diff --git a/config/local.yaml b/config/local.yaml
index 9391a4a6..bde19105 100644
--- a/config/local.yaml
+++ b/config/local.yaml
@@ -301,6 +301,7 @@ checks:
       download-timeout: 1m
       iteration-wait: 5m
       duration: 10m
+      r-level: 2
     timeout: 11m
     type: smoke
   ci-load:
diff --git a/pkg/bee/api/api.go b/pkg/bee/api/api.go
index 60d864fa..b4e44474 100644
--- a/pkg/bee/api/api.go
+++ b/pkg/bee/api/api.go
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ import (
 	"net/url"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/ethersphere/bee/v2/pkg/file/redundancy"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -32,6 +34,7 @@ const (
 	swarmFeedIndexNextHeader    = "Swarm-Feed-Index-Next"
 	swarmIndexDocumentHeader    = "Swarm-Index-Document"
 	swarmErrorDocumentHeader    = "Swarm-Error-Document"
+	redundancyLevelHeader       = "Swarm-Redundancy-Level"
 )
 
 // Client manages communication with the Bee API.
@@ -223,6 +226,9 @@ func (c *Client) requestDataGetHeader(ctx context.Context, method, path string,
 	if opts != nil && opts.Cache != nil {
 		req.Header.Set(swarmCacheDownloadHeader, strconv.FormatBool(*opts.Cache))
 	}
+	if opts != nil && opts.RLevel != redundancy.NONE {
+		req.Header.Set(redundancyLevelHeader, strconv.Itoa(int(opts.RLevel)))
+	}
 	if opts != nil && opts.RedundancyFallbackMode != nil {
 		req.Header.Set(swarmRedundancyFallbackMode, strconv.FormatBool(*opts.RedundancyFallbackMode))
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/bee/api/bytes.go b/pkg/bee/api/bytes.go
index 2544a302..6c7ff868 100644
--- a/pkg/bee/api/bytes.go
+++ b/pkg/bee/api/bytes.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	"strconv"
 
+	"github.com/ethersphere/bee/v2/pkg/file/redundancy"
 	"github.com/ethersphere/bee/v2/pkg/swarm"
 )
 
@@ -34,6 +35,10 @@ func (b *BytesService) Upload(ctx context.Context, data io.Reader, o UploadOptio
 	}
 	h.Add(deferredUploadHeader, strconv.FormatBool(!o.Direct))
 	h.Add(postageStampBatchHeader, o.BatchID)
+	if o.RLevel != redundancy.NONE {
+		h.Add(redundancyLevelHeader, strconv.Itoa(int(o.RLevel)))
+	}
+
 	err := b.client.requestWithHeader(ctx, http.MethodPost, "/"+apiVersion+"/bytes", h, data, &resp)
 	return resp, err
 }
diff --git a/pkg/bee/api/options.go b/pkg/bee/api/options.go
index 17331ec4..cbf82e9b 100644
--- a/pkg/bee/api/options.go
+++ b/pkg/bee/api/options.go
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 package api
 
-import "github.com/ethersphere/bee/v2/pkg/swarm"
+import (
+	"github.com/ethersphere/bee/v2/pkg/file/redundancy"
+	"github.com/ethersphere/bee/v2/pkg/swarm"
+)
 
 type UploadOptions struct {
 	Act               bool
@@ -9,6 +12,7 @@ type UploadOptions struct {
 	BatchID           string
 	Direct            bool
 	ActHistoryAddress swarm.Address
+	RLevel            redundancy.Level
 
 	// Dirs
 	IndexDocument string
@@ -21,6 +25,7 @@ type DownloadOptions struct {
 	ActPublicKey           *swarm.Address
 	ActTimestamp           *uint64
 	Cache                  *bool
+	RLevel                 redundancy.Level
 	RedundancyFallbackMode *bool
 	OnlyRootChunk          *bool
 }
diff --git a/pkg/check/load/load.go b/pkg/check/load/load.go
index 059a3a48..7da43b60 100644
--- a/pkg/check/load/load.go
+++ b/pkg/check/load/load.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"sync"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/ethersphere/bee/v2/pkg/file/redundancy"
 	"github.com/ethersphere/bee/v2/pkg/swarm"
 	"github.com/ethersphere/beekeeper/pkg/bee"
 	"github.com/ethersphere/beekeeper/pkg/beekeeper"
@@ -203,7 +204,7 @@ func (c *Check) run(ctx context.Context, cluster orchestration.Cluster, o Option
 
 					c.logger.WithField("batch_id", batchID).Infof("node %s: using batch", uploader.Name())
 
