diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a929851e..2a9daf6b 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 /openwrt
 /output
 /site
+/tests/__pycache__
 /tmp
 /packages
 .bash_history
diff --git a/contrib/Dockerfile b/contrib/Dockerfile
index 50d7ff89..4fcccd47 100644
--- a/contrib/Dockerfile
+++ b/contrib/Dockerfile
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ RUN apt update && apt install -y --no-install-recommends \
     git \
     subversion \
     python \
+    python3 \
+    python3-pytest \
     build-essential \
     gawk \
     unzip \
@@ -18,7 +20,9 @@ RUN apt update && apt install -y --no-install-recommends \
     ecdsautils \
     lua-check \
     shellcheck \
+    qemu-system-x86 \
   && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+RUN python3 -m pip install gluon-qemu-testlab
 
 RUN useradd -d /gluon gluon
 USER gluon
diff --git a/pytest.ini b/pytest.ini
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b9158349
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pytest.ini
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+[pytest]
+#addopts = -ra -q
+testpaths =
+    tests
diff --git a/tests/driver.py b/tests/driver.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..44d39dff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/driver.py
@@ -0,0 +1,464 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+import atexit
+import _thread
+import itertools
+import os
+import re
+import shutil
+import socket
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import time
+from functools import partial
+from tempfile import mkdtemp
+from typing import Any, Callable
+
+
+NODES = []
+
+MACHINE_COLORS_ITER = (f"\x1b[{x}m" for x in itertools.cycle(reversed(range(31, 37))))
+
+
+def start_all():
+    global NODES
+    for node in NODES:
+        _thread.start_new_thread(node.run, ())
+        #node.run()
+
+    while not all([node.configmode == False for node in NODES]):
+        time.sleep(0.2)
+
+
+def retry(fn: Callable) -> None:
+    """Call the given function repeatedly, with 1 second intervals,
+    until it returns True or a timeout is reached.
+    """
+
+    for _ in range(900):
+        if fn(False):
+            return
+        time.sleep(1)
+
+    if not fn(True):
+        raise Exception("action timed out")
+
+
+class Network:
+    max_id = 0
+
+    def __init__(self, *members, name=None):
+        self.id = Network.max_id
+        Network.max_id += 1
+
+        self._name = name
+        self.members = members
+
+        self.has_listener = False
+
+    @property
+    def name(self):
+        return self._name or f"mesh{self.id}"
+
+    @property
+    def port(self):
+        return 24000 + self.id
+
+    @property
+    def needs_listener(self):
+        # we connect QEMU VMs through TCP sockets, the VM that is started first needs to be the listener
+        if self.has_listener:
+            return False
+
+        self.has_listener = True
+        return True
+
+
+class Node:
+    max_id = 0
+
+    def __init__(self, name=None):
+        global NODES
+
+        self._name = name
+        self.id = Node.max_id
+        Node.max_id += 1
+        self.ifindex_max = 1
+        self.color = next(MACHINE_COLORS_ITER)
+
+        # time the QEMU process was started
+        self.started = None
+        # is the VM in config mode?
+        self.configmode = None
+
+        # dynamic VM inventory
+        self.networks = list()
+
+        # commands to run automatically
+        self.config_mode_commands = [
+            f"pretty-hostname {self.name}",
+            "uci set gluon-setup-mode.@setup_mode[0].configured='1'",
+            "uci set gluon-setup-mode.@setup_mode[0].enabled='0'",
+        ]
+
+        # each node gets it's own working directory
+        self.temp_dir = mkdtemp(prefix="gluon-test-")
+        atexit.register(shutil.rmtree, self.temp_dir)
+
+        NODES.append(self)
+
+    @property
+    def name(self):
+        return self._name or f"machine{self.id}"
+
+    def log(self, msg, bold=False):
+        delta = time.time() - self.started
+        if bold:
+            msg = f"\033[1m{msg}\033[0m"
+        print(f"({delta:>8.2f}) \0{self.color}{self.name}\x1b[39m: {msg}")
+        sys.stdout.flush()
+
+    def connect(self, node):
+        network = Network(self, node)
+
+        self.ifindex_max += 1
+        self.networks.append((f"eth{self.ifindex_max}", network))
+
+        node.ifindex_max += 1
+        node.networks.append((f"eth{node.ifindex_max}", network))
+
+        return network
+
+    @property
+    def run_command(self):
