    for (emptySection = 0; emptySection < split.length; emptySection++) {
-      if (split[emptySection] === "") { // find the first empty section
-        break;
-      }
-    }
-
-    const replacements: string [] = new Array(9 - split.length).fill("0000");
-    split.splice(emptySection, 1, ...replacements);
-  }
-
-  for (let i = 0; i < split.length; i++) {
-    const element = split[i];
-    if (element.length < 4) {
-      const zeros = new Array(4 - element.length).fill("0").join("");
-      split.splice(i, 1, zeros + element);
-    }
-  }
-  // Find and expand zero compression "::"
-  const zeroCompressionIndex = split.indexOf("");
-  if (zeroCompressionIndex !== -1) {
-    split.splice(zeroCompressionIndex, 1, ...Array(8 - split.length + 1).fill("0"));
-  }
-
-  // Pad each segment with leading zeros
-  split = split.map(segment => segment.padStart(4, "0"));
+  const parts = address.split("::");
   
-  const result = split.join(":");
-  assert(split.length <= 8, `Resulting ipv6 address has more than 8 sections (${result})!`);
-  return result;
+  // Initialize head and tail arrays
+  const head = parts[0] ? parts[0].split(":") : [];
+  const tail = parts[1] ? parts[1].split(":") : [];
+  
+  // Calculate the number of groups to fill in with "0000" when we expand
+  const fill = new Array(8 - head.length - tail.length).fill("0000");
+  
+  // Combine it all and normalize each hextet to be 4 characters long
+  return [...head, ...fill, ...tail].map(hextet => hextet.padStart(4, "0")).join(":");
 }
 
 export function shortenIPv6(address: string | string[]): string {
@@ -280,21 +229,22 @@ export function formatReverseAddressPTRName(address: string): string {
     const split = address.split(".").reverse();
 
     return split.join(".") + ".in-addr.arpa";
-  } else if (net.isIPv6(address) || isIPv4BridgedToIPv6(address)) {
-    if (isIPv4BridgedToIPv6(address)) {
-      // Convert IPv4-mapped IPv6 address to pure IPv6 format before processing
-      address = formatIPv4BridgedToIPv6(address.split("::ffff:")[1]);
-    } else {
-      address = enlargeIPv6(address).toUpperCase();
-    }
-
-    const nibbleSplit = address.replace(/:/g, "").split("").reverse();
-    assert(nibbleSplit.length === 32, "Encountered invalid ipv6 address length! " + nibbleSplit.length);
+  } 
 
-    return nibbleSplit.join(".") + ".ip6.arpa";
-  } else {
+  if (!net.isIPv6(address)) {
     throw new Error("Supplied illegal ip address format: " + address);
   }
+
+  if (isIPv4Mapped(address)) {
+    return (getIPFromV4Mapped(address) as string).split(".").reverse().join(".") + ".in-addr.arpa";
+  }
+
+  address = enlargeIPv6(address).toUpperCase();
+
+  const nibbleSplit = address.replace(/:/g, "").split("").reverse();
+  assert(nibbleSplit.length === 32, "Encountered invalid ipv6 address length! " + nibbleSplit.length);
+
+  return nibbleSplit.join(".") + ".ip6.arpa";
 }
 
 export function ipAddressFromReversAddressName(name: string): string {
diff --git a/src/util/v4mapped.spec.ts b/src/util/v4mapped.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0a82111
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/util/v4mapped.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+import { isIPv4Mapped } from "./v4mapped";
+
+describe("isIPv4Mapped", () => {
+  test("should return true for valid IPv4-mapped IPv6 address", () => {
+    expect(isIPv4Mapped("::ffff:192.168.0.1")).toBe(true);
+
+    // Test case-insensitivity
+    expect(isIPv4Mapped("::FFFF:127.0.0.1")).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test("should return false for non-IPv4-mapped IPv6 address", () => {
+    expect(isIPv4Mapped("2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334")).toBe(false);
+    expect(isIPv4Mapped("fe80::1ff:fe23:4567:890a")).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test("should return false for IPv4 address", () => {
+    expect(isIPv4Mapped("192.168.0.1")).toBe(false);
+    expect(isIPv4Mapped("127.0.0.1")).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test("should return false for invalid IPv4-mapped IPv6 address", () => {
+    expect(isIPv4Mapped("::ffff:999.999.999.999")).toBe(false);
+    expect(isIPv4Mapped("::ffff:192.168.0.256")).toBe(false);
+    expect(isIPv4Mapped("::ffff:192.168.0")).toBe(false);
+    expect(isIPv4Mapped("::ffff:192.168.0.1.1")).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test("should return false for malformed addresses", () => {
+    expect(isIPv4Mapped("::ffff:192.168.0.1g")).toBe(false);
+    expect(isIPv4Mapped("::ffff:192.168.0.")).toBe(false);
+    expect(isIPv4Mapped("::ffff:192.168..0.1")).toBe(false);
+    expect(isIPv4Mapped("::gggg:192.168.0.1")).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test("should return false for empty string", () => {
+    expect(isIPv4Mapped("")).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test("should return false for null or undefined", () => {
+    expect(isIPv4Mapped(null as unknown as string)).toBe(false);
+    expect(isIPv4Mapped(undefined as unknown as string)).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
+
diff --git a/src/util/v4mapped.ts b/src/util/v4mapped.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..22d97ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/util/v4mapped.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+/**
+ * Test for the presence of an IPv4-mapped address embedded in an IPv6 address.
+ *
+ * @param address - IPv6 address
+ * @returns true if it is an IPv4-mapped address, false otherwise.
+ */
+export function isIPv4Mapped(address: string): boolean {
+  if(!/^::ffff:(\d{1,3}\.){3}\d{1,3}$/i.test(address)) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  // Split the address apart into it's components and test for validity.
+  const parts = address.split(/::ffff:/i)[1]?.split(".").map(Number);
+  return parts?.length === 4 && parts.every(part => part >= 0 && part <= 255);
+}
+
+export function getIPFromV4Mapped(address: string): string | null {
+
+  // Split the address apart into it's components and test for validity.
+  return address.split(/^::ffff:/i)[1] ?? null;
+}
+