diff --git a/system-test/testnet-performance/aws-cpu-only-perf-10-node.yml b/system-test/testnet-performance/aws-cpu-only-perf-10-node.yml
index 227fd7b11b..24d242c0c6 100755
--- a/system-test/testnet-performance/aws-cpu-only-perf-10-node.yml
+++ b/system-test/testnet-performance/aws-cpu-only-perf-10-node.yml
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ steps:
       NUMBER_OF_CLIENT_NODES: 2
       CLIENT_OPTIONS: "bench-tps=2=--tx_count 15000 --thread-batch-sleep-ms 250"
       TESTNET_ZONES: "us-west-1a,us-west-1c,us-east-1a,eu-west-1a"
+      USE_PUBLIC_IP_ADDRESSES: "true"
       ADDITIONAL_FLAGS: ""
     agents:
       - "queue=testnet-deploy"
diff --git a/system-test/testnet-performance/aws-cpu-only-perf-5-node-single-zone.yml b/system-test/testnet-performance/aws-cpu-only-perf-5-node-single-zone.yml
deleted file mode 100755
index 64e904ab3e..0000000000
--- a/system-test/testnet-performance/aws-cpu-only-perf-5-node-single-zone.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,19 +0,0 @@
-steps:
-  - command: "system-test/testnet-performance/testnet-automation.sh"
-    label: "AWS - CPU Only 5 Node"
-    env:
-      UPLOAD_RESULTS_TO_SLACK: "true"
-      CLOUD_PROVIDER: "ec2"
-      TESTNET_TAG: "aws-perf-cpu-only"
-      RAMP_UP_TIME: 0
-      TEST_DURATION_SECONDS: 300
-      NUMBER_OF_VALIDATOR_NODES: 5
-      ENABLE_GPU: "false"
-      # Up to 3.1 GHz Intel Xeon® Platinum 8175, 16 vCPU, 64GB RAM
-      VALIDATOR_NODE_MACHINE_TYPE: "m5.4xlarge"
-      NUMBER_OF_CLIENT_NODES: 2
-      CLIENT_OPTIONS: "bench-tps=2=--tx_count 15000 --thread-batch-sleep-ms 250"
-      TESTNET_ZONES: "us-west-1a"
-      ADDITIONAL_FLAGS: ""
-    agents:
-      - "queue=testnet-deploy"
diff --git a/system-test/testnet-performance/aws-cpu-only-perf-5-node.yml b/system-test/testnet-performance/aws-cpu-only-perf-5-node.yml
index 05a7244f84..1225131e43 100755
--- a/system-test/testnet-performance/aws-cpu-only-perf-5-node.yml
+++ b/system-test/testnet-performance/aws-cpu-only-perf-5-node.yml
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ steps:
       NUMBER_OF_CLIENT_NODES: 2
       CLIENT_OPTIONS: "bench-tps=2=--tx_count 15000 --thread-batch-sleep-ms 250"
       TESTNET_ZONES: "us-west-1a,us-west-1c,us-east-1a,eu-west-1a"
+      USE_PUBLIC_IP_ADDRESSES: "true"
       ADDITIONAL_FLAGS: ""
     agents:
       - "queue=testnet-deploy"
diff --git a/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-cpu-only-perf-10-node.yml b/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-cpu-only-perf-10-node.yml
index 01b4608578..34beb38b7e 100755
--- a/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-cpu-only-perf-10-node.yml
+++ b/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-cpu-only-perf-10-node.yml
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ steps:
       NUMBER_OF_CLIENT_NODES: 1
       CLIENT_OPTIONS: "bench-tps=1=--tx_count 80000 --thread-batch-sleep-ms 1000"
       TESTNET_ZONES: "us-west1-a,us-west1-b,us-central1-a,europe-west4-a"
+      USE_PUBLIC_IP_ADDRESSES: "true"
       ADDITIONAL_FLAGS: ""
     agents:
       - "queue=testnet-deploy"
diff --git a/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-cpu-only-perf-5-node.yml b/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-cpu-only-perf-5-node.yml
index f191208984..d59fe35d9a 100755
--- a/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-cpu-only-perf-5-node.yml
+++ b/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-cpu-only-perf-5-node.yml
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ steps:
       NUMBER_OF_CLIENT_NODES: 2
       CLIENT_OPTIONS: "bench-tps=2=--tx_count 15000 --thread-batch-sleep-ms 250"
       TESTNET_ZONES: "us-west1-a,us-west1-b,us-central1-a,europe-west4-a"
+      USE_PUBLIC_IP_ADDRESSES: "true"
       ADDITIONAL_FLAGS: "--dedicated"
     agents:
       - "queue=testnet-deploy"
diff --git a/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-gpu-perf-10-node.yml b/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-gpu-perf-10-node.yml
index d0cda3cc7b..9c3b0ff769 100755
--- a/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-gpu-perf-10-node.yml
+++ b/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-gpu-perf-10-node.yml
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ steps:
       NUMBER_OF_CLIENT_NODES: 2
       CLIENT_OPTIONS: "bench-tps=2=--tx_count 15000 --thread-batch-sleep-ms 250"
       TESTNET_ZONES: "us-west1-a,us-west1-b,us-central1-a,europe-west4-a"
+      USE_PUBLIC_IP_ADDRESSES: "true"
       ADDITIONAL_FLAGS: "--dedicated"
     agents:
       - "queue=testnet-deploy"
diff --git a/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-gpu-perf-100-node.yml b/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-gpu-perf-100-node.yml
index 0a63d0c35b..27bc120433 100755
