diff --git a/lbrynet/dht/contact.py b/lbrynet/dht/contact.py
index 9497cfa70..dfb24cc01 100644
--- a/lbrynet/dht/contact.py
+++ b/lbrynet/dht/contact.py
@@ -182,7 +182,6 @@ class ContactManager:
                 return contact
 
     def make_contact(self, id, ipAddress, udpPort, networkProtocol, firstComm=0):
-        ipAddress = str(ipAddress)
         contact = self.get_contact(id, ipAddress, udpPort)
         if contact:
             return contact
diff --git a/lbrynet/dht/datastore.py b/lbrynet/dht/datastore.py
index 916f6013c..b6d990ca0 100644
--- a/lbrynet/dht/datastore.py
+++ b/lbrynet/dht/datastore.py
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ class DictDataStore(UserDict):
             if not unexpired_peers:
                 del self[key]
             else:
-                self[key] = unexpired_peers
+                self[key] = list(unexpired_peers)
 
     def hasPeersForBlob(self, key):
         return True if key in self and len(tuple(self.filter_bad_and_expired_peers(key))) else False
diff --git a/lbrynet/dht/encoding.py b/lbrynet/dht/encoding.py
index e868ca582..631c65e36 100644
--- a/lbrynet/dht/encoding.py
+++ b/lbrynet/dht/encoding.py
@@ -60,6 +60,8 @@ class Bencode(Encoding):
             return b'i%de' % data
         elif isinstance(data, bytes):
             return b'%d:%s' % (len(data), data)
+        elif isinstance(data, str):
+            return b'%d:' % (len(data)) + data.encode()
         elif isinstance(data, (list, tuple)):
             encodedListItems = b''
             for item in data:
diff --git a/lbrynet/dht/iterativefind.py b/lbrynet/dht/iterativefind.py
index d6039d5dd..d8136a8ac 100644
--- a/lbrynet/dht/iterativefind.py
+++ b/lbrynet/dht/iterativefind.py
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ class _IterativeFind:
         # Shortlist of contact objects (the k closest known contacts to the key from the routing table)
         self.shortlist = shortlist
         # The search key
-        self.key = str(key)
+        self.key = key
         # The rpc method name (findValue or findNode)
         self.rpc = rpc
         # List of active queries; len() indicates number of active probes
@@ -74,22 +74,22 @@ class _IterativeFind:
         for contact_tup in contact_triples:
             if not isinstance(contact_tup, (list, tuple)) or len(contact_tup) != 3:
                 raise ValueError("invalid contact triple")
+            contact_tup[1] = contact_tup[1].decode()  # ips are strings
         return contact_triples
 
     def sortByDistance(self, contact_list):
         """Sort the list of contacts in order by distance from key"""
         contact_list.sort(key=lambda c: self.distance(c.id))
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def extendShortlist(self, contact, result):
         # The "raw response" tuple contains the response message and the originating address info
         originAddress = (contact.address, contact.port)
         if self.finished_deferred.called:
-            defer.returnValue(contact.id)
+            return contact.id
         if self.node.contact_manager.is_ignored(originAddress):
             raise ValueError("contact is ignored")
         if contact.id == self.node.node_id:
-            defer.returnValue(contact.id)
+            return contact.id
 
         if contact not in self.active_contacts:
             self.active_contacts.append(contact)
@@ -134,14 +134,14 @@ class _IterativeFind:
                 self.sortByDistance(self.active_contacts)
                 self.finished_deferred.callback(self.active_contacts[:min(constants.k, len(self.active_contacts))])
 
-        defer.returnValue(contact.id)
+        return contact.id
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def probeContact(self, contact):
         fn = getattr(contact, self.rpc)
         try:
             response = yield fn(self.key)
-            result = yield self.extendShortlist(contact, response)
+            result = self.extendShortlist(contact, response)
             defer.returnValue(result)
         except (TimeoutError, defer.CancelledError, ValueError, IndexError):
             defer.returnValue(contact.id)
diff --git a/lbrynet/dht/node.py b/lbrynet/dht/node.py
index 118872844..517abd3a4 100644
--- a/lbrynet/dht/node.py
+++ b/lbrynet/dht/node.py
@@ -162,6 +162,13 @@ class Node(MockKademliaHelper):
     #    if hasattr(self, "_listeningPort") and self._listeningPort is not None:
     #        self._listeningPort.stopListening()
 