+        qemu_executable = "qemu-system-x86_64"
+
+        # https://firmware.darmstadt.freifunk.net/images/2.3~20200811/factory/gluon-ffda-2.3~20200811-x86-64.img.gz
+        image = "/tmp/gluon-ffda-2.3~20201027-x86-64.img"
+        #image = "/tmp/openwrt-x86-64-combined-ext4.img"
+        #image = "/tmp/gluon-ffda-2.3~20200913-x86-64.img"
+
+        # create dedicated copy for each VM, as they need to write lock the image
+        image_path = os.path.join(self.temp_dir, "gluon.img")
+        shutil.copyfile(image, os.path.join(self.temp_dir, "gluon.img"))
+
+        disk_backend = f"-drive file={image_path},format=raw,if=none,id=disk0"
+        disk_frontend = "-device virtio-blk-pci,scsi=off,bus=pci.0,addr=0x07,drive=disk0,id=virto-disk0,bootindex=1"
+
+        # any network driver included in Gluon should work, see
+        # https://github.com/freifunk-gluon/gluon/blob/master/targets/x86.inc
+        nic_driver = "virtio-net-pci"
+
+        def create_socket(path: str) -> socket.socket:
+            if os.path.exists(path):
+                os.unlink(path)
+            s = socket.socket(family=socket.AF_UNIX, type=socket.SOCK_STREAM)
+            s.bind(path)
+            s.listen(1)
+            return s
+
+        monitor_path = os.path.join(self.temp_dir, "monitor")
+        self.monitor_socket = create_socket(monitor_path)
+
+        shell_path = os.path.join(self.temp_dir, "shell")
+        self.shell_socket = create_socket(shell_path)
+
+        # network interfaces, note the frontend addr is used to affect the order so wan/client are assigned correctly.
+        wan_backend = f"-netdev user,id=wan,hostfwd=tcp::{22000 + self.id}-10.0.2.15:22"
+        wan_frontend = f"-device {nic_driver},addr=0x06,netdev=wan"
+
+        client_backend = f"-netdev user,id=client,hostfwd=tcp::{23000 + self.id}-192.168.1.1:22,net=192.168.1.15/24"
+        client_frontend = f"-device {nic_driver},addr=0x05,netdev=client"
+
+        start_command = [
+            qemu_executable,
+            "-m 128",
+            # enable kvm acceleration, so the boot doesn't get stuck arbitrarily
+            "-enable-kvm",
+            # do not open a graphical window
+            "-nographic",
+            # monitor, to control the machine from outside
+            f"-monitor unix:{monitor_path}",
+            # serial i/o
+            f"-chardev socket,id=shell,path={shell_path}",
+            "-device virtio-serial",
+            "-device virtconsole,chardev=shell",
+            # random number generator
+            "-device virtio-rng-pci",
+            # network interfaces
+            wan_backend,
+            wan_frontend,
+            client_backend,
+            client_frontend,
+            # firmware image
+            disk_backend,
+            disk_frontend
+        ]
+
+        for ifname, network in self.networks:
+            role = "listen" if network.needs_listener else "connect"
+
+            start_command.extend(
+                [
+                    f"-device {nic_driver},addr={hex(0xA + network.id)},netdev={network.name}",
+                    f"-netdev socket,id={network.name},{role}=:{network.port}",
+                ]
+            )
+
+            self.config_mode_commands.extend([
+                # configure network for wired meshing
+                f"uci set network.{ifname}_mesh=interface",
+                f"uci set network.{ifname}_mesh.auto=1",
+                f"uci set network.{ifname}_mesh.proto=gluon_wired",
+                f"uci set network.{ifname}_mesh.ifname={ifname}",
+
+                # allow vxlan traffic over the newly created interfaces
+                f"uci add_list firewall.wired_mesh.network={ifname}_mesh"
+            ])
+
+        print(" \\\n\t".join(start_command))
+
+        return " ".join(start_command)
+
+    def run(self):
+        def process_serial_output(machine, prevent_clear=True) -> None:
+            # Remove ANSII sequences that make text unnecessarily hard to read, especially GRUB output
+            # Taken from https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14693701/how-can-i-remove-the-ansi-escape-sequences-from-a-string-in-python/38662876#38662876
+            def escape_ansi(line):
+                ansi_escape = re.compile(r"(?:\x1B[@-_]|[\x80-\x9F])[0-?]*[ -/]*[@-~]")
+                return ansi_escape.sub("", line)
+
+            assert machine.process.stdout is not None
+            for _line in machine.process.stdout:
+                # Ignore undecodable bytes that may occur in boot menus
+                line = escape_ansi(_line.decode(errors="ignore").replace("\r", "").rstrip())