--- a/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-gpu-perf-100-node.yml
+++ b/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-gpu-perf-100-node.yml
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ steps:
       CLIENT_OPTIONS: "bench-tps=2=--tx_count 15000 --thread-batch-sleep-ms 250"
       TESTNET_ZONES: "us-west1-a,us-west1-b,us-central1-a,europe-west4-a"
       ALLOW_BOOT_FAILURES: "true"
+      USE_PUBLIC_IP_ADDRESSES: "true"
       ADDITIONAL_FLAGS: "--dedicated"
     agents:
       - "queue=testnet-deploy"
diff --git a/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-gpu-perf-25-node.yml b/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-gpu-perf-25-node.yml
index 87ac3c8bcb..e21651590a 100755
--- a/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-gpu-perf-25-node.yml
+++ b/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-gpu-perf-25-node.yml
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ steps:
       NUMBER_OF_CLIENT_NODES: 2
       CLIENT_OPTIONS: "bench-tps=2=--tx_count 15000 --thread-batch-sleep-ms 250"
       TESTNET_ZONES: "us-west1-a,us-west1-b,us-central1-a,europe-west4-a"
+      USE_PUBLIC_IP_ADDRESSES: "true"
       ADDITIONAL_FLAGS: "--dedicated"
     agents:
       - "queue=testnet-deploy"
diff --git a/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-gpu-perf-5-node.yml b/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-gpu-perf-5-node.yml
index 785bd4234c..dd39cfc5cb 100755
--- a/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-gpu-perf-5-node.yml
+++ b/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-gpu-perf-5-node.yml
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ steps:
       NUMBER_OF_CLIENT_NODES: 2
       CLIENT_OPTIONS: "bench-tps=2=--tx_count 15000 --thread-batch-sleep-ms 250"
       TESTNET_ZONES: "us-west1-a,us-west1-b,us-central1-a,europe-west4-a"
+      USE_PUBLIC_IP_ADDRESSES: "true"
       ADDITIONAL_FLAGS: "--dedicated"
     agents:
       - "queue=testnet-deploy"
diff --git a/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-gpu-perf-50-node.yml b/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-gpu-perf-50-node.yml
index 7d4fd84d96..7d481b6b5a 100755
--- a/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-gpu-perf-50-node.yml
+++ b/system-test/testnet-performance/gce-gpu-perf-50-node.yml
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ steps:
       CLIENT_OPTIONS: "bench-tps=2=--tx_count 15000 --thread-batch-sleep-ms 250"
       TESTNET_ZONES: "us-west1-a,us-west1-b,us-central1-a,europe-west4-a"
       ALLOW_BOOT_FAILURES: "true"
+      USE_PUBLIC_IP_ADDRESSES: "true"
       ADDITIONAL_FLAGS: "--dedicated"
     agents:
       - "queue=testnet-deploy"
diff --git a/system-test/testnet-performance/testnet-automation.sh b/system-test/testnet-performance/testnet-automation.sh
index 59c3fba37c..3365ae4b6a 100755
--- a/system-test/testnet-performance/testnet-automation.sh
+++ b/system-test/testnet-performance/testnet-automation.sh
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ function launchTestnet() {
         -d pd-ssd \
         -n "$NUMBER_OF_VALIDATOR_NODES" -c "$NUMBER_OF_CLIENT_NODES" \
         $maybeCustomMachineType "$VALIDATOR_NODE_MACHINE_TYPE" $maybeEnableGpu \
-        -p "$TESTNET_TAG" $maybeCreateAllowBootFailures \
+        -p "$TESTNET_TAG" $maybeCreateAllowBootFailures $maybePublicIpAddresses \
         ${TESTNET_CLOUD_ZONES[@]/#/"-z "} \
         ${ADDITIONAL_FLAGS[@]/#/" "}
       ;;
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ function launchTestnet() {
       net/ec2.sh create \
         -n "$NUMBER_OF_VALIDATOR_NODES" -c "$NUMBER_OF_CLIENT_NODES" \
         $maybeCustomMachineType "$VALIDATOR_NODE_MACHINE_TYPE" $maybeEnableGpu \
-        -p "$TESTNET_TAG" $maybeCreateAllowBootFailures \
+        -p "$TESTNET_TAG" $maybeCreateAllowBootFailures $maybePublicIpAddresses \
         ${TESTNET_CLOUD_ZONES[@]/#/"-z "} \
         ${ADDITIONAL_FLAGS[@]/#/" "}
       ;;
@@ -123,7 +123,8 @@ function launchTestnet() {
     # shellcheck disable=SC2086
       net/colo.sh create \
         -n "$NUMBER_OF_VALIDATOR_NODES" -c "$NUMBER_OF_CLIENT_NODES" $maybeEnableGpu \
-        -p "$TESTNET_TAG" ${ADDITIONAL_FLAGS[@]/#/" "}
+        -p "$TESTNET_TAG" $maybePublicIpAddresses \
+        ${ADDITIONAL_FLAGS[@]/#/" "}
       ;;
     *)
       echo "Error: Unsupported cloud provider: $CLOUD_PROVIDER"
@@ -256,6 +257,13 @@ if [[ "$ALLOW_BOOT_FAILURES" = "true" ]] ; then
   maybeStartAllowBootFailures="-F"
 fi
 
+if [[ -z $USE_PUBLIC_IP_ADDRESSES ]] ; then
+  USE_PUBLIC_IP_ADDRESSES=false
+fi
+if [[ "$USE_PUBLIC_IP_ADDRESSES" = "true" ]] ; then
+  maybePublicIpAddresses="-P"
+fi
+
 if [[ -z $CHANNEL ]]; then
   echo --- downloading tar from build artifacts
   buildkite-agent artifact download "solana-release*.tar.bz2" .