diff --git a/core/lib/common/worker.js b/core/lib/common/worker.js
index 83ccd53d1..8576f1961 100644
--- a/core/lib/common/worker.js
+++ b/core/lib/common/worker.js
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ module.exports = class Worker {
 		url,
 		username,
 		sshKey,
+		sshConfig = {}
 	) {
 		this.deviceType = deviceType;
 		this.url = url;
@@ -87,8 +88,8 @@ module.exports = class Worker {
 		this.sshKey = sshKey;
 		this.dutSshKey = `/tmp/id`;
 		this.logger = logger;
-		this.workerHost = new URL(this.url).hostname;
-		this.workerPort = '22222';
+		this.workerHost = sshConfig.host || 'ssh.balena-devices.com'
+		this.workerPort = sshConfig.port || 22;
 		this.workerUser = 'root';
 		this.sshPrefix = '';
 		this.uuid = '';
@@ -96,16 +97,13 @@ module.exports = class Worker {
 			this.url.includes(`worker`)
 			|| this.url.includes('unix:')
 		);
-		if (this.url.includes(`balena-devices.com`)) {
-			// worker is a testbot connected to balena cloud - we ssh into it via the vpn
+		if(!this.directConnect){
 			this.uuid = this.url.match(
-				/(?<=https:\/\/)(.*)(?=.balena-devices.com)/,
+				/https:\/\/([^\.]+)\./,
 			)[1];
-			this.workerHost = `ssh.balena-devices.com`;
-			this.workerUser = this.username;
-			this.workerPort = '22';
 			this.sshPrefix = `host ${this.uuid} `;
-		}
+			this.workerUser = this.username;
+		}	
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -331,10 +329,12 @@ module.exports = class Worker {
 				};
 			} else {
 				config = {
-					host: 'ssh.balena-devices.com',
-					port: '22',
+					host: this.workerHost,
+					port: this.workerPort,
 					username: this.username,
 				};
+				console.log('local ssh attempt')
+				console.log(config)
 				command = `host ${target} ${command}`;
 			}
 
diff --git a/core/lib/components/balena/sdk.js b/core/lib/components/balena/sdk.js
index 5f8332146..274538843 100644
--- a/core/lib/components/balena/sdk.js
+++ b/core/lib/components/balena/sdk.js
@@ -65,12 +65,18 @@ module.exports = class BalenaSDK {
 	constructor(
 		apiUrl,
 		logger = { log: console.log, status: console.log, info: console.log },
+		sshConfig = {}
 	) {
 		this.balena = getSdk({
 			apiUrl: `https://api.${apiUrl}`,
 		});
+		this.apiUrl = apiUrl
 		this.pine = this.balena.pine;
 		this.logger = logger;
+		this.sshConfig = {
+			host: sshConfig.host || 'ssh.balena-devices.com',
+			port: sshConfig.port || 22
+		}
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -91,7 +97,6 @@ module.exports = class BalenaSDK {
 			tries: 600,
 		},
 	) {
-		const sshPort = 22;
 
 		return retry(
 			async () => {
@@ -102,9 +107,9 @@ module.exports = class BalenaSDK {
 				const result = await utils.executeCommandOverSSH(
 					`host -s ${device} source /etc/profile ; ${command}`,
 					{
-						host: `ssh.${await this.balena.settings.get('proxyUrl')}`,
+						host: this.sshConfig.host,
 						username: await this.balena.auth.whoami(),
-						port: sshPort,
+						port: this.sshConfig.port,
 					},
 				);
 
@@ -126,7 +131,7 @@ module.exports = class BalenaSDK {
 
 	/**
 	 * Creates application for a devicetype with the required config
-	 * 
+	 *
 	 * @param {string} name Name of the application that needs to be created
 	 * @param {string} deviceType The device type for which application needs to be created
 	 * @param {object} config specify configuration needed for the application
@@ -157,9 +162,9 @@ module.exports = class BalenaSDK {
 
 	/**
 		* Removes SSH key from balenaCloud account
-		* 
-		* @param {string} label SSH key label 
-		* 
+		*
+		* @param {string} label SSH key label
+		*
 		* @category helper
 		*/
 	async removeSSHKey(label) {
@@ -336,7 +341,11 @@ module.exports = class BalenaSDK {
 	 */
 	async fetchOS(versionOrRange = 'latest', deviceType, osType = 'default') {
 		// normalize the version string/range, supports 'latest', 'recommended', etc
-		let version = await this.balena.models.os.getMaxSatisfyingVersion(
+		const balenaSdkProd = getSdk({
+			apiUrl: "https://api.balena-cloud.com",
+		});
+
+		let version = await balenaSdkProd.models.os.getMaxSatisfyingVersion(
 			deviceType,
 			versionOrRange,
 			osType,
@@ -352,15 +361,15 @@ module.exports = class BalenaSDK {
 		);
 
 		// Caching implementation if needed - Check https://github.com/balena-os/leviathan/issues/441
-
 		let attempt = 0;
 		const downloadLatestOS = async () => {
 			attempt++;
 			this.logger.log(
 				`Fetching balenaOS version ${version}, attempt ${attempt}...`,
 			);
+
 			return await new Promise(async (resolve, reject) => {
-				await this.balena.models.os.download(
+				await balenaSdkProd.models.os.download(
 					deviceType,
 					version,
 					function (error, stream) {
diff --git a/suites/e2e/suite.js b/suites/e2e/suite.js
index 5dcd46647..8f60cafe1 100644
--- a/suites/e2e/suite.js
+++ b/suites/e2e/suite.js
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ module.exports = {
 			utils: this.require('common/utils'),
 			sshKeyPath: join(homedir(), 'id'),
 			sshKeyLabel: this.suite.options.id,
-			sdk: new Balena(this.suite.options.balena.apiUrl, this.getLogger()),
+			sdk: new Balena(this.suite.options.balena.apiUrl, this.getLogger(), this.suite.options.config.sshConfig),
 			link: `${this.suite.options.balenaOS.config.uuid.slice(0, 7)}.local`,
 			worker: new Worker(
 				this.suite.deviceType.slug,
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ module.exports = {
 				this.suite.options.workerUrl,
 				this.suite.options.balena.organization,
 				join(homedir(), 'id'),
+				this.suite.options.config.sshConfig
 			),
 		});