diff --git a/hack/run-ci-e2e-test.sh b/hack/run-ci-e2e-test.sh
index 933fdfff5d..8b6560c8ca 100755
--- a/hack/run-ci-e2e-test.sh
+++ b/hack/run-ci-e2e-test.sh
@@ -120,11 +120,15 @@ go test ./test/e2e/... -run=TestWMCO/operator_deployed_without_private_key_secre
 
 # Run the creation tests of the Windows VMs
 printf "\n####### Testing creation #######\n" >> "$ARTIFACT_DIR"/wmco.log
-go test ./test/e2e/... -run=TestWMCO/create -v -timeout=120m -args --node-count=$NODE_COUNT --private-key-path=$KUBE_SSH_KEY_PATH $WMCO_PATH_OPTION
+go test ./test/e2e/... -run=TestWMCO/create -v -timeout=90m -args --node-count=$NODE_COUNT --private-key-path=$KUBE_SSH_KEY_PATH $WMCO_PATH_OPTION
 # Get logs for the creation tests
 printf "\n####### WMCO logs for creation tests #######\n" >> "$ARTIFACT_DIR"/wmco.log
 get_WMCO_logs
 
+# Run the network tests
+printf "\n####### Testing network #######\n" >> "$ARTIFACT_DIR"/wmco.log
+go test ./test/e2e/... -run=TestWMCO/network -v -timeout=20m -args --node-count=$NODE_COUNT --private-key-path=$KUBE_SSH_KEY_PATH $WMCO_PATH_OPTION
+
 # Run the upgrade tests and skip deletion of the Windows VMs
 printf "\n####### Testing upgrade #######\n" >> "$ARTIFACT_DIR"/wmco.log
 go test ./test/e2e/... -run=TestWMCO/upgrade -v -timeout=90m -args --node-count=$NODE_COUNT --private-key-path=$KUBE_SSH_KEY_PATH $WMCO_PATH_OPTION
diff --git a/test/e2e/create_test.go b/test/e2e/create_test.go
index e45af275cf..ca8f30d719 100644
--- a/test/e2e/create_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/create_test.go
@@ -23,17 +23,12 @@ import (
 )
 
 func creationTestSuite(t *testing.T) {
-	// The order of tests here are important. testValidateSecrets is what populates the windowsVMs slice in the gc.
-	// testNetwork needs that to check if the HNS networks have been installed. Ideally we would like to run testNetwork
-	// before testValidateSecrets and testConfigMapValidation but we cannot as the source of truth for the credentials
-	// are the secrets but they are created only after the VMs have been fully configured.
-	// Any node object related tests should be run only after testNodeCreation as that initializes the node objects in
-	// the global context.
+	// The order of tests here are important. Any node object related tests should be run only after
+	// testWindowsNodeCreation as that initializes the node objects in the global context.
 	if !t.Run("Creation", func(t *testing.T) { testWindowsNodeCreation(t) }) {
 		// No point in running the other tests if creation failed
 		return
 	}
-	t.Run("Network validation", testNetwork)
 	t.Run("Node Metadata", func(t *testing.T) { testNodeMetadata(t) })
 	t.Run("NodeTaint validation", func(t *testing.T) { testNodeTaint(t) })
 	t.Run("UserData validation", func(t *testing.T) { testUserData(t) })
diff --git a/test/e2e/network_test.go b/test/e2e/network_test.go
index 1c899b78c8..c36065d825 100644
--- a/test/e2e/network_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/network_test.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	appsv1 "k8s.io/api/apps/v1"
 	batchv1 "k8s.io/api/batch/v1"
 	v1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
+	apierrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels"
 
@@ -23,9 +24,12 @@ import (
 
 // testNetwork runs all the cluster and node network tests
 func testNetwork(t *testing.T) {
+	// Populate the global test context
 	testCtx, err := NewTestContext()
 	require.NoError(t, err)
-	require.NoError(t, testCtx.createNamespace(testCtx.workloadNamespace), "error creating test namespace")
+	err = testCtx.waitForWindowsNodes(gc.numberOfNodes, true, false, false)
+	assert.NoError(t, err, "timed out waiting for Windows node")
+
 	t.Run("East West Networking", testEastWestNetworking)
 	t.Run("North south networking", testNorthSouthNetworking)
 }
@@ -282,14 +286,24 @@ func getAffinityForNode(node *v1.Node) (*v1.Affinity, error) {
 	}, nil
 }
 
-// createNamespace creates a namespace with the provided name
-func (tc *testContext) createNamespace(name string) error {
+// ensureNamespace checks if a namespace with the provided name exists and creates one if it does not
+func (tc *testContext) ensureNamespace(name string) error {
+	// Check if the namespace exists
+	_, err := tc.client.K8s.CoreV1().Namespaces().Get(context.TODO(), name, metav1.GetOptions{})
+	if err != nil && !apierrors.IsNotFound(err) {
+		return err
+	}
+	if err == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	// The namespace does not exists, so lets create it
 	ns := &v1.Namespace{
 		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
 			Name: name,
 		},
 	}
-	_, err := tc.client.K8s.CoreV1().Namespaces().Create(context.TODO(), ns, metav1.CreateOptions{})
+	_, err = tc.client.K8s.CoreV1().Namespaces().Create(context.TODO(), ns, metav1.CreateOptions{})
 	return err
 }
 
diff --git a/test/e2e/wmco_test.go b/test/e2e/wmco_test.go
index 9f23a8bdcd..b3c4694a50 100644
--- a/test/e2e/wmco_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/wmco_test.go
@@ -31,10 +31,15 @@ func TestWMCO(t *testing.T) {
 		wmcoPath = "/usr/local/bin/windows-machine-config-operator"
 	}
 
+	testCtx, err := NewTestContext()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.NoError(t, testCtx.ensureNamespace(testCtx.workloadNamespace), "error creating test namespace")
+
 	// test that the operator can deploy without the secret already created, we can later use a secret created by the
 	// individual test suites after the operator is running
 	t.Run("operator deployed without private key secret", testOperatorDeployed)
 	t.Run("create", creationTestSuite)
+	t.Run("network", testNetwork)
 	t.Run("upgrade", upgradeTestSuite)
 	t.Run("reconfigure", reconfigurationTest)
 	t.Run("destroy", deletionTestSuite)