This read-write INTEGER specifies the maximum interval, in milliseconds, the network handler waits for a letter (message) from the processes running on its own node before checking the received cells. An administrator uses this as a local scheduling timeout rather than an internode signaling retry, governing how promptly the network handler polls for incoming cells when no local message has arrived. For example, reducing this wait interval makes the network handler check received cells more promptly when local processes are quiet, at the cost of more frequent polling overhead.