diff --git a/lib/contracts/blockchain.js b/lib/contracts/blockchain.js
index 3b647b32..bffb3baa 100644
--- a/lib/contracts/blockchain.js
+++ b/lib/contracts/blockchain.js
@@ -251,6 +251,9 @@ class Blockchain {
         next();
       },
       function pingEndpoint(next) {
+        if (!self.contractsConfig || !self.contractsConfig.deployment || !self.contractsConfig.deployment.host) {
+          return next();
+        }
         const origin = self.blockchainConfig.wsOrigins.split(',')[0];
         const options = {
           protocolVersion: 13,
diff --git a/lib/tests/test.js b/lib/tests/test.js
index 43be482e..2e29be3e 100644
--- a/lib/tests/test.js
+++ b/lib/tests/test.js
@@ -44,12 +44,15 @@ class Test {
 
   initWeb3Provider(callback) {
     if (this.simOptions.host) {
+      const protocol = (this.simOptions.type === "rpc") ? 'http' : 'ws';
       const providerOptions = {
         web3: this.web3,
+        type: this.simOptions.type,
         accountsConfig: this.simOptions.accounts,
+        blockchainConfig: this.engine.config.blockchainConfig,
         logger: this.engine.logger,
         isDev: false,
-        web3Endpoint: 'http://' + this.simOptions.host + ':' + this.simOptions.port
+        web3Endpoint: `${protocol}://${this.simOptions.host}:${this.simOptions.port}`
       };
       this.provider = new Provider(providerOptions);
       return this.provider.startWeb3Provider(callback);
@@ -78,16 +81,17 @@ class Test {
   init(callback) {
     const self = this;
 
+    this.engine = new Engine({
+      env: this.options.env || 'test',
+      // TODO: config will need to detect if this is a obj
+      embarkConfig: this.options.embarkConfig || 'embark.json',
+      interceptLogs: false
+    });
+
     this.initWeb3Provider((err) => {
       if (err) {
         return callback(err);
       }
-      this.engine = new Engine({
-        env: this.options.env || 'test',
-        // TODO: config will need to detect if this is a obj
-        embarkConfig: this.options.embarkConfig || 'embark.json',
-        interceptLogs: false
-      });
 
       this.engine.init({
         logger: new TestLogger({logLevel: this.options.loglevel})
@@ -106,6 +110,7 @@ class Test {
       this.engine.startService("codeGenerator");
 
       this.engine.contractsManager.build(() => {
+        console.log('BUILT');
         self.builtContracts = cloneDeep(self.engine.contractsManager.contracts);
         self.compiledContracts = cloneDeep(self.engine.contractsManager.compiledContracts);
         callback();
@@ -138,6 +143,41 @@ class Test {
     this.events.once('deployError', errorCallback);
   }
 
+  checkDeploymentOptions(options, callback) {
+    const self = this;
+    if (!options.deployment) {
+      if (!self.simOptions.host && !self.simOptions.accounts) {
+        return callback();
+      }
+      self.simOptions = {};
+    } else {
+      self.simOptions = {};
+      let resetServices = false;
+      if (options.deployment.accounts) {
+        // Account setup
+        self.simOptions.accounts = AccountParser.parseAccountsConfig(options.deployment.accounts, self.web3);
+        resetServices = true;
+      }
+      if (options.deployment.host && options.deployment.port && options.deployment.type) {
+        if (options.deployment.type !== 'rpc' && options.deployment.type !== 'ws') {
+          callback(__("contracts config error: unknown deployment type %s", options.deployment.type));
+        }
+        Object.assign(self.simOptions, {host: options.deployment.host, port: options.deployment.port, type: options.deployment.type});
+        resetServices = true;
+      }
+      if (!resetServices) {
+        return callback();
+      }
+    }
+    self.initWeb3Provider((err) => {
+      if (err) {
+        return callback(err);
+      }
+      self.initDeployServices();
+      callback();
+    });
+  }
+
   config(options, callback) {
     const self = this;
     if (typeof (options) === 'function') {
@@ -154,38 +194,9 @@ class Test {
     self.ready = false;
 
     async.waterfall([
-      function checkDeploymentOptions(next) {
-        if (!options.deployment) {
-          if (!self.simOptions.host && !self.simOptions.accounts) {
-            return next();
-          }
-          self.simOptions = {};
-        } else {
-          self.simOptions = {};
-          let resetServices = false;
-          if (options.deployment.accounts) {
-            // Account setup
-            self.simOptions.accounts = AccountParser.parseAccountsConfig(options.deployment.accounts, self.web3);
-            resetServices = true;
-          }
-          if (options.deployment.host && options.deployment.port && options.deployment.type) {
-            if (options.deployment.type !== 'rpc') {
-              throw new Error(__("contracts config error: unknown deployment type %s", options.deployment.type));
-            }
-            Object.assign(self.simOptions, {host: options.deployment.host, port: options.deployment.port});
-            resetServices = true;
-          }
-          if (!resetServices) {
-            return next();
-          }
-        }
-        self.initWeb3Provider((err) => {
-          if (err) {
-            return next(err);
-          }
-          self.initDeployServices();
-          next();
-        });
+      function checkDeploymentOpts(next) {
+      console.log('check', options);
+        self.checkDeploymentOptions(options, next);
       },
       function resetContracts(next) {
         self.engine.contractsManager.contracts = cloneDeep(self.builtContracts);