diff --git a/crates/punktfunk-client-rs/src/main.rs b/crates/punktfunk-client-rs/src/main.rs
index f15c00c..577d780 100644
--- a/crates/punktfunk-client-rs/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/punktfunk-client-rs/src/main.rs
@@ -814,6 +814,13 @@ async fn session(args: Args) -> Result<()> {
         let transport =
             UdpTransport::connect(&format!("0.0.0.0:{udp_port}"), &host_udp.to_string())
                 .context("bind data plane")?;
+        // Hole-punch the host's data port so video traverses a NAT / inter-VLAN firewall. This
+        // tool runs one session then exits, so the keepalive thread dies with the process — no
+        // explicit stop needed (the flag is never set).
+        if let Ok(sock) = transport.try_clone_socket() {
+            let stop = std::sync::Arc::new(std::sync::atomic::AtomicBool::new(false));
+            punktfunk_core::transport::spawn_data_punch(sock, stop);
+        }
         let mut session =
             Session::new(cfg, Box::new(transport)).map_err(|e| anyhow!("client session: {e:?}"))?;
         let mut sink = match &out_path {
diff --git a/crates/punktfunk-core/src/client.rs b/crates/punktfunk-core/src/client.rs
index e18d310..cd90498 100644
--- a/crates/punktfunk-core/src/client.rs
+++ b/crates/punktfunk-core/src/client.rs
@@ -648,6 +648,12 @@ async fn worker_main(args: WorkerArgs) {
         let host_udp = std::net::SocketAddr::new(remote.ip(), welcome.udp_port);
         let transport =
             UdpTransport::connect(&format!("0.0.0.0:{udp_port}"), &host_udp.to_string())?;
+        // Hole-punch the host's data port so video traverses a NAT / stateful inter-VLAN firewall
+        // (control + side planes ride the client-initiated QUIC; the raw video UDP needs the client
+        // to open the path first). Stops with the session via the shared shutdown flag.
+        if let Ok(sock) = transport.try_clone_socket() {
+            crate::transport::spawn_data_punch(sock, shutdown.clone());
+        }
         let session = Session::new(welcome.session_config(Role::Client), Box::new(transport))?;
         Ok::<_, PunktfunkError>((
             conn,
diff --git a/crates/punktfunk-core/src/transport/mod.rs b/crates/punktfunk-core/src/transport/mod.rs
index bbd2a00..2694a48 100644
--- a/crates/punktfunk-core/src/transport/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/punktfunk-core/src/transport/mod.rs
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ mod loopback;
 mod udp;
 
 pub use loopback::{loopback_pair, LoopbackTransport};
-pub use udp::UdpTransport;
+pub use udp::{spawn_data_punch, UdpTransport, PUNCH_MAGIC};
 
 /// A datagram transport. `recv` is non-blocking: it returns `Ok(None)` when no packet
 /// is currently available, so the caller (decode/present thread) never blocks here.
diff --git a/crates/punktfunk-core/src/transport/udp.rs b/crates/punktfunk-core/src/transport/udp.rs
index 2b0d385..47618ba 100644
--- a/crates/punktfunk-core/src/transport/udp.rs
+++ b/crates/punktfunk-core/src/transport/udp.rs
@@ -159,6 +159,38 @@ extern "C" {
     ) -> libc::ssize_t;
 }
 
+/// Data-plane NAT/firewall hole-punch marker. The video data plane is a raw UDP socket distinct
+/// from the QUIC control connection; on a flat LAN the host can send straight to the client, but
+/// across a NAT or a stateful inter-VLAN firewall the unsolicited host→client video is rejected
+/// (ICMP port-unreachable). So the client sends these tiny datagrams FROM its data socket TO the
+/// host's data port: that opens the firewall/NAT return path and lets the host learn the client's
+/// *observed* source (the NAT-translated address, not the client's reported private one). It's the
+/// only thing a client ever sends on the data plane (video is host→client), so the host treats any
+/// punch-magic datagram purely as a source-address probe and never as stream data.
+pub const PUNCH_MAGIC: &[u8] = b"PFpunch1";
+
+/// Spawn the client-side data-plane hole-punch keepalive. `sock` is a clone of the data socket
+/// (already `connect`ed to the host's data port — see [`UdpTransport::try_clone_socket`]). Bursts
+/// fast at first to open the NAT/firewall path before the host's punch-wait expires, then steady
+/// keepalive so a stateful firewall's idle timeout can't close the path during a static, low-bitrate
+/// scene. Stops when `stop` is set (session teardown) or the socket closes. No-op cost on a flat LAN.
+pub fn spawn_data_punch(sock: UdpSocket, stop: std::sync::Arc<std::sync::atomic::AtomicBool>) {
+    std::thread::Builder::new()
+        .name("punktfunk-data-punch".into())
+        .spawn(move || {
+            let mut i = 0u32;
+            while !stop.load(std::sync::atomic::Ordering::Relaxed) {
+                if sock.send(PUNCH_MAGIC).is_err() {
+                    break;
+                }
+                let delay_ms = if i < 15 { 200 } else { 2000 };
+                i = i.saturating_add(1);
+                std::thread::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(delay_ms));
+            }
+        })
+        .ok();
+}
+
 pub struct UdpTransport {
     socket: UdpSocket,
 }
@@ -188,6 +220,60 @@ impl UdpTransport {
         Ok(UdpTransport { socket })
     }
 