+    def __str__(self):
+        return '<%s.%s object; ID: %s, IP address: %s, UDP port: %d>' % (
+            self.__module__, self.__class__.__name__, binascii.hexlify(self.node_id), self.externalIP, self.port)
+
+    def __hash__(self):
+        return self.node_id.__hash__()
+
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def stop(self):
         # stop LoopingCalls:
@@ -315,10 +322,10 @@ class Node(MockKademliaHelper):
             token = contact.token
             if not token:
                 find_value_response = yield contact.findValue(blob_hash)
-                token = find_value_response['token']
+                token = find_value_response[b'token']
                 contact.update_token(token)
             res = yield contact.store(blob_hash, token, self.peerPort, self.node_id, 0)
-            if res != "OK":
+            if res != b"OK":
                 raise ValueError(res)
             defer.returnValue(True)
             log.debug("Stored %s to %s (%s)", binascii.hexlify(blob_hash), contact.log_id(), contact.address)
@@ -326,7 +333,7 @@ class Node(MockKademliaHelper):
             log.debug("Timeout while storing blob_hash %s at %s",
                       binascii.hexlify(blob_hash), contact.log_id())
         except ValueError as err:
-            log.error("Unexpected response: %s" % err.message)
+            log.error("Unexpected response: %s" % err)
         except Exception as err:
             log.error("Unexpected error while storing blob_hash %s at %s: %s",
                       binascii.hexlify(blob_hash), contact, err)
@@ -339,9 +346,7 @@ class Node(MockKademliaHelper):
         if not self.externalIP:
             raise Exception("Cannot determine external IP: %s" % self.externalIP)
         stored_to = yield DeferredDict({contact: self.storeToContact(blob_hash, contact) for contact in contacts})
-        contacted_node_ids = map(
-            lambda contact: contact.id.encode('hex'), filter(lambda contact: stored_to[contact], stored_to.keys())
-        )
+        contacted_node_ids = [binascii.hexlify(contact.id) for contact in stored_to.keys() if stored_to[contact]]
         log.debug("Stored %s to %i of %i attempted peers", binascii.hexlify(blob_hash),
                   len(contacted_node_ids), len(contacts))
         defer.returnValue(contacted_node_ids)
@@ -403,7 +408,7 @@ class Node(MockKademliaHelper):
         @rtype: twisted.internet.defer.Deferred
         """
 
-        if len(key) != constants.key_bits / 8:
+        if len(key) != constants.key_bits // 8:
             raise ValueError("invalid key length!")
 
         # Execute the search
@@ -554,7 +559,7 @@ class Node(MockKademliaHelper):
                  node is returning all of the contacts that it knows of.
         @rtype: list
         """
-        if len(key) != constants.key_bits / 8:
+        if len(key) != constants.key_bits // 8:
             raise ValueError("invalid contact id length: %i" % len(key))
 
         contacts = self._routingTable.findCloseNodes(key, sender_node_id=rpc_contact.id)
@@ -576,7 +581,7 @@ class Node(MockKademliaHelper):
         @rtype: dict or list
         """
 
-        if len(key) != constants.key_bits / 8:
+        if len(key) != constants.key_bits // 8:
             raise ValueError("invalid blob hash length: %i" % len(key))
 
         response = {
@@ -645,7 +650,7 @@ class Node(MockKademliaHelper):
         @rtype: twisted.internet.defer.Deferred
         """
 
-        if len(key) != constants.key_bits / 8:
+        if len(key) != constants.key_bits // 8:
             raise ValueError("invalid key length: %i" % len(key))
 
