diff --git a/config/coordinator.ts b/config/coordinator.ts
index 2be09ed..c0c9ebf 100644
--- a/config/coordinator.ts
+++ b/config/coordinator.ts
@@ -41,9 +41,10 @@ export default {
    * A chunk still coming in after this long is given up (its connection
    * closed) and fetched again: a reply that trickles never goes quiet long
    * enough for nntpTimeoutMs, and kept a worker waiting on one chunk for an
-   * hour (LOG.md 2026-10-10 (2)). Chunks take 3–35 s.
+   * hour (LOG.md 2026-10-10 (2)). Chunks take 3–35 s; at 300 s, 258 were
+   * given up in 3 hours (~1.4 a minute, each holding a connection 5 minutes).
    */
-  nntpChunkDeadlineMs: env.get('NNTP_CHUNK_DEADLINE_SECONDS', 5 * 60) * 1000,
+  nntpChunkDeadlineMs: env.get('NNTP_CHUNK_DEADLINE_SECONDS', 3 * 60) * 1000,
   /**
    * A chunk not fetched after this long is asked again on another
    * connection; the first answer wins and the other connection is closed.
diff --git a/lib/edge/wire.ts b/lib/edge/wire.ts
index b6f0652..54ea5cd 100644
--- a/lib/edge/wire.ts
+++ b/lib/edge/wire.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,20 @@ export function toWire(batch: EdgeBatch): WireBatch {
   }
 }
 
-export function fromWire(wire: WireBatch): EdgeBatch {
+/** Strings without NUL: Postgres takes it in neither text nor jsonb, and a file name with one failed every batch of its range (LOG.md 2026-10-10 (3)). */
+function withoutNul<T>(value: T): T {
+  if (typeof value === 'string') return (value.includes('\u0000') ? value.replaceAll('\u0000', '') : value) as T
+  if (Array.isArray(value)) return value.map(withoutNul) as T
+  if (value && typeof value === 'object') {
+    const out: Record<string, unknown> = {}
+    for (const [k, v] of Object.entries(value)) out[k] = withoutNul(v)
+    return out as T
+  }
+  return value
+}
+
+export function fromWire(raw: WireBatch): EdgeBatch {
+  const wire = withoutNul(raw)
   return {
     ...wire,
     releases: wire.releases.map((r) => ({ ...r, payload: Buffer.from(r.payload, 'base64') })),
diff --git a/tests/unit/edge/wire.spec.ts b/tests/unit/edge/wire.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..af51205
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/edge/wire.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+import { test } from '@japa/runner'
+import { fromWire, type WireBatch } from '#lib/edge/index'
+
+test.group('edge / wire', () => {
+  test('fromWire drops NUL from strings, wherever they are', ({ assert }) => {
+    const wire = {
+      from: 1,
+      next: 2,
+      headers: 1,
+      releases: [{ key: 'k', name: 'Brutal.ra\u0000r', payload: Buffer.from('x').toString('base64') }],
+      samples: [],
+      candidates: [],
+      counts: [],
+      fragments: [{ fileKey: 'f', segments: [['a\u0000b.rar', 1, 2, 3]] }],
+    } as unknown as WireBatch
+    const batch = fromWire(wire) as any
+    assert.equal(batch.releases[0].name, 'Brutal.rar')
+    assert.equal(batch.releases[0].payload.toString(), 'x')
+    assert.equal(batch.fragments[0].segments[0][0], 'ab.rar')
+    assert.equal(batch.fragments[0].segments[0][3], 3)
+  })
+})