diff --git a/arbnode/batch_poster.go b/arbnode/batch_poster.go
index ea1352d8b..5a2ab45c6 100644
--- a/arbnode/batch_poster.go
+++ b/arbnode/batch_poster.go
@@ -1476,13 +1476,13 @@ func (b *BatchPoster) maybePostSequencerBatch(ctx context.Context) (bool, error)
 		}
 		eigenDaBlobInfo, err = b.eigenDAWriter.Store(ctx, sequencerMsg)
 
-		if err != nil && errors.Is(err, eigenda.SvcUnavailableErr) && b.config().EnableEigenDAFailover && b.dapWriter != nil { // Failover to anytrust commitee if enabled
+		if err != nil && errors.Is(err, eigenda.ErrServiceUnavailable) && b.config().EnableEigenDAFailover && b.dapWriter != nil { // Failover to anytrust commitee if enabled
 			log.Error("EigenDA service is unavailable, failing over to any trust mode")
 			b.building.useEigenDA = false
 			failOver = true
 		}
 
-		if err != nil && errors.Is(err, eigenda.SvcUnavailableErr) && b.config().EnableEigenDAFailover && b.dapWriter == nil { // Failover to ETH DA if enabled
+		if err != nil && errors.Is(err, eigenda.ErrServiceUnavailable) && b.config().EnableEigenDAFailover && b.dapWriter == nil { // Failover to ETH DA if enabled
 			// when failing over to ETHDA (i.e 4844, calldata), we may need to re-encode the batch. To do this in compliance with the existing code, it's easiest
 			// to update an internal field and retrigger the poster's event loop. Since the batch poster can be distributed across mulitple nodes, there could be
 			// degraded temporary performance as each batch poster will re-encode the batch on another event loop tick using the coordination lock which could worst case
diff --git a/eigenda/proxy.go b/eigenda/proxy.go
index d7dc52464..9c49edfd0 100644
--- a/eigenda/proxy.go
+++ b/eigenda/proxy.go
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 var (
-	SvcUnavailableErr = fmt.Errorf("eigenda service is unavailable")
+	ErrServiceUnavailable = fmt.Errorf("eigenda service is unavailable")
 )
 
 type EigenDAProxyClient struct {
@@ -123,21 +123,22 @@ func (c *client) GetData(ctx context.Context, comm []byte) ([]byte, error) {
 
 	defer resp.Body.Close()
 
-	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("received unexpected response code: %d", resp.StatusCode)
+	b, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	if resp.StatusCode == http.StatusServiceUnavailable {
-		return nil, SvcUnavailableErr
+	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("received error response, code=%d, msg = %s", resp.StatusCode, string(b))
 	}
 
-	return io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+	return b, nil
 }
 
 // SetData writes raw byte data to DA and returns the associated certificate
 // which should be verified within the proxy
 func (c *client) SetData(ctx context.Context, b []byte) ([]byte, error) {
-	url := fmt.Sprintf("%s/put/?commitment_mode=simple", c.cfg.URL)
+	url := fmt.Sprintf("%s/put?commitment_mode=simple", c.cfg.URL)
 	req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodPost, url, bytes.NewReader(b))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create HTTP request: %w", err)
@@ -148,15 +149,20 @@ func (c *client) SetData(ctx context.Context, b []byte) ([]byte, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	defer resp.Body.Close()
-	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to store data: %v", resp.StatusCode)
-	}
 
 	b, err = io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	if resp.StatusCode == http.StatusServiceUnavailable {
+		return nil, ErrServiceUnavailable
+	}
+
+	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to store data: %v, err = %s", resp.StatusCode, string(b))
+	}
+
 	if len(b) == 0 {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("read certificate is empty")
 	}
diff --git a/eigenda/proxy_mock.go b/eigenda/proxy_mock.go
index eb2532b66..544c219e8 100644
--- a/eigenda/proxy_mock.go
+++ b/eigenda/proxy_mock.go
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ func NewMockEigenDAProxyClient(shouldFail bool) *MockEigenDAProxyClient {
 
 func (c *MockEigenDAProxyClient) Put(ctx context.Context, data []byte) (*disperser.BlobInfo, error) {
 	if c.client.(*MockProxyClient).ShouldFail {
-		return nil, SvcUnavailableErr
+		return nil, ErrServiceUnavailable
 	}
 	return &mockBlobInfo, nil
 }
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ func (c *MockEigenDAProxyClient) Get(ctx context.Context, blobInfo *disperser.Bl
 	}
 
 	if c.client.(*MockProxyClient).ShouldReturn503 {
-		return nil, SvcUnavailableErr
+		return nil, ErrServiceUnavailable
 	}
 
 	return mockBlobData, nil
diff --git a/scripts/start-eigenda-proxy.sh b/scripts/start-eigenda-proxy.sh
index de349980e..4fbf99f6d 100755
--- a/scripts/start-eigenda-proxy.sh
+++ b/scripts/start-eigenda-proxy.sh
@@ -1,21 +1,31 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
-echo "Pull eigenda-proxy container"
-docker pull  ghcr.io/layr-labs/eigenda-proxy@sha256:10a4762f5c43e9037835617e6ec0b03da34012df87048a363f43b969ab93679b
+echo "==== Pull eigenda-proxy container ===="
+docker pull  ghcr.io/layr-labs/eigenda-proxy:v1.6.0
 
-echo "Tagging image"
-docker tag  ghcr.io/layr-labs/eigenda-proxy@sha256:10a4762f5c43e9037835617e6ec0b03da34012df87048a363f43b969ab93679b eigenda-proxy-nitro-test
+echo "==== Starting eigenda-proxy container ===="
 
-echo "Start eigenda-proxy container"
+# proxy has a bug currently which forces the use of the service manager address 
+# & eth rpc despite cert verification being disabled.
 
-docker run -d --name eigenda-proxy-nitro-test \
+docker run -d --name eigenda-proxy-nitro-test-instance \
   -p 4242:6666 \
   -e EIGENDA_PROXY_ADDR=0.0.0.0 \
   -e EIGENDA_PROXY_PORT=6666 \
-  -e MEMSTORE_ENABLED=true \
-  -e MEMSTORE_EXPIRATION=1m \
-  -e EIGENDA_PROXY_TARGET_URL=http://localhost:3000 \
-  eigenda-proxy-nitro-test
+  -e EIGENDA_PROXY_MEMSTORE_ENABLED=true \
+  -e EIGENDA_PROXY_MEMSTORE_EXPIRATION=1m \
+  -e EIGENDA_PROXY_EIGENDA_ETH_RPC=http://localhost:6969 \
+  -e EIGENDA_PROXY_EIGENDA_SERVICE_MANAGER_ADDR="0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000" \
+  -e EIGENDA_PROXY_EIGENDA_CERT_VERIFICATION_DISABLED=true \
+  ghcr.io/layr-labs/eigenda-proxy:v1.6.0
+
+# shellcheck disable=SC2181
+if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+  echo "==== Failed to start eigenda-proxy container ===="
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "==== eigenda-proxy container started ===="
 
 ## TODO - support teardown or embed a docker client wrapper that spins up and tears down resource 
 # within system tests. Since this is only used by one system test, it's not a large priority atm.
\ No newline at end of file