         if startupShortlist is None:
diff --git a/lbrynet/dht/protocol.py b/lbrynet/dht/protocol.py
index 3817486e6..d52baad04 100644
--- a/lbrynet/dht/protocol.py
+++ b/lbrynet/dht/protocol.py
@@ -220,17 +220,17 @@ class KademliaProtocol(protocol.DatagramProtocol):
         @note: This is automatically called by Twisted when the protocol
                receives a UDP datagram
         """
-        if datagram[0] == b'\x00' and datagram[25] == b'\x00':
-            totalPackets = (ord(datagram[1]) << 8) | ord(datagram[2])
+        if chr(datagram[0]) == '\x00' and chr(datagram[25]) == '\x00':
+            totalPackets = (datagram[1] << 8) | datagram[2]
             msgID = datagram[5:25]
-            seqNumber = (ord(datagram[3]) << 8) | ord(datagram[4])
+            seqNumber = (datagram[3] << 8) | datagram[4]
             if msgID not in self._partialMessages:
                 self._partialMessages[msgID] = {}
             self._partialMessages[msgID][seqNumber] = datagram[26:]
             if len(self._partialMessages[msgID]) == totalPackets:
                 keys = self._partialMessages[msgID].keys()
                 keys.sort()
-                data = ''
+                data = b''
                 for key in keys:
                     data += self._partialMessages[msgID][key]
                     datagram = data
@@ -350,7 +350,7 @@ class KademliaProtocol(protocol.DatagramProtocol):
             # 1st byte is transmission type id, bytes 2 & 3 are the
             # total number of packets in this transmission, bytes 4 &
             # 5 are the sequence number for this specific packet
-            totalPackets = len(data) / self.msgSizeLimit
+            totalPackets = len(data) // self.msgSizeLimit
             if len(data) % self.msgSizeLimit > 0:
                 totalPackets += 1
             encTotalPackets = chr(totalPackets >> 8) + chr(totalPackets & 0xff)
@@ -375,7 +375,7 @@ class KademliaProtocol(protocol.DatagramProtocol):
         if self.transport:
             try:
                 self.transport.write(txData, address)
-            except socket.error as err:
+            except OSError as err:
                 if err.errno == errno.EWOULDBLOCK:
                     # i'm scared this may swallow important errors, but i get a million of these
                     # on Linux and it doesnt seem to affect anything  -grin
diff --git a/lbrynet/dht/routingtable.py b/lbrynet/dht/routingtable.py
index 579763139..0d5deaa0a 100644
--- a/lbrynet/dht/routingtable.py
+++ b/lbrynet/dht/routingtable.py
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 # may be created by processing this file with epydoc: http://epydoc.sf.net
 
 import random
+from binascii import unhexlify
+
 from twisted.internet import defer
 from . import constants
 from . import kbucket
@@ -267,8 +269,8 @@ class TreeRoutingTable:
             randomID = randomID[:-1]
         if len(randomID) % 2 != 0:
             randomID = '0' + randomID
-        randomID = randomID.decode('hex')
-        randomID = (constants.key_bits / 8 - len(randomID)) * '\x00' + randomID
+        randomID = unhexlify(randomID)
+        randomID = ((constants.key_bits // 8) - len(randomID)) * b'\x00' + randomID
         return randomID
 
     def _splitBucket(self, oldBucketIndex):
diff --git a/tests/functional/dht/dht_test_environment.py b/tests/functional/dht/dht_test_environment.py
index 3bda2a981..233d2403e 100644
--- a/tests/functional/dht/dht_test_environment.py
+++ b/tests/functional/dht/dht_test_environment.py
@@ -173,5 +173,5 @@ class TestKademliaBase(unittest.TestCase):
         yield self.run_reactor(2, ping_dl)
         node_addresses = {node.externalIP for node in self.nodes}.union({seed.externalIP for seed in self._seeds})
         self.assertSetEqual(node_addresses, contacted)
-        expected = {node: "pong" for node in contacted}
+        expected = {node: b"pong" for node in contacted}
         self.assertDictEqual(ping_replies, expected)
diff --git a/tests/functional/dht/test_contact_expiration.py b/tests/functional/dht/test_contact_expiration.py
index c62cac866..50156849d 100644
--- a/tests/functional/dht/test_contact_expiration.py
+++ b/tests/functional/dht/test_contact_expiration.py
@@ -25,9 +25,9 @@ class TestPeerExpiration(TestKademliaBase):
         offline_addresses = self.get_routable_addresses().difference(self.get_online_addresses())
         self.assertSetEqual(offline_addresses, removed_addresses)
 
-        get_nodes_with_stale_contacts = lambda: filter(lambda node: any(contact.address in offline_addresses
-                                                                        for contact in node.contacts),
-                                                       self.nodes + self._seeds)
+        get_nodes_with_stale_contacts = lambda: list(filter(lambda node: any(contact.address in offline_addresses
+                                                                             for contact in node.contacts),
+                                                            self.nodes + self._seeds))
 
         self.assertRaises(AssertionError, self.verify_all_nodes_are_routable)
         self.assertTrue(len(get_nodes_with_stale_contacts()) > 1)