diff --git a/src/@types/C2D/C2D.ts b/src/@types/C2D/C2D.ts
index 55f2eae35..fb764c6c6 100644
--- a/src/@types/C2D/C2D.ts
+++ b/src/@types/C2D/C2D.ts
@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ export interface ComputeEnvironmentBaseConfig {
   access: ComputeAccessList
   free?: ComputeEnvironmentFreeOptions
   platform: RunningPlatform
+  enableNetwork?: boolean // whether network is enabled for algorithm containers
 }
 
 export interface ComputeRuntimes {
@@ -152,6 +153,7 @@ export interface C2DEnvironmentConfig {
   access?: ComputeAccessList
   free?: ComputeEnvironmentFreeOptions
   resources?: ComputeResource[]
+  enableNetwork?: boolean // whether network is enabled for algorithm containers
 }
 
 export interface C2DDockerConfig {
@@ -168,7 +170,6 @@ export interface C2DDockerConfig {
   scanImages?: boolean
   scanImageDBUpdateInterval?: number // Default: 12 hours
   environments: C2DEnvironmentConfig[]
-  enableNetwork?: boolean // whether network is enabled for algorithm containers
 }
 
 export type ComputeResultType =
diff --git a/src/components/c2d/compute_engine_docker.ts b/src/components/c2d/compute_engine_docker.ts
index 58d4993d5..69028ca83 100755
--- a/src/components/c2d/compute_engine_docker.ts
+++ b/src/components/c2d/compute_engine_docker.ts
@@ -91,7 +91,6 @@ export class C2DEngineDocker extends C2DEngine {
   private trivyCachePath: string
   private cpuAllocations: Map<string, number[]> = new Map()
   private envCpuCoresMap: Map<string, number[]> = new Map()
-  private enableNetwork: boolean
 
   public constructor(
     clusterConfig: C2DClusterInfo,
@@ -115,7 +114,7 @@ export class C2DEngineDocker extends C2DEngine {
     this.paymentClaimInterval = clusterConfig.connection.paymentClaimInterval || 3600 // 1 hour
     this.scanImages = clusterConfig.connection.scanImages || false // default is not to scan images for now, until it's prod ready
     this.scanImageDBUpdateInterval = clusterConfig.connection.scanImageDBUpdateInterval
-    this.enableNetwork = clusterConfig.connection.enableNetwork ?? false
+
     if (
       clusterConfig.connection.protocol &&
       clusterConfig.connection.host &&
@@ -236,7 +235,8 @@ export class C2DEngineDocker extends C2DEngine {
           { [BASE_CHAIN_ID]: [getAddress('0xcb7Db55Ca9Aa9C3b25F5Bc266da63317fa02086a')] }
         ]
       },
-      fees: benchmarkFees
+      fees: benchmarkFees,
+      enableNetwork: true
     }
 
     envConfig.environments.push(benchmarkEnv)
@@ -367,7 +367,8 @@ export class C2DEngineDocker extends C2DEngine {
         queMaxWaitTime: 0,
         queMaxWaitTimeFree: 0,
         runMaxWaitTime: 0,
-        runMaxWaitTimeFree: 0
+        runMaxWaitTimeFree: 0,
+        enableNetwork: envDef.enableNetwork
       }
 
       if (envDef.storageExpiry !== undefined) env.storageExpiry = envDef.storageExpiry
@@ -1836,7 +1837,7 @@ export class C2DEngineDocker extends C2DEngine {
           }
         ]
       }
-      if (!this.enableNetwork) {
+      if (!env.enableNetwork) {
         hostConfig.NetworkMode = 'none' // no network inside the container
       }
       // disk
diff --git a/src/utils/config/schemas.ts b/src/utils/config/schemas.ts
index b5422c1c8..cfdf57ce5 100644
--- a/src/utils/config/schemas.ts
+++ b/src/utils/config/schemas.ts
@@ -235,7 +235,8 @@ export const C2DEnvironmentConfigSchema = z
       })
       .optional(),
     free: ComputeEnvironmentFreeOptionsSchema.optional(),
-    resources: z.array(ComputeResourceSchema).optional()
+    resources: z.array(ComputeResourceSchema).optional(),
+    enableNetwork: z.boolean().optional().default(false)
   })
   .refine(
     (data) =>
@@ -270,7 +271,6 @@ export const C2DDockerConfigSchema = z.array(
     imageCleanupInterval: z.number().int().min(3600).optional().default(86400), // min 1 hour, default 24 hours
     scanImages: z.boolean().optional().default(false),
     scanImageDBUpdateInterval: z.number().int().min(3600).optional().default(43200), // default 43200 (12 hours)
-    enableNetwork: z.boolean().optional().default(false),
     environments: z.array(C2DEnvironmentConfigSchema).min(1)
   })
 )