diff --git a/pot/address_test.go b/pot/address_test.go
index f7146a68db..3c914fe84c 100644
--- a/pot/address_test.go
+++ b/pot/address_test.go
@@ -2,65 +2,79 @@ package pot
 
 import (
 	"testing"
-)
 
-type testAddress []byte
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common/hexutil"
+	"github.com/ethersphere/swarm/log"
+)
 
-func newTestAddress(a []byte) testAddress {
-	if a != nil {
-		return testAddress(a)
-	}
-	return testAddress(make([]byte, 32))
+type distanceTest struct {
+	x      []byte
+	y      []byte
+	result string
 }
 
-func (a testAddress) Address() []byte {
-	return []byte(a)
+type distanceCmpTest struct {
+	x      []byte
+	y      []byte
+	z      []byte
+	result int
 }
 
-// TestDistance tests the correctness of the distance calculation
-// as well as the comparison method
-func TestDistance(t *testing.T) {
-	a := [32]byte{}
-	b := [32]byte{}
-	a[0] = 0x91
-	b[0] = 0x82
-	aa := newTestAddress(a[:]) //NewAddressFromBytes(a[:])
-	ab := newTestAddress(b[:]) //NewAddressFromBytes(b[:])
-	distance, err := Distance(aa, ab)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	correctDistance := "8593944123082061379093159043613555660984881674403010612303492563087302590464"
-	if distance.String() != correctDistance {
-		t.Fatalf("Distance calculation mismatch, got %s, expected %s", distance.String(), correctDistance)
-	}
-
-	c := [32]byte{}
-	c[0] = 0x12
-	ac := newTestAddress(c[:])
-	_, err = DistanceCmp(aa, ab, ac[:31])
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("Expected length mismatch on address to fail")
+var (
+	distanceTests = []distanceTest{
+		{
+			x:      hexutil.MustDecode("0x9100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000"),
+			y:      hexutil.MustDecode("0x8200000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000"),
+			result: "8593944123082061379093159043613555660984881674403010612303492563087302590464",
+		},
 	}
 
-	cmp, err := DistanceCmp(aa, ab, ac)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	} else if cmp != -1 {
-		t.Fatalf("aaab < aaac, expected -1, got %d", cmp)
+	distanceCmpTests = []distanceCmpTest{
+		{
+			x:      hexutil.MustDecode("0x9100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000"),
+			y:      hexutil.MustDecode("0x8200000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000"),
+			z:      hexutil.MustDecode("0x1200000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000"),
+			result: -1,
+		},
+		{
+			x:      hexutil.MustDecode("0x9100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000"),
+			y:      hexutil.MustDecode("0x1200000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000"),
+			z:      hexutil.MustDecode("0x8200000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000"),
+			result: 1,
+		},
+		{
+			x:      hexutil.MustDecode("0x9100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000"),
+			y:      hexutil.MustDecode("0x1200000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000"),
+			z:      hexutil.MustDecode("0x1200000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000"),
+			result: 0,
+		},
 	}
+)
 
-	cmp, err = DistanceCmp(aa, ac, ab)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	} else if cmp != 1 {
-		t.Fatalf("aaab > aaac, expected 1, got %d", cmp)
+// TestDistance tests the correctness of the distance calculation
+func TestDistance(t *testing.T) {
+	for i, dt := range distanceTests {
+		log.Debug("Distance test", "i", i, "dt", dt)
+		distance, err := Distance(dt.x, dt.y)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		if distance.String() != dt.result {
+			t.Fatalf("incorrect distance, expected %s, got %s (x: %x, y: %x)", dt.result, distance.String(), dt.x, dt.y)
+		}
 	}
+}
 
-	cmp, err = DistanceCmp(aa, ab, ab)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	} else if cmp != 0 {
-		t.Fatalf("aaab == aaab, expected 0, got %d", cmp)
+// TestDistanceCmp tests the distance comparison method
+func TestDistanceCmp(t *testing.T) {
+	for i, dt := range distanceCmpTests {
+		log.Debug("DistanceCmp test", "i", i, "dt", dt)
+		direction, err := DistanceCmp(dt.x, dt.y, dt.z)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		if direction != dt.result {
+			t.Fatalf("incorrect distance compare, expected %d, got %d (x: %x, y: %x, z: %x)", dt.result, direction, dt.x, dt.y, dt.z)
+		}
 	}
 }