+                if prevent_clear:
+                    line = line.replace("\033", "")
+                if line:
+                    machine.log(line)
+                #print(":".join("{:02x}".format(ord(c)) for c in line))
+                # self.logger.enqueue({"msg": line, "machine": self.name})
+
+        if self.started:
+            return
+
+        environment = dict(os.environ)
+        environment.update(
+            {"TMPDIR": self.temp_dir, "USE_TMPDIR": "1", "SHARED_DIR": self.temp_dir,}
+        )
+
+        self.process = subprocess.Popen(
+            self.run_command,
+            stdin=subprocess.DEVNULL,
+            stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
+            stderr=subprocess.STDOUT,
+            shell=True,
+            cwd=self.temp_dir,
+            env=environment,
+        )
+        self.started = time.time()
+
+        self.monitor, _ = self.monitor_socket.accept()
+        self.shell, _ = self.shell_socket.accept()
+
+        _thread.start_new_thread(process_serial_output, (self, True))
+
+        self.pid = self.process.pid
+        print(f"QEMU for {self.name} running under PID {self.pid}")
+
+        atexit.register(self.shutdown)
+
+        self.wait_for_monitor_prompt()
+        self.wait_until_booted()
+        self.run_hooks()
+
+    def wait_until_booted(self):
+        self.wait_for_console()
+
+        sys.stdout.flush()
+
+        self.get_state()
+
+    def ensure_up(self):
+        if self.started:
+            return
+
+        self.run()
+
+    def get_state(self):
+        # wait until network is up, then check for /var/gluon/setup-mode to determine if we're in config mode
+        self.execute("ubus -t 30 wait_for network.interface")
+        status, _ = self.execute("test -d /var/gluon/setup-mode")
+
+        if status == 0:
+            self.configmode = True
+        else:
+            self.configmode = False
+
+    def run_hooks(self):
+        if self.configmode:
+            self.log("Booted into config mode", bold=True)
+            if not self.config_mode_commands:
+                return
+
+            while self.config_mode_commands:
+                command = self.config_mode_commands.pop(0)
+                self.execute(command)
+
+            self.succeed("uci commit")
+
+            # wait for overlay completion marker
+            self.wait_until_succeeds("readlink /overlay/.fs_state | grep 2")
+
+            self.log("Rebooting from config mode into normal mode", bold=True)
+            self.reboot()
+        else:
+            self.log("Booted into normal mode", bold=True)
+
+    def execute(self, command):
+        self.ensure_up()
+        #self.log(f"Execute: {command}")
+
+        # append an output end marker that includes the exit code
+        out_command = "( {} ); echo '|!EOF' $?\n".format(command)
+        self.shell.send(out_command.encode())
+        sys.stdout.flush()
+
+        output = ""
+        status_code_pattern = re.compile(r"(.*)\|\!EOF\s+(\d+)")
+
+        while True:
+            chunk = self.shell.recv(4096).decode(errors="ignore")
+            sys.stdout.flush()
+            match = status_code_pattern.match(chunk)
+            if match:
+                output += match[1]
+                status_code = int(match[2])
+                #for line in output.split('\n'):
+                #    self.log(f"LINE: {line}")
+                return (
+                    status_code,
+                    output[
+                        output.find("echo '|!EOF' $?") + len("echo '|!EOF' $?") :
+                    ].strip(),
+                )
+            output += chunk
+
+    def succeed(self, *commands: str) -> str:
+        """Execute each command and check that it succeeds."""
+        output = ""
+        for command in commands:
+            self.log(f"Must succeed: {command}", bold=True)
+            (status, out) = self.execute(command)
+            if status != 0:
+                raise Exception(
+                "command `{}` failed (exit code {})".format(command, status)
+                )
+            output += out
+        return output
+
+    def wait_until_succeeds(self, command: str) -> str:
+        """Wait until a command returns success and return its output.
+        Throws an exception on timeout.
+        """
+        output = ""
+
+        self.log(f"Wait until succeeds: {command}", bold=True)
+
+        def check_success(_: Any) -> bool:
+            nonlocal output
+            status, output = self.execute(command)
+            return status == 0
+
+        retry(check_success)