-					address, duration, err = test.Upload(ctx, uploader, txData, batchID)
+					address, duration, err = test.Upload(ctx, uploader, txData, batchID, redundancy.NONE)
 					if err != nil {
 						c.metrics.UploadErrors.WithLabelValues(sizeLabel).Inc()
 						c.logger.Errorf("upload failed: %v", err)
@@ -246,7 +247,7 @@ func (c *Check) run(ctx context.Context, cluster orchestration.Cluster, o Option
 
 					c.metrics.DownloadAttempts.WithLabelValues(sizeLabel).Inc()
 
-					rxData, rxDuration, err = test.Download(ctx, downloader, address)
+					rxData, rxDuration, err = test.Download(ctx, downloader, address, redundancy.NONE)
 					if err != nil {
 						c.metrics.DownloadErrors.WithLabelValues(sizeLabel).Inc()
 						c.logger.Errorf("download failed for size %d: %v", contentSize, err)
diff --git a/pkg/check/smoke/smoke.go b/pkg/check/smoke/smoke.go
index a3809cfd..7362dbd4 100644
--- a/pkg/check/smoke/smoke.go
+++ b/pkg/check/smoke/smoke.go
@@ -8,7 +8,9 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/ethersphere/bee/v2/pkg/file/redundancy"
 	"github.com/ethersphere/bee/v2/pkg/swarm"
+
 	"github.com/ethersphere/beekeeper/pkg/beekeeper"
 	"github.com/ethersphere/beekeeper/pkg/logging"
 	"github.com/ethersphere/beekeeper/pkg/orchestration"
@@ -33,6 +35,7 @@ type Options struct {
 	UploadTimeout   time.Duration
 	DownloadTimeout time.Duration
 	IterationWait   time.Duration
+	RLevel          redundancy.Level
 }
 
 // NewDefaultOptions returns new default options
@@ -51,6 +54,7 @@ func NewDefaultOptions() Options {
 		UploadTimeout:   60 * time.Minute,
 		DownloadTimeout: 60 * time.Minute,
 		IterationWait:   5 * time.Minute,
+		RLevel:          redundancy.NONE,
 	}
 }
 
@@ -90,6 +94,7 @@ func (c *Check) run(ctx context.Context, cluster orchestration.Cluster, o Option
 	c.logger.Infof("upload timeout: %s", o.UploadTimeout.String())
 	c.logger.Infof("download timeout: %s", o.DownloadTimeout.String())
 	c.logger.Infof("total duration: %s", o.Duration.String())
+	c.logger.Infof("redundancy level: %d", o.RLevel)
 
 	rnd := random.PseudoGenerator(o.RndSeed)
 
@@ -177,7 +182,7 @@ func (c *Check) run(ctx context.Context, cluster orchestration.Cluster, o Option
 				txCtx, txCancel = context.WithTimeout(ctx, o.UploadTimeout)
 
 				c.metrics.UploadAttempts.WithLabelValues(sizeLabel, uploader.Name()).Inc()
-				address, txDuration, err = test.Upload(txCtx, uploader, txData, batchID)
+				address, txDuration, err = test.Upload(txCtx, uploader, txData, batchID, o.RLevel)
 				if err != nil {
 					c.metrics.UploadErrors.WithLabelValues(sizeLabel, uploader.Name()).Inc()
 					c.logger.Errorf("upload failed for size %d: %v", contentSize, err)
@@ -220,7 +225,7 @@ func (c *Check) run(ctx context.Context, cluster orchestration.Cluster, o Option
 				c.metrics.DownloadAttempts.WithLabelValues(sizeLabel, downloader.Name()).Inc()
 
 				rxCtx, rxCancel = context.WithTimeout(ctx, o.DownloadTimeout)
-				rxData, rxDuration, err = test.Download(rxCtx, downloader, address)
+				rxData, rxDuration, err = test.Download(rxCtx, downloader, address, o.RLevel)
 				if err != nil {
 					c.metrics.DownloadErrors.WithLabelValues(sizeLabel, downloader.Name()).Inc()
 					c.logger.Errorf("download failed for size %d: %v", contentSize, err)
diff --git a/pkg/config/check.go b/pkg/config/check.go
index b130c6e4..fe8e9e95 100644
--- a/pkg/config/check.go
+++ b/pkg/config/check.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"reflect"
 	"time"
 
