diff -r 89144bf66a0e src/devices/emu/emu-net-device.cc
--- a/src/devices/emu/emu-net-device.cc	Wed Jun 16 13:45:49 2010 +0100
+++ b/src/devices/emu/emu-net-device.cc	Thu Jun 24 18:47:05 2010 +0100
@@ -57,7 +57,6 @@
 NS_OBJECT_ENSURE_REGISTERED (EmuNetDevice);
 
 #define EMU_MAGIC 65867
-#define MAX_PENDING_READS 8
 
 
 TypeId 
@@ -109,6 +108,14 @@
                    MakePointerAccessor (&EmuNetDevice::m_queue),
                    MakePointerChecker<Queue> ())
 
+    .AddAttribute ("RxQueueSize", "Maximum size of the read queue.  "
+                   "This value limits number of packets that have been read "
+                   "from the network into a memory buffer but have not yet "
+                   "been processed by the simulator.",
+                   UintegerValue (1000),
+                   MakeUintegerAccessor (&EmuNetDevice::m_maxPendingReads),
+                   MakeUintegerChecker<uint32_t> ())
+
     //
     // Trace sources at the "top" of the net device, where packets transition
     // to/from higher layers.  These points do not really correspond to the 
@@ -772,7 +779,7 @@
       {
         CriticalSection cs (m_pendingReadMutex);            
         //std::cerr << std::endl << "EmuNetDevice read thread: m_pendingReadCount is " << m_pendingReadCount << std::endl;
-        if (m_pendingReadCount >= MAX_PENDING_READS)
+        if (m_pendingReadCount >= m_maxPendingReads)
           {
             skip = true;
           }
diff -r 89144bf66a0e src/devices/emu/emu-net-device.h
--- a/src/devices/emu/emu-net-device.h	Wed Jun 16 13:45:49 2010 +0100
+++ b/src/devices/emu/emu-net-device.h	Thu Jun 24 18:47:05 2010 +0100
@@ -522,6 +522,7 @@
    */
   uint32_t m_nodeId;
 
+  uint32_t m_maxPendingReads;
   uint32_t m_pendingReadCount;
   SystemMutex m_pendingReadMutex;
 };