diff --git a/inside.go b/inside.go
index 0d53f952..69503abf 100644
--- a/inside.go
+++ b/inside.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/slackhq/nebula/routing"
 )
 
-func (f *Interface) consumeInsidePacket(packet []byte, fwPacket *firewall.Packet, nb, out []byte, q int, localCache firewall.ConntrackCache) {
+func (f *Interface) consumeInsidePacket(packet []byte, fwPacket *firewall.Packet, nb []byte, batch *sendBatch, rejectBuf []byte, q int, localCache firewall.ConntrackCache) {
 	err := newPacket(packet, false, fwPacket)
 	if err != nil {
 		if f.l.Level >= logrus.DebugLevel {
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ func (f *Interface) consumeInsidePacket(packet []byte, fwPacket *firewall.Packet
 	})
 
 	if hostinfo == nil {
-		f.rejectInside(packet, out, q)
+		f.rejectInside(packet, rejectBuf, q)
 		if f.l.Level >= logrus.DebugLevel {
 			f.l.WithField("vpnAddr", fwPacket.RemoteAddr).
 				WithField("fwPacket", fwPacket).
@@ -68,10 +68,10 @@ func (f *Interface) consumeInsidePacket(packet []byte, fwPacket *firewall.Packet
 
 	dropReason := f.firewall.Drop(*fwPacket, false, hostinfo, f.pki.GetCAPool(), localCache)
 	if dropReason == nil {
-		f.sendNoMetrics(header.Message, 0, hostinfo.ConnectionState, hostinfo, netip.AddrPort{}, packet, nb, out, q)
+		f.sendInsideMessage(hostinfo, packet, nb, batch, rejectBuf, q)
 
 	} else {
-		f.rejectInside(packet, out, q)
+		f.rejectInside(packet, rejectBuf, q)
 		if f.l.Level >= logrus.DebugLevel {
 			hostinfo.logger(f.l).
 				WithField("fwPacket", fwPacket).
@@ -81,6 +81,63 @@ func (f *Interface) consumeInsidePacket(packet []byte, fwPacket *firewall.Packet
 	}
 }
 
+// sendInsideMessage encrypts a firewall-approved inside packet into the
+// caller's batch slot for later sendmmsg flush. When hostinfo.remote is not
+// valid we fall through to the relay slow path via the unbatched sendNoMetrics
+// so relay behavior is unchanged.
+func (f *Interface) sendInsideMessage(hostinfo *HostInfo, p, nb []byte, batch *sendBatch, rejectBuf []byte, q int) {
+	ci := hostinfo.ConnectionState
+	if ci.eKey == nil {
+		return
+	}
+
+	if !hostinfo.remote.IsValid() {
+		// Slow path: relay fallback. Reuse rejectBuf as the ciphertext
+		// scratch; sendNoMetrics arranges header space for SendVia.
+		f.sendNoMetrics(header.Message, 0, ci, hostinfo, netip.AddrPort{}, p, nb, rejectBuf, q)
+		return
+	}
+
+	scratch := batch.Next()
+	if scratch == nil {
+		// Batch full: bypass batching and send this packet directly so we
+		// never drop traffic on over-subscribed iterations.
+		f.sendNoMetrics(header.Message, 0, ci, hostinfo, netip.AddrPort{}, p, nb, rejectBuf, q)
+		return
+	}
+
+	if noiseutil.EncryptLockNeeded {
+		ci.writeLock.Lock()
+	}
+	c := ci.messageCounter.Add(1)
+
+	out := header.Encode(scratch, header.Version, header.Message, 0, hostinfo.remoteIndexId, c)
+	f.connectionManager.Out(hostinfo)
+
+	if hostinfo.lastRebindCount != f.rebindCount {
+		//NOTE: there is an update hole if a tunnel isn't used and exactly 256 rebinds occur before the tunnel is
+		// finally used again. This tunnel would eventually be torn down and recreated if this action didn't help.
+		f.lightHouse.QueryServer(hostinfo.vpnAddrs[0])
+		hostinfo.lastRebindCount = f.rebindCount
+		if f.l.Level >= logrus.DebugLevel {
+			f.l.WithField("vpnAddrs", hostinfo.vpnAddrs).Debug("Lighthouse update triggered for punch due to rebind counter")
+		}
+	}
+
+	out, err := ci.eKey.EncryptDanger(out, out, p, c, nb)
+	if noiseutil.EncryptLockNeeded {
+		ci.writeLock.Unlock()
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		hostinfo.logger(f.l).WithError(err).
+			WithField("udpAddr", hostinfo.remote).WithField("counter", c).
+			Error("Failed to encrypt outgoing packet")
+		return
+	}
+
+	batch.Commit(len(out), hostinfo.remote)
+}
+
 func (f *Interface) rejectInside(packet []byte, out []byte, q int) {
 	if !f.firewall.InSendReject {
 		return
diff --git a/interface.go b/interface.go
index 456ae00e..943d30e9 100644
--- a/interface.go
+++ b/interface.go
@@ -321,14 +321,15 @@ func (f *Interface) listenOut(i int) {
 }
 
 func (f *Interface) listenIn(reader overlay.Queue