diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index 4fbffe1b..78c72a80 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ jobs:
     - run: pip install -r requirements.txt
 
     - name: Run tests
-      run: pytest -n 5 --reruns 3 --alluredir=allure-results
+      run: pytest -n 4 --reruns 2 --alluredir=allure-results
 
     - name: Get allure history
       if: always()
diff --git a/src/node/waku_node.py b/src/node/waku_node.py
index c3c1d5ac..1e2519d3 100644
--- a/src/node/waku_node.py
+++ b/src/node/waku_node.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import os
 import logging
+from time import sleep
 from tenacity import retry, stop_after_delay, wait_fixed
 from src.node.api_clients.rpc import RPC
 from src.node.api_clients.rest import REST
@@ -71,6 +72,7 @@ class WakuNode:
             "Started container from image %s. RPC: %s REST: %s WebSocket: %s", self._image_name, self._rpc_port, self._rest_port, self._websocket_port
         )
         DS.waku_nodes.append(self)
+        sleep(1)  # if we fire requests to soon after starting the node will sometimes fail to start correctly
         try:
             self.ensure_ready()
         except Exception as e:
@@ -84,7 +86,7 @@ class WakuNode:
             self._container.stop()
             logger.debug("Container stopped.")
 
-    @retry(stop=stop_after_delay(5), wait=wait_fixed(0.05), reraise=True)
+    @retry(stop=stop_after_delay(10), wait=wait_fixed(0.1), reraise=True)
     def ensure_ready(self):
         self.info()
         logger.debug("RPC service is ready.")
diff --git a/src/steps/relay.py b/src/steps/relay.py
index f284f963..4bfdc7ff 100644
--- a/src/steps/relay.py
+++ b/src/steps/relay.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ class StepsRelay:
         self.node2.set_subscriptions([self.test_pubsub_topic])
 
     @pytest.fixture(scope="function", autouse=True)
-    @retry(stop=stop_after_delay(40), wait=wait_fixed(1), reraise=True)
+    @retry(stop=stop_after_delay(120), wait=wait_fixed(1), reraise=True)
     def wait_for_network_to_warm_up(self):
         message = {"payload": to_base64(self.test_payload), "contentTopic": self.test_content_topic, "timestamp": int(time() * 1e9)}
         try: