diff --git a/msgq/msgq.go b/msgq/msgq.go
index e4c4f6d4b..a80ad1cf7 100644
--- a/msgq/msgq.go
+++ b/msgq/msgq.go
@@ -12,6 +12,12 @@ type message struct {
 	sender  peer.ID
 }
 
+// MessageAdder enqueues a received message for processing.  It returns without
+// blocking, and may return a queue overrun error.
+type MessageAdder interface {
+	AddMessage(content []byte, sender peer.ID) error
+}
+
 // MessageHandler is a message handler.
 type MessageHandler interface {
 	HandleMessage(content []byte, sender peer.ID)
diff --git a/node/node.go b/node/node.go
index 3ed3bbaa1..d36170d61 100644
--- a/node/node.go
+++ b/node/node.go
@@ -55,10 +55,18 @@ const (
 	TxPoolLimit = 20000
 	// NumTryBroadCast is the number of times trying to broadcast
 	NumTryBroadCast = 3
-	// RxQueueSize is the number of messages to queue before tail-dropping.
-	RxQueueSize = 16384
-	// RxWorkers is the number of concurrent message handlers.
-	RxWorkers = 32
+	// ClientRxQueueSize is the number of client messages to queue before tail-dropping.
+	ClientRxQueueSize = 16384
+	// ShardRxQueueSize is the number of shard messages to queue before tail-dropping.
+	ShardRxQueueSize = 16384
+	// GlobalRxQueueSize is the number of global messages to queue before tail-dropping.
+	GlobalRxQueueSize = 16384
+	// ClientRxWorkers is the number of concurrent client message handlers.
+	ClientRxWorkers = 8
+	// ShardRxWorkers is the number of concurrent shard message handlers.
+	ShardRxWorkers = 32
+	// GlobalRxWorkers is the number of concurrent global message handlers.
+	GlobalRxWorkers = 32
 )
 
 func (state State) String() string {
@@ -152,7 +160,9 @@ type Node struct {
 	host p2p.Host
 
 	// Incoming messages to process.
-	rxQueue *msgq.Queue
+	clientRxQueue *msgq.Queue
+	shardRxQueue  *msgq.Queue
+	globalRxQueue *msgq.Queue
 
 	// Service manager.
 	serviceManager *service.Manager
@@ -407,22 +417,29 @@ func (node *Node) getTransactionsForNewBlock(
 	return selected, selectedStaking
 }
 
-// StartServer starts a server and process the requests by a handler.
-func (node *Node) StartServer() {
-	for i := 0; i < RxWorkers; i++ {
-		go node.rxQueue.HandleMessages(node)
+func (node *Node) startRxPipeline(
+	receiver p2p.GroupReceiver, queue *msgq.Queue, numWorkers int,
+) {
+	// consumers
+	for i := 0; i < numWorkers; i++ {
+		go queue.HandleMessages(node)
 	}
+	// provider
+	go node.receiveGroupMessage(receiver, queue)
+}
 
+// StartServer starts a server and process the requests by a handler.
+func (node *Node) StartServer() {
 	// start the goroutine to receive client message
 	// client messages are sent by clients, like txgen, wallet
-	go node.receiveGroupMessage(node.clientReceiver)
+	node.startRxPipeline(node.clientReceiver, node.clientRxQueue, ClientRxWorkers)
 
 	// start the goroutine to receive group message
-	go node.receiveGroupMessage(node.shardGroupReceiver)
+	node.startRxPipeline(node.shardGroupReceiver, node.shardRxQueue, ShardRxWorkers)
 
 	// start the goroutine to receive global message, used for cross-shard TX
 	// FIXME (leo): we use beacon client topic as the global topic for now
-	go node.receiveGroupMessage(node.globalGroupReceiver)
+	node.startRxPipeline(node.globalGroupReceiver, node.globalRxQueue, GlobalRxWorkers)
 
 	select {}
 }
@@ -525,7 +542,9 @@ func New(host p2p.Host, consensusObj *consensus.Consensus, chainDBFactory shardc
 		Interface("genesis block header", node.Blockchain().GetHeaderByNumber(0)).
 		Msg("Genesis block hash")
 
-	node.rxQueue = msgq.New(RxQueueSize)
+	node.clientRxQueue = msgq.New(ClientRxQueueSize)
+	node.shardRxQueue = msgq.New(ShardRxQueueSize)
+	node.globalRxQueue = msgq.New(GlobalRxQueueSize)
 
 	// Setup initial state of syncing.
 	node.peerRegistrationRecord = make(map[string]*syncConfig)
diff --git a/node/node_handler.go b/node/node_handler.go
index 447d3e631..b7663a2ea 100644
--- a/node/node_handler.go
+++ b/node/node_handler.go
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import (
 	nodeconfig "github.com/harmony-one/harmony/internal/configs/node"
 	"github.com/harmony-one/harmony/internal/ctxerror"
 	"github.com/harmony-one/harmony/internal/utils"
+	"github.com/harmony-one/harmony/msgq"
 	"github.com/harmony-one/harmony/p2p"
 	"github.com/harmony-one/harmony/p2p/host"
 	"github.com/harmony-one/harmony/shard"
@@ -38,7 +39,9 @@ const (
 )
 
 // receiveGroupMessage use libp2p pubsub mechanism to receive broadcast messages
-func (node *Node) receiveGroupMessage(receiver p2p.GroupReceiver) {
+func (node *Node) receiveGroupMessage(
+	receiver p2p.GroupReceiver, rxQueue msgq.MessageAdder,
+) {
 	ctx := context.Background()
 	// TODO ek – infinite loop; add shutdown/cleanup logic
 	for {
@@ -53,7 +56,7 @@ func (node *Node) receiveGroupMessage(receiver p2p.GroupReceiver) {
 		}
 		//utils.Logger().Info("[PUBSUB]", "received group msg", len(msg), "sender", sender)
 		// skip the first 5 bytes, 1 byte is p2p type, 4 bytes are message size
-		if err := node.rxQueue.AddMessage(msg[5:], sender); err != nil {
+		if err := rxQueue.AddMessage(msg[5:], sender); err != nil {
 			utils.Logger().Warn().Err(err).
 				Str("sender", sender.Pretty()).
 				Msg("cannot enqueue incoming message for processing")