diff --git a/example-projects/demo3-microservice-in-aws.py b/example-projects/demo3-microservice-in-aws.py
index 90541b0..be550b8 100644
--- a/example-projects/demo3-microservice-in-aws.py
+++ b/example-projects/demo3-microservice-in-aws.py
@@ -18,14 +18,24 @@ ubuntu_image_name = 'ubuntu/images/hvm-ssd/ubuntu-bionic-18.04-amd64-server-2021
 # TODO: 18.04, currently still needed for faafo, need to port faafo demo app to 20.04 or higher and python3...
 
 # The public key to be used for SSH connection, please make sure, that you have the corresponding private key
+
+# use existing vockey in AWS Lab env from vocareum, enables login directly
+# from the lab's terminal:
 #
+# ssh -i ~/.ssh/labuser.pem ubuntu@<public-ip>
+
+keypair_name = "vockey"
+
+# keypair_name = 'srieger-pub'
+# pub_key_file = home + '/.ssh/id_rsa.pub'
+
 # id_rsa.pub should look like this (standard sshd pubkey format):
 # ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAABIwAAAQEAw+J...F3w2mleybgT1w== user@HOSTNAME
 
-keypair_name = 'srieger-pub'
-pub_key_file = home + '/.ssh/id_rsa.pub'
-
-flavor_name = 't2.nano'
+# flavor_name = 't2.nano'
+# t2.nano only has 512 MB RAM, pip install will cause out of memory (OOM), install-aws.sh cloud-init script uses swap
+# to circumvent this issue, but t2.micro is also cheap and has 1 GB RAM which is sufficient for faafo example
+flavor_name = 't2.micro'
 
 # default region
 # region_name = 'eu-central-1'
diff --git a/example-projects/demo4-scale-out-lb-in-aws.py b/example-projects/demo4-scale-out-lb-in-aws.py
index 5fc3801..f587f05 100644
--- a/example-projects/demo4-scale-out-lb-in-aws.py
+++ b/example-projects/demo4-scale-out-lb-in-aws.py
@@ -26,14 +26,23 @@ ubuntu_image_name = 'ubuntu/images/hvm-ssd/ubuntu-bionic-18.04-amd64-server-2021
 # TODO: 18.04, currently still needed for faafo, need to port faafo demo app to 20.04 or higher and python3...
 
 # The public key to be used for SSH connection, please make sure, that you have the corresponding private key
+
+# use existing vockey in AWS Lab env from vocareum, enables login directly
+# from the lab's terminal:
 #
+# ssh -i ~/.ssh/labuser.pem ubuntu@<public-ip>
+
+keypair_name = "vockey"
+
+# keypair_name = 'srieger-pub'
+# pub_key_file = home + '/.ssh/id_rsa.pub'
+
 # id_rsa.pub should look like this (standard sshd pubkey format):
 # ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAABIwAAAQEAw+J...F3w2mleybgT1w== user@HOSTNAME
 
-keypair_name = 'srieger-pub'
-pub_key_file = home + '/.ssh/id_rsa.pub'
-
 # flavor_name = 't2.nano'
+# t2.nano only has 512 MB RAM, pip install will cause out of memory (OOM), install-aws.sh cloud-init script uses swap
+# to circumvent this issue, but t2.micro is also cheap and has 1 GB RAM which is sufficient for faafo example
 flavor_name = 't2.micro'
 
 # default region
@@ -297,8 +306,9 @@ def main():
                                          ex_keyname=keypair_name,
                                          ex_userdata=userdata_service,
                                          ex_security_groups=["services"])
-    instance_services = conn.wait_until_running(nodes=[instance_services], timeout=120, ssh_interface='public_ips')
+    instance_services = conn.wait_until_running(nodes=[instance_services], timeout=timeout, ssh_interface='public_ips')
     services_ip = instance_services[0][0].private_ips[0]
+    print(instance_services)
 
     ###########################################################################
     #
@@ -330,10 +340,10 @@ def main():
                                       ex_userdata=userdata_api,
                                       ex_security_groups=["api"])
 
-    instance_api_1 = conn.wait_until_running(nodes=[instance_api_1], timeout=120, ssh_interface='public_ips')
+    instance_api_1 = conn.wait_until_running(nodes=[instance_api_1], timeout=timeout, ssh_interface='public_ips')
     api_1_ip = instance_api_1[0][0].private_ips[0]
     print("app-api-1 public ip: " + instance_api_1[0][1][0])
-    instance_api_2 = conn.wait_until_running(nodes=[instance_api_2], timeout=120, ssh_interface='public_ips')
+    instance_api_2 = conn.wait_until_running(nodes=[instance_api_2], timeout=timeout, ssh_interface='public_ips')
     # currently only api_1_ip is used
     api_2_ip = instance_api_2[0][0].private_ips[0]
     print("app-api-2 public ip: " + instance_api_2[0][1][0])