+        return output
+
+    def reboot(self):
+        self.shell.send("reboot\n".encode())
+        sys.stdout.flush()
+        self.wait_until_booted()
+        self.run_hooks()
+
+    def shutdown(self):
+        try:
+            self.shell.send("poweroff\n".encode())
+        except BrokenPipeError:
+            # This case can occur when the VM was terminated early, don't worry about it.
+            pass
+        self.wait_for_shutdown()
+
+    def wait_for_shutdown(self):
+        sys.stdout.flush()
+        self.process.wait()
+
+    def wait_for_monitor_prompt(self):
+        assert self.monitor is not None
+
+        answer = ""
+        while True:
+            undecoded_answer = self.monitor.recv(1024)
+            if not undecoded_answer:
+                break
+            answer += undecoded_answer.decode()
+            if answer.endswith("(qemu) "):
+                break
+        return answer
+
+    def wait_until_tty_matches(self, pattern):
+        assert self.shell is not None
+
+        _pattern = re.compile(pattern)
+
+        chunks = ""
+        while True:
+            chunk = self.shell.recv(4096).decode(errors="ignore")
+            match = _pattern.search(chunk)
+            if match:
+                return True
+
+    def wait_for_console(self):
+        self.wait_until_tty_matches(r"^Please press Enter to activate this console\.$")
+
+        sys.stdout.flush()
+
+        # press enter
+        self.shell.send("\n".encode())
+
+        # wait for prompt
+        pattern = re.compile(r"root@[()0-9a-zA-Z-]+:/#")
+        output = ""
+        while True:
+            chunk = self.shell.recv(4096).decode(errors="ignore")
+            output += chunk
+            if pattern.search(chunk):
+                for line in output.split('\n'):
+                    self.log(line)
+
+                return True
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    a = Node()
+    b = Node()
+    a.connect(b)
+
+    start_all()
+
+    a.execute("ubus wait_for -t 60 network.interface.wan")
+
+    addrs = a.succeed("ip addr")
+    a.log(addrs)
+
+    routes = a.succeed("ip route")
+    a.log(routes)
+
+    batctl_version = a.succeed("batctl -v")
+    a.log(batctl_version)
+
+    batctl_neighbours = a.succeed("batctl n")
+    a.log(batctl_neighbours)
+
+    links = b.succeed("ip link")
+    b.log(links)
+
+    a.wait_until_succeeds("gluon-wan wget -4 http://ifconfig.me")
+
diff --git a/tests/test_batctl_tpmeter.py b/tests/test_batctl_tpmeter.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 086626d5..00000000
--- a/tests/test_batctl_tpmeter.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python3
-import sys
-from pynet import *
-import asyncio
-import time
-
-a = Node()
-b = Node()
-
-connect(a, b)
-
-start()
-
-b.wait_until_succeeds("ping -c 5 node1")
-
-addr = a.succeed('cat /sys/class/net/primary0/address')
-result = b.succeed(f'batctl tp {addr}')
-
-print(result)
-
-finish()
-
diff --git a/tests/test_batman-adv.py b/tests/test_batman-adv.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f9df37a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_batman-adv.py
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+import sys
+from driver import Node, Network, start_all
+import asyncio
+import time
+
+
+def test_tpmeter():
+    a = Node()
+    b = Node()
+
+    a.connect(b)
+
+    start_all()
+
+    b.wait_until_succeeds("ping -c 5 node1")
+
+    addr = a.succeed('cat /sys/class/net/primary0/address')
+    result = b.succeed(f'batctl tp {addr}')
+
+    print(result)
+
diff --git a/tests/test_gluon-reconfigure.py b/tests/test_gluon-reconfigure.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 79ed45ef..00000000
--- a/tests/test_gluon-reconfigure.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python3
-import sys
-from pynet import *
-
-a = Node()
-
-start()
-
-a.dbg(a.succeed("gluon-reconfigure"))
-
-finish()
diff --git a/tests/test_gluon.py b/tests/test_gluon.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7caa06dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_gluon.py
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+import sys
+from driver import Node
+
+
+def test_reconfigure():
+    a = Node()
+
+    a.succeed("gluon-reconfigure")
+
diff --git a/tests/test_respondd.py b/tests/test_respondd.py
index c2e880fb..694fc44b 100644
--- a/tests/test_respondd.py
+++ b/tests/test_respondd.py
@@ -1,50 +1,51 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 import sys
-from pynet import *
-import asyncio
+from driver import Node, Network, start_all
 import time
 import json
 
