diff --git a/plugins/autopeering/autopeering.go b/plugins/autopeering/autopeering.go
index 7b33f4224e548f77467be7a277e2f854f05ec16c..4b3707cc7acb3e7034f17e1c103256ffcc8ce7f0 100644
--- a/plugins/autopeering/autopeering.go
+++ b/plugins/autopeering/autopeering.go
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import (
 	"sync"
 
 	"github.com/iotaledger/goshimmer/plugins/autopeering/local"
-	"github.com/iotaledger/goshimmer/plugins/banner"
 	"github.com/iotaledger/goshimmer/plugins/config"
 	"github.com/iotaledger/hive.go/autopeering/discover"
 	"github.com/iotaledger/hive.go/autopeering/peer"
@@ -25,17 +24,14 @@ import (
 
 // autopeering constants
 const (
-	ProtocolVersion = 0      // update on protocol changes
-	NetworkVersion  = "v0.2" // update on network changes
+	ProtocolVersion = 0 // update on protocol changes
+	NetworkVersion  = 2 // update on network changes
 )
 
 var (
 	// ErrParsingMasterNode is returned for an invalid master node.
 	ErrParsingMasterNode = errors.New("cannot parse master node")
 
-	// networkID specifies the autopeering network identifier.
-	networkID = hash32([]byte(banner.AppVersion + NetworkVersion))
-
 	// Conn contains the network connection.
 	Conn *NetConnMetric
 )
@@ -56,11 +52,6 @@ var (
 	}{c: make(chan *server.Server, 1)}
 )
 
-// NetworkID gets the networkID.
-func NetworkID() uint32 {
-	return networkID
-}
-
 // Discovery returns the peer discovery instance.
 func Discovery() *discover.Protocol {
 	peerDiscOnce.Do(createPeerDisc)
@@ -102,7 +93,7 @@ func createPeerDisc() {
 	}
 	log.Debugf("Master peers: %v", masterPeers)
 
-	peerDisc = discover.New(local.GetInstance(), ProtocolVersion, networkID,
+	peerDisc = discover.New(local.GetInstance(), ProtocolVersion, NetworkVersion,
 		discover.Logger(log),
 		discover.MasterPeers(masterPeers),
 	)
diff --git a/plugins/database/versioning.go b/plugins/database/versioning.go
index 0ee20f7b3a8f1de65889fe8c6353687606d98dbc..0b62a5bf481e5f8de14b2b54b6209a63f9e896ae 100644
--- a/plugins/database/versioning.go
+++ b/plugins/database/versioning.go
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import (
 const (
 	// DBVersion defines the version of the database schema this version of GoShimmer supports.
 	// Every time there's a breaking change regarding the stored data, this version flag should be adjusted.
-	DBVersion = 2
+	DBVersion = 3
 )
 
 var (
diff --git a/plugins/portcheck/plugin.go b/plugins/portcheck/plugin.go
index ebfe045bf954be4f4175f6824c9c0991516128a1..e1c7530629a779c4e8caf283160b6ad0987ef2d3 100644
--- a/plugins/portcheck/plugin.go
+++ b/plugins/portcheck/plugin.go
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ func checkAutopeeringConnection() {
 	defer conn.Close()
 
 	// create a new discovery server for the port check
-	disc := discover.New(local.GetInstance(), autopeering.ProtocolVersion, autopeering.NetworkID(), discover.Logger(log))
+	disc := discover.New(local.GetInstance(), autopeering.ProtocolVersion, autopeering.NetworkVersion, discover.Logger(log))
 	srv := server.Serve(local.GetInstance(), conn, log, disc)
 	defer srv.Close()