diff --git a/src/drivers/e1000.cpp b/src/drivers/e1000.cpp
index 61b6aa18f9..2f2a8a7fdc 100644
--- a/src/drivers/e1000.cpp
+++ b/src/drivers/e1000.cpp
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@
 #include <malloc.h>
 // loosely based on OSdev article http://wiki.osdev.org/Intel_Ethernet_i217
 
+static int deferred_event = 0;
+static std::vector<e1000*> deferred_devices;
+
 e1000::e1000(hw::PCI_Device& d) :
     Link(Link_protocol{{this, &e1000::transmit}, mac()}, bufstore_),
     m_pcidev(d), bufstore_{1024, 2048}
@@ -40,6 +43,11 @@ e1000::e1000(hw::PCI_Device& d) :
   __arch_enable_legacy_irq(this->m_irq);
   INFO2("Subscribed on IRQ %u", this->m_irq);
 
+  if (deferred_event == 0)
+  {
+    deferred_event = Events::get().subscribe(&e1000::do_deferred_xmit);
+  }
+
   // shared-memory & I/O address
   this->shm_base = d.get_bar(0);
   this->io_base = d.iobase();
@@ -208,6 +216,8 @@ void e1000::event_handler()
 
 void e1000::recv_handler()
 {
+  uint16_t old_idx = 0xffff;
+
   while (rx.desc[rx.current].status & 1)
   {
     auto& tk = rx.desc[rx.current];
@@ -221,11 +231,11 @@ void e1000::recv_handler()
     tk.addr = (uint64_t) this->new_rx_packet();
     tk.status = 0;
     // go to next index
-    uint16_t old_idx = rx.current;
+    old_idx = rx.current;
     rx.current = (rx.current + 1) % NUM_RX_DESC;
-    write_cmd(REG_RXDESCTAIL, old_idx);
   }
-
+  if (old_idx != 0xffff)
+    write_cmd(REG_RXDESCTAIL, old_idx);
 }
 
 void e1000::transmit(net::Packet_ptr pckt)
@@ -265,12 +275,28 @@ void e1000::transmit_data(uint8_t* data, uint16_t length)
   tk.status = 0;
 
   tx.current = (tx.current + 1) % NUM_TX_DESC;
+  if (tx.deferred == false)
+  {
+    tx.deferred = true;
+    deferred_devices.push_back(this);
+    Events::get().trigger_event(deferred_event);
+  }
+}
+void e1000::xmit_kick()
+{
   write_cmd(REG_TXDESCTAIL, tx.current);
+  tx.deferred = false;
+}
+void e1000::do_deferred_xmit()
+{
+  for (auto& dev : deferred_devices)
+      dev->xmit_kick();
+  deferred_devices.clear();
 }
 
 void e1000::flush()
 {
-
+  this->transmit(std::move(sendq));
 }
 void e1000::poll()
 {
@@ -283,7 +309,7 @@ void e1000::deactivate()
 }
 void e1000::move_to_this_cpu()
 {
-
+  // TODO: implement me
 }
 
 #include <kernel/pci_manager.hpp>
@@ -294,5 +320,6 @@ static void register_func()
   PCI_manager::register_nic(PCI::VENDOR_INTEL, 0x100E, &e1000::new_instance);
   PCI_manager::register_nic(PCI::VENDOR_INTEL, 0x100F, &e1000::new_instance);
   PCI_manager::register_nic(PCI::VENDOR_INTEL, 0x153A, &e1000::new_instance);
+  PCI_manager::register_nic(PCI::VENDOR_INTEL, 0x1539, &e1000::new_instance);
   PCI_manager::register_nic(PCI::VENDOR_INTEL, 0x10EA, &e1000::new_instance);
 }
diff --git a/src/drivers/e1000.hpp b/src/drivers/e1000.hpp
index ef58cb9e6a..ecf1443d5e 100644
--- a/src/drivers/e1000.hpp
+++ b/src/drivers/e1000.hpp
@@ -90,6 +90,8 @@ class e1000 : public net::Link_layer<net::Ethernet>
   void recv_handler();
   bool can_transmit();
   void transmit_data(uint8_t*, uint16_t);
+  void xmit_kick();
+  static void do_deferred_xmit();
 
   hw::PCI_Device& m_pcidev;
   std::vector<uint8_t> irqs;
@@ -127,6 +129,7 @@ class e1000 : public net::Link_layer<net::Ethernet>
   struct tx_t {
     tx_desc desc[NUM_TX_DESC];
     uint16_t current = 0;
+    bool deferred = false;
   } tx;
 
   // sendq as packet chain
diff --git a/vmrunner/vm.schema.json b/vmrunner/vm.schema.json
index c2dff759ed..705317567d 100644
--- a/vmrunner/vm.schema.json
+++ b/vmrunner/vm.schema.json
@@ -99,6 +99,11 @@
     "vga" : {
       "description" : "Enable VGA screen",
       "enum" : ["std", "cirrus", "vmware", "qxl", "xenfb", "tcx", "cg3", "virtio", "none"]
+    },
+
+    "vfio" : {
+      "description" : "VFIO PCI-passthrough on device",
+      "type" : "string"
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/vmrunner/vmrunner.py b/vmrunner/vmrunner.py
index 987004fad4..6f4bcd9066 100644
--- a/vmrunner/vmrunner.py
+++ b/vmrunner/vmrunner.py
@@ -379,13 +379,17 @@ def boot(self, multiboot, kernel_args = "", image_name = None):
         if "vga" in self._config:
             vga_arg = ["-vga", str(self._config["vga"])]
 
+        pci_arg = []
+        if "vfio" in self._config:
+            pci_arg = ["-device", "vfio-pci,host=" + self._config["vfio"]]
+
         # TODO: sudo is only required for tap networking and kvm. Check for those.
         command = ["sudo", "--preserve-env", "qemu-system-x86_64"]
         if self._kvm_present: command.extend(["--enable-kvm"])
 
         command += kernel_args
 
-        command += disk_args + net_args + mem_arg + vga_arg + mod_args
+        command += disk_args + net_args + mem_arg + vga_arg + pci_arg + mod_args
 
         #command_str = " ".join(command)
         #command_str.encode('ascii','ignore')