-a = Node()
-b = Node()
 
-connect(a, b)
+def test_respondd_mesh_vxlan():
+    a = Node()
+    b = Node()
 
-start()
+    a.connect(b)
 
-b.wait_until_succeeds("ping -c 5 node1")
+    start_all()
+
+    b.wait_until_succeeds("ping -c 5 node1")
 
 
-def query_neighbor_info(request):
-    response = b.wait_until_succeeds(
-        f"gluon-neighbour-info -d ff02::2:1001 -p 1001 -r {request} -i vx_eth2_mesh -c 2"
-    )
+    def query_neighbor_info(request):
+        response = b.wait_until_succeeds(
+            f"gluon-neighbour-info -d ff02::2:1001 -p 1001 -r {request} -i vx_eth2_mesh -c 2"
+        )
 
-    # build json array line by line
-    ret = [json.loads(l) for l in response.split("\n")]
+        # build json array line by line
+        ret = [json.loads(l) for l in response.split("\n")]
 
-    b.dbg(f"{request.lower()}:\n{json.dumps(ret, indent=4)}")
-    return ret
+        b.dbg(f"{request.lower()}:\n{json.dumps(ret, indent=4)}")
+        return ret
 
 
-neighbours = query_neighbor_info("neighbours")
+    neighbours = query_neighbor_info("neighbours")
 
-vx_eth2_mesh_addr_a = a.succeed("cat /sys/class/net/vx_eth2_mesh/address")
-vx_eth2_mesh_addr_b = b.succeed("cat /sys/class/net/vx_eth2_mesh/address")
+    vx_eth2_mesh_addr_a = a.succeed("cat /sys/class/net/vx_eth2_mesh/address")
+    vx_eth2_mesh_addr_b = b.succeed("cat /sys/class/net/vx_eth2_mesh/address")
 
-res0 = neighbours[0]["batadv"]
-res1 = neighbours[1]["batadv"]
-if vx_eth2_mesh_addr_a in res0:
-    res = res0
-else:
-    res = res1
+    res0 = neighbours[0]["batadv"]
+    res1 = neighbours[1]["batadv"]
+    if vx_eth2_mesh_addr_a in res0:
+        res = res0
+    else:
+        res = res1
 
-batadv_neighbours = res[vx_eth2_mesh_addr_a]["neighbours"]
+    batadv_neighbours = res[vx_eth2_mesh_addr_a]["neighbours"]
 
-if vx_eth2_mesh_addr_b in batadv_neighbours:
-    print("Node 1 was successfully found in neighbours of node 2.")
-else:
-    print("ERROR: Node 1 was not found in neighbours of node 2.")
-    exit(1)
+    if vx_eth2_mesh_addr_b in batadv_neighbours:
+        print("Node 1 was successfully found in neighbours of node 2.")
+    else:
+        print("ERROR: Node 1 was not found in neighbours of node 2.")
+        exit(1)
 
-finish()
+    finish()