+	beeRedundancy "github.com/ethersphere/bee/v2/pkg/file/redundancy"
 	"github.com/ethersphere/beekeeper/pkg/beekeeper"
 	"github.com/ethersphere/beekeeper/pkg/check/act"
 	"github.com/ethersphere/beekeeper/pkg/check/balances"
@@ -418,6 +419,7 @@ var Checks = map[string]CheckType{
 				RxOnErrWait   *time.Duration `yaml:"rx-on-err-wait"`
 				NodesSyncWait *time.Duration `yaml:"nodes-sync-wait"`
 				Duration      *time.Duration `yaml:"duration"`
+				RLevel        *uint8         `yaml:"r-level"`
 			})
 
 			if err := check.Options.Decode(checkOpts); err != nil {
@@ -745,6 +747,19 @@ func applyCheckConfig(global CheckGlobalConfig, local, opts any) (err error) {
 					ov.FieldByName(fieldName).Set(fieldValue)
 				}
 			}
+		case "RLevel":
+			if !lv.Field(i).IsNil() { // set locally
+				fieldValue := lv.FieldByName(fieldName).Elem()
+				level := uint8(fieldValue.Uint())
+				rLevel := beeRedundancy.Level(level)
+				ft, ok := ot.FieldByName(fieldName)
+				if ok {
+					v := reflect.ValueOf(rLevel)
+					if v.Type().AssignableTo(ft.Type) {
+						ov.FieldByName(fieldName).Set(v)
+					}
+				}
+			}
 		default:
 			if lv.Field(i).IsNil() {
 				fmt.Printf("field %s not set, using default value\n", fieldName)
diff --git a/pkg/test/test.go b/pkg/test/test.go
index 5d603ae1..7d3c132c 100644
--- a/pkg/test/test.go
+++ b/pkg/test/test.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/ethersphere/bee/v2/pkg/file/redundancy"
 	"github.com/ethersphere/bee/v2/pkg/swarm"
 	"github.com/ethersphere/beekeeper/pkg/bee"
 	"github.com/ethersphere/beekeeper/pkg/bee/api"
@@ -21,10 +22,10 @@ type test struct {
 	logger logging.Logger
 }
 
-func (t *test) Upload(ctx context.Context, bee *bee.Client, data []byte, batchID string) (swarm.Address, time.Duration, error) {
+func (t *test) Upload(ctx context.Context, bee *bee.Client, data []byte, batchID string, rLevel redundancy.Level) (swarm.Address, time.Duration, error) {
 	t.logger.Infof("node %s: uploading %d bytes, batch id %s", bee.Name(), len(data), batchID)
 	start := time.Now()
-	addr, err := bee.UploadBytes(ctx, data, api.UploadOptions{Pin: false, BatchID: batchID, Direct: true})
+	addr, err := bee.UploadBytes(ctx, data, api.UploadOptions{Pin: false, BatchID: batchID, Direct: true, RLevel: rLevel})
 	if err != nil {
 		return swarm.ZeroAddress, 0, fmt.Errorf("upload to node %s: %w", bee.Name(), err)
 	}
@@ -35,11 +36,21 @@ func (t *test) Upload(ctx context.Context, bee *bee.Client, data []byte, batchID
 	return addr, txDuration, nil
 }
 
-func (t *test) Download(ctx context.Context, bee *bee.Client, addr swarm.Address) ([]byte, time.Duration, error) {
+func (t *test) Download(ctx context.Context, bee *bee.Client, addr swarm.Address, rLevel redundancy.Level) ([]byte, time.Duration, error) {
 	t.logger.Infof("node %s: downloading address %s", bee.Name(), addr)
 
 	start := time.Now()
-	data, err := bee.DownloadBytes(ctx, addr, nil)
+
+	var downloadOpts *api.DownloadOptions
+	if rLevel != redundancy.NONE {
+		fallbackMode := true
+		downloadOpts = &api.DownloadOptions{
+			RLevel:                 rLevel,
+			RedundancyFallbackMode: &fallbackMode,
+		}
+	}
+
+	data, err := bee.DownloadBytes(ctx, addr, downloadOpts)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("download from node %s: %w", bee.Name(), err)
 	}