diff --git a/ffmuc-mesh-vpn-wireguard-vxlan/files/lib/gluon/gluon-mesh-wireguard-vxlan/checkuplink b/ffmuc-mesh-vpn-wireguard-vxlan/files/lib/gluon/gluon-mesh-wireguard-vxlan/checkuplink
index 22453237..4cb0b543 100755
--- a/ffmuc-mesh-vpn-wireguard-vxlan/files/lib/gluon/gluon-mesh-wireguard-vxlan/checkuplink
+++ b/ffmuc-mesh-vpn-wireguard-vxlan/files/lib/gluon/gluon-mesh-wireguard-vxlan/checkuplink
@@ -60,6 +60,10 @@ resolve_host() {
 	fi
 }
 
+force_wan_connection() {
+	LD_PRELOAD=libpacketmark.so LIBPACKETMARK_MARK=1 gluon-wan "$@"
+}
+
 # Do we already have a private-key? If not generate one
 if ! uci -q get wireguard.mesh_vpn.privatekey > /dev/null
 then
@@ -102,7 +106,7 @@ if [ "$(uci get wireguard.mesh_vpn.enabled)" = "true" ] || [ "$(uci get wireguar
 			fi
 		done
 		# shellcheck disable=SC2086 # otherwise ntpd cries
-		if ! LD_PRELOAD=libpacketmark.so LIBPACKETMARK_MARK=1 gluon-wan /usr/sbin/ntpd -n -N -S /usr/sbin/ntpd-hotplug ${NTP_SERVERS_ADDRS} -q
+		if ! force_wan_connection /usr/sbin/ntpd -n -N -S /usr/sbin/ntpd-hotplug ${NTP_SERVERS_ADDRS} -q
 		then
 			logger -p err -t checkuplink "Unable to establish NTP connection to ${NTP_SERVERS}."
 			exit 3
@@ -136,7 +140,7 @@ if [ "$(uci get wireguard.mesh_vpn.enabled)" = "true" ] || [ "$(uci get wireguar
 			# Use /api/v2, get gateway peer details from broker response
 			WGKEX_BROKER="$PROTO://$WGKEX_BROKER_BASE_PATH/api/v2/wg/key/exchange"
 			logger -t checkuplink "Contacting wgkex broker $WGKEX_BROKER"
-			if ! WGKEX_DATA=$(LD_PRELOAD=libpacketmark.so LIBPACKETMARK_MARK=1 gluon-wan wget -q -O- --post-data='{"domain": "'"$SEGMENT"'","public_key": "'"$PUBLICKEY"'"}' "$WGKEX_BROKER"); then
+			if ! WGKEX_DATA=$(force_wan_connection wget -q -O- --post-data='{"domain": "'"$SEGMENT"'","public_key": "'"$PUBLICKEY"'"}' "$WGKEX_BROKER"); then
 				logger -p err -t checkuplink "Contacting wgkex broker failed, response: $WGKEX_DATA"
 				exit 1
 			fi
@@ -163,7 +167,7 @@ if [ "$(uci get wireguard.mesh_vpn.enabled)" = "true" ] || [ "$(uci get wireguar
 			# Use /api/v1, get gateway peer details from config
 			WGKEX_BROKER="$PROTO://$WGKEX_BROKER_BASE_PATH/api/v1/wg/key/exchange"
 			logger -p info -t checkuplink "Contacting wgkex broker $WGKEX_BROKER"
-			if ! LD_PRELOAD=libpacketmark.so LIBPACKETMARK_MARK=1 gluon-wan wget -q -O- --post-data='{"domain": "'"$SEGMENT"'","public_key": "'"$PUBLICKEY"'"}' "$WGKEX_BROKER"; then
+			if ! force_wan_connection wget -q -O- --post-data='{"domain": "'"$SEGMENT"'","public_key": "'"$PUBLICKEY"'"}' "$WGKEX_BROKER"; then
 				logger -p err -t checkuplink "Contacting wgkex broker failed"
 				exit 1
 			fi