diff --git a/BACKLOG.md b/BACKLOG.md
index 2e1838b..fda8095 100644
--- a/BACKLOG.md
+++ b/BACKLOG.md
@@ -1640,10 +1640,27 @@ rules", and of doing that discovery with an audit device rather than a grep. The
 found 19 files and could not have found this, because **the fact is not in the files** —
 it is a property of the running host.
 
-**Pin the address before writing rules.** An allowlist naming both is correct but papers
-over the cause; the real fix is deciding what `enp1s0` is for and either giving it a
-losing route metric or taking it off that subnet. See §4.12 — same configuration, and
-this is its second distinct symptom.
+**PINNED 2026-09-06, not yet applied.** `h4-dns-resolvers.yml` now emits
+`route-metric: 200` on the non-primary link, so `enp2s0` (.160) wins deterministically
+and the H4's source address stops depending on what the kernel felt like.
+
+**Hung off the variable that already decides which link is primary.** `h4_dns_link:
+enp2s0` governed the resolver list; it now governs the route metric too. The resolver
+link and the preferred-route link must be the *same* link, and two independent knobs
+would eventually disagree in a way nothing would notice.
+
+**It does not remove `.156` or down the link** — only which route is preferred. And
+nothing is bound to `.156` any more in any case: the unconfigured dnsmasq holding it was
+disabled in §2.14, found during this same investigation.
+
+**Applying is still manual**, as this playbook has always been: it writes the override
+and stops. `netplan try` gives a 120-second auto-revert, and unlike the N150s it should
+work here — that refusal was specific to a bridge carrying `parameters:`, and the H4 has
+plain ethernets. Confirm it actually offers the prompt rather than assuming; the
+`systemd-run` revert timer from `kvm-netplan-fix.yml` is the fallback if it refuses.
+
+An allowlist naming both addresses would still have been *correct*; this makes it
+unnecessary. See §4.12 — same configuration, and this was its second distinct symptom.
 
 ### 2.10 `.claude/settings.json` is a MicroShift-era artifact
 `docs/REVIEW-2026-07-24.md:310` (H30)
diff --git a/ansible/playbooks/h4-dns-resolvers.yml b/ansible/playbooks/h4-dns-resolvers.yml
index c395323..bfa6e12 100644
--- a/ansible/playbooks/h4-dns-resolvers.yml
+++ b/ansible/playbooks/h4-dns-resolvers.yml
@@ -99,8 +99,36 @@
     # its applied line. Right servers, wrong count.
     #
     # enp2s0 is the primary: it carries 192.168.1.160 and the kube-vip VIPs .200/.201.
+    #
+    # THIS VARIABLE NOW GOVERNS ROUTING AS WELL AS DNS, deliberately. The resolver link
+    # and the preferred-route link must be the same link; two independent knobs would
+    # eventually disagree, and the disagreement would be invisible.
     h4_dns_link: enp2s0
 
+    # ---- route metric — BACKLOG §2.9, added 2026-09-06 -----------------------
+    # Both interfaces are on the SAME /24 and both take DHCP, so both installed a
+    # default route at metric 100:
+    #
+    #     default via 192.168.1.1 dev enp1s0 proto dhcp src 192.168.1.156 metric 100
+    #     default via 192.168.1.1 dev enp2s0 proto dhcp src 192.168.1.160 metric 100
+    #
+    # Equal metric means the kernel picks one and nothing pins the choice. It had
+    # picked enp1s0, so the H4 was sourcing LAN traffic from **192.168.1.156** — an
+    # address referenced nowhere in this repo. Found in Vault audit logs (§2.6), where
+    # the H4's own requests arrived from an address no document knew about.
+    #
+    # WHY THIS MATTERS BEYOND TIDINESS. §2.9's firewall allowlist would have been built
+    # from the repo, which says the H4 is .160. It would have worked — until a reboot
+    # flipped the source address and locked out the machine that runs every playbook,
+    # including the one needed to undo the rule. A failure arriving hours or weeks
+    # after the change, looking unrelated to it.
+    #
+    # A higher metric loses. 200 on the secondary leaves enp2s0's 100 winning, and does
+    # NOT remove .156 or take the link down — it only decides which route is preferred.
+    # Nothing is bound to .156 any more in any case: the unconfigured dnsmasq that held
+    # it was disabled in §2.14, found during this same investigation.
+    h4_secondary_route_metric: 200
+
   tasks:
     - name: Confirm the expected links exist before touching anything
       ansible.builtin.command: "ip -o link show {{ item }}"
@@ -265,6 +293,14 @@
                 dhcp4: true
                 dhcp4-overrides:
                   use-dns: false
+          {% if link != h4_dns_link %}
+                  # Both links are on the same /24 and both take DHCP, so both
+                  # installed a default route at metric 100 and the kernel picked
+                  # whichever it liked — which made the H4's source address for LAN
+                  # traffic non-deterministic. A higher metric loses. This does not
+                  # remove the address or down the link. BACKLOG §2.9.
+                  route-metric: {{ h4_secondary_route_metric }}
+          {% endif %}
           {% if link == h4_dns_link %}
                 # Resolver list lives on this link only. Repeating it on the other
                 # link doubles the entries in resolv.conf — resolved does not dedupe