diff --git a/src/PepperDash.Essentials.Core/Devices/DeviceJsonApi.cs b/src/PepperDash.Essentials.Core/Devices/DeviceJsonApi.cs
index c4ec2ca99..c01d5e815 100644
--- a/src/PepperDash.Essentials.Core/Devices/DeviceJsonApi.cs
+++ b/src/PepperDash.Essentials.Core/Devices/DeviceJsonApi.cs
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Reflection;
+using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
 
 namespace PepperDash.Essentials.Core
@@ -176,7 +177,20 @@ private static object ConvertType(object value, Type conversionType)
         {
             if (!conversionType.IsEnum)
             {
-                return Convert.ChangeType(value, conversionType, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
+                if (conversionType == typeof(byte[]) && value is string byteString)
+                {
+                    var unescaped = UnescapeString(byteString);
+                    return System.Text.Encoding.GetEncoding(28591).GetBytes(unescaped);
+                }
+
+                var converted = Convert.ChangeType(value, conversionType, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
+
+                if (conversionType == typeof(string) && converted is string s)
+                {
+                    return UnescapeString(s);
+                }
+
+                return converted;
             }
 
             var stringValue = Convert.ToString(value);
@@ -189,6 +203,32 @@ private static object ConvertType(object value, Type conversionType)
             return Enum.Parse(conversionType, stringValue, true);
         }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Processes escape sequences in a string, converting sequences like \r, \n, \t, \xHH
+        /// to their corresponding non-printable ASCII characters.
+        /// </summary>
+        private static string UnescapeString(string input)
+        {
+            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(input))
+                return input;
+
+            return Regex.Replace(input, @"\\(r|n|t|\\|x[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})", match =>
+            {
+                var seq = match.Groups[1].Value;
+                switch (seq)
+                {
+                    case "r": return "\r";
+                    case "n": return "\n";
+                    case "t": return "\t";
+                    case "\\": return "\\";
+                    default:
+                        // \xHH hex escape
+                        var hex = seq.Substring(1);
+                        return ((char)Convert.ToInt32(hex, 16)).ToString();
+                }
+            });
+        }
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Gets the properties on a device
         /// </summary>
diff --git a/src/PepperDash.Essentials.Core/Web/RequestHandlers/DebugSessionRequestHandler.cs b/src/PepperDash.Essentials.Core/Web/RequestHandlers/DebugSessionRequestHandler.cs
index 01e388344..1eeb27809 100644
--- a/src/PepperDash.Essentials.Core/Web/RequestHandlers/DebugSessionRequestHandler.cs
+++ b/src/PepperDash.Essentials.Core/Web/RequestHandlers/DebugSessionRequestHandler.cs
@@ -57,6 +57,36 @@ protected override void HandleGet(Crestron.SimplSharp.WebScripting.HttpCwsContex
                     // Start the WS Server
                     Debug.WebsocketSink.StartServerAndSetPort(port);
                     Debug.SetWebSocketMinimumDebugLevel(Serilog.Events.LogEventLevel.Verbose);
+
+                    // Attempt to forward the port to the CS LAN
+                    try
+                    {
+                        var csAdapterId = CrestronEthernetHelper.GetAdapterdIdForSpecifiedAdapterType(
+                            EthernetAdapterType.EthernetCSAdapter);
+                        var csIp = CrestronEthernetHelper.GetEthernetParameter(
+                            CrestronEthernetHelper.ETHERNET_PARAMETER_TO_GET.GET_CURRENT_IP_ADDRESS, csAdapterId);
+
+                        var result = CrestronEthernetHelper.AddPortForwarding(
+                            (ushort)port, (ushort)port, csIp,
+                            CrestronEthernetHelper.ePortMapTransport.TCP);
+
+                        if (result != CrestronEthernetHelper.PortForwardingUserPatRetCodes.NoErr)
+                        {
+                            Debug.LogMessage(LogEventLevel.Warning, "Error adding port forwarding for debug websocket: {0}", result);
+                        }
+                        else
+                        {
+                            Debug.LogMessage(LogEventLevel.Information, "Port {0} forwarded to CS LAN for debug websocket", port);
+                        }
+                    }
+                    catch (ArgumentException)
+                    {
+                        Debug.LogMessage(LogEventLevel.Debug, "This processor does not have a CS LAN adapter; skipping port forwarding");
+                    }
+                    catch (Exception ex)
+                    {
+                        Debug.LogMessage(LogEventLevel.Warning, "Error automatically forwarding debug websocket port to CS LAN: {0}", ex.Message);
+                    }
                 }
 
                 var url = Debug.WebsocketSink.Url;
@@ -90,8 +120,47 @@ protected override void HandleGet(Crestron.SimplSharp.WebScripting.HttpCwsContex
         /// <param name="context"></param>
         protected override void HandlePost(HttpCwsContext context)
         {
+            var port = Debug.WebsocketSink.Port;
+
             Debug.WebsocketSink.StopServer();
 
+            // Remove the port forwarding entry
+            try
+            {
+                var csAdapterId = CrestronEthernetHelper.GetAdapterdIdForSpecifiedAdapterType(
+                    EthernetAdapterType.EthernetCSAdapter);
+                var csIp = CrestronEthernetHelper.GetEthernetParameter(
+                    CrestronEthernetHelper.ETHERNET_PARAMETER_TO_GET.GET_CURRENT_IP_ADDRESS, csAdapterId);
+
+                if (port <= 0)
+                {
+                    Debug.LogMessage(LogEventLevel.Debug, "Debug websocket port is not set; skipping port forwarding removal");
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    var result = CrestronEthernetHelper.RemovePortForwarding(
+                        (ushort)port, (ushort)port, csIp,
+                        CrestronEthernetHelper.ePortMapTransport.TCP);
+
+                    if (result != CrestronEthernetHelper.PortForwardingUserPatRetCodes.NoErr)
+                    {
+                        Debug.LogMessage(LogEventLevel.Warning, "Error removing port forwarding for debug websocket: {0}", result);
+                    }
+                    else
+                    {
+                        Debug.LogMessage(LogEventLevel.Information, "Port forwarding for port {0} removed", port);
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            catch (ArgumentException)
+            {
+                Debug.LogMessage(LogEventLevel.Debug, "This processor does not have a CS LAN adapter; skipping port forwarding removal");
+            }
+            catch (Exception ex)
+            {
+                Debug.LogMessage(LogEventLevel.Warning, "Error removing debug websocket port forwarding: {0}", ex.Message);
+            }
+
             context.Response.StatusCode = 200;
             context.Response.StatusDescription = "OK";
             context.Response.End();