diff --git a/test/streaming-sim/conftest.py b/test/streaming-sim/conftest.py
index af7b1975a3bdc54032c0df82cb9f7ae5d1e9c9ae..e5268d03bcac35b1a6277448ce453a76298a7502 100644
--- a/test/streaming-sim/conftest.py
+++ b/test/streaming-sim/conftest.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import yaml
 from influxdb import InfluxDBClient
 
 
-@pytest.fixture(scope="module", params=[{'config1': {'rspec': 'test/streaming-sim/rspec.yml'}}])
+@pytest.fixture(scope="module", params=[{'config': {'rspec': 'test/streaming-sim/rspec.yml'}}])
 def streaming_sim_config(request):
     """
     Reads the service configuration deployed for the streaming simulation test.
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ def streaming_sim_config(request):
     :return: the python object representing the read YAML file
     """
 
-    with open(request.param['config1']['rspec'], 'r') as stream:
+    with open(request.param['config']['rspec'], 'r') as stream:
         data_loaded = yaml.load(stream)
     return data_loaded
 
diff --git a/test/streaming-sim/test_rspec.py b/test/streaming-sim/test_rspec.py
index 0183b4c80ffb1f1788c0e75cfc28712d07c01ed6..86ef0db715ee2fd5acff7a0e5d0c5b05a05a1552 100644
--- a/test/streaming-sim/test_rspec.py
+++ b/test/streaming-sim/test_rspec.py
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ def test_service_names(streaming_sim_config):
     assert streaming_sim_config['hosts'][1]['name'] == 'ipendpoint1', "Invalid service name: {0}".format(streaming_sim_config['hosts'][1]['name'])
     assert streaming_sim_config['hosts'][2]['name'] == 'ipendpoint2', "Invalid service name: {0}".format(streaming_sim_config['hosts'][2]['name'])
 
+    print("\nSuccessfully passed service names configuration test\n")
+
 
 def test_ping(streaming_sim_config):
     """
diff --git a/test/streaming/conftest.py b/test/streaming/conftest.py
index 4fe3bb9dc1298df611392594940a7efca95d2ddf..854ce0b3bc50250026ab72f072258265afd2a8ca 100644
--- a/test/streaming/conftest.py
+++ b/test/streaming/conftest.py
@@ -3,9 +3,16 @@
 import pytest
 import yaml
 
-@pytest.fixture(scope="module")
-def streaming_config():
-    """Returns the service configuration deployed for the streaming test. In future this needs to be a parameterised fixture shared with other rspec.yml based tests"""
-    with open("test/streaming/rspec.yml", 'r') as stream:
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="module", params=[{'config': {'rspec': 'test/streaming/rspec.yml'}}])
+def streaming_config(request):
+    """
+    Reads the service configuration deployed for the streaming simulation test.
+
+    :param request: access the parameters of the fixture
+    :return: the python object representing the read YAML file
+    """
+
+    with open(request.param['config']['rspec'], 'r') as stream:
         data_loaded = yaml.load(stream)
-    return data_loaded
\ No newline at end of file
+    return data_loaded
diff --git a/test/streaming/test_rspec.py b/test/streaming/test_rspec.py
index ea21ea9054143172ba27ab7492a4d4077d6a667d..51af8a94d6cc6545ac53afdf47fba634e8ad48f1 100644
--- a/test/streaming/test_rspec.py
+++ b/test/streaming/test_rspec.py
@@ -1,19 +1,37 @@
 #!/usr/bin/python3
 
-import pytest
-import os
+from subprocess import run
+from platform import system
+
 
 def test_service_names(streaming_config):
-    print(streaming_config['hosts'][0]['name'])
-    assert streaming_config['hosts'][0]['name'] == 'clmc-service'
-    assert streaming_config['hosts'][1]['name'] == 'nginx1'
-    assert streaming_config['hosts'][2]['name'] == 'nginx2' 
-    assert streaming_config['hosts'][3]['name'] == 'loadtest-streaming'            
+    """
+    Tests the service names in the configuration.
+
+    :param streaming_config: the configuration fixture collected from conftest.py
+    """
+
+    assert streaming_config['hosts'][0]['name'] == 'clmc-service', "Invalid service name: {0}".format(streaming_config['hosts'][0]['name'])
+    assert streaming_config['hosts'][1]['name'] == 'nginx1', "Invalid service name: {0}".format(streaming_config['hosts'][1]['name'])
+    assert streaming_config['hosts'][2]['name'] == 'nginx2', "Invalid service name: {0}".format(streaming_config['hosts'][2]['name'])
+    assert streaming_config['hosts'][3]['name'] == 'loadtest-streaming', "Invalid service name: {0}".format(streaming_config['hosts'][3]['name'])
+
+    print("\nSuccessfully passed service names configuration test\n")
+
 
 def test_ping(streaming_config):
-    """This test will only run on linux"""
-    for x in streaming_config['hosts']:
-        print(x['ip_address'])
-        response = os.system("ping -c 1 " + x['ip_address'])
-        assert response == 0     
-    
+    """
+    Pings each service to test for liveliness
+
+    :param streaming_config: the configuration fixture collected from conftest.py
+    """
+
+    print("\n")  # blank line printed for formatting purposes
+
+    ping_count = 1
+    system_dependent_param = "-n" if system().lower() == "windows" else "-c"
+
+    for service in streaming_config['hosts']:
+        command = ["ping", system_dependent_param, str(ping_count), service['ip_address']]
+        assert run(command).returncode == 0, "Service ping test failed for {0}".format(service['name'])
+        print("\nSuccessfully passed ping test for service: {0}\n".format(service['name']))