+    /// Host side of the data plane for clients that may sit behind NAT / a stateful inter-VLAN
+    /// firewall. Bind `local`, then block up to `punch_timeout` for the client's first
+    /// [`PUNCH_MAGIC`] datagram and `connect` to its *observed* source — so video flows back
+    /// through the path the client just opened, to the address+port the host actually sees (the
+    /// NAT-translated one, which can differ from the client-reported `fallback_peer`). If no punch
+    /// arrives (a client that doesn't hole-punch), fall back to `fallback_peer` — the same flat-LAN
+    /// behaviour as [`connect`](Self::connect). Returns `(transport, punched)`.
+    pub fn connect_via_punch(
+        local: &str,
+        fallback_peer: &str,
+        punch_timeout: std::time::Duration,
+    ) -> std::io::Result<(Self, bool)> {
+        let socket = UdpSocket::bind(local)?;
+        socket.set_read_timeout(Some(punch_timeout))?;
+        let deadline = std::time::Instant::now() + punch_timeout;
+        let mut buf = [0u8; 64];
+        let mut observed: Option<std::net::SocketAddr> = None;
+        loop {
+            match socket.recv_from(&mut buf) {
+                Ok((n, src)) if n >= PUNCH_MAGIC.len() && &buf[..PUNCH_MAGIC.len()] == PUNCH_MAGIC => {
+                    observed = Some(src);
+                    break;
+                }
+                Ok(_) => {} // stray datagram — keep waiting for a real punch
+                Err(e)
+                    if matches!(
+                        e.kind(),
+                        std::io::ErrorKind::WouldBlock | std::io::ErrorKind::TimedOut
+                    ) =>
+                {
+                    break
+                }
+                Err(e) => return Err(e),
+            }
+            if std::time::Instant::now() >= deadline {
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+        let punched = observed.is_some();
+        let target = observed.map(|s| s.to_string());
+        socket.connect(target.as_deref().unwrap_or(fallback_peer))?;
+        socket.set_read_timeout(None)?;
+        Self::grow_buffers(&socket);
+        socket.set_nonblocking(true)?;
+        Ok((UdpTransport { socket }, punched))
+    }
+
+    /// A second handle to the data socket, for sending hole-punch keepalives ([`PUNCH_MAGIC`])
+    /// while the [`Session`](crate::Session) owns the transport. The socket is already `connect`ed
+    /// to the host's data port, so `clone.send(PUNCH_MAGIC)` reaches it with no address.
+    pub fn try_clone_socket(&self) -> std::io::Result<UdpSocket> {
+        self.socket.try_clone()
+    }
+
     /// The bound local address (e.g. to learn the OS-assigned ephemeral port).
     pub fn local_addr(&self) -> std::io::Result<std::net::SocketAddr> {
         self.socket.local_addr()
diff --git a/crates/punktfunk-host/src/m3.rs b/crates/punktfunk-host/src/m3.rs
index 1d7b68b..00f1c85 100644
--- a/crates/punktfunk-host/src/m3.rs
+++ b/crates/punktfunk-host/src/m3.rs
@@ -788,9 +788,23 @@ async fn serve_session(
     let stop_stream = stop.clone();
     let result: Result<()> = async {
         tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || -> Result<()> {
-            let transport =
-                UdpTransport::connect(&format!("0.0.0.0:{udp_port}"), &client_udp.to_string())
-                    .context("bind data plane")?;
+            // Wait briefly for the client to hole-punch our data port, then stream to its OBSERVED
+            // source — so video traverses a NAT / stateful inter-VLAN firewall (the client and host
+            // can be on different subnets; control + side planes ride the client-initiated QUIC, but
+            // the raw video UDP needs the client to open the path first). Falls back to the
+            // client-reported address for clients that don't punch (flat-LAN, unchanged).
+            let (transport, punched) = UdpTransport::connect_via_punch(
+                &format!("0.0.0.0:{udp_port}"),
+                &client_udp.to_string(),
+                std::time::Duration::from_millis(2500),
+            )
+            .context("bind data plane")?;
+            tracing::info!(
+                %client_udp,
+                punched,
+                "data plane bound (punched=true → streaming to the client's observed source; \
+                 false → no hole-punch seen, using the reported address)"
+            );
             let mut session = Session::new(cfg, Box::new(transport))
                 .map_err(|e| anyhow!("host session: {e:?}"))?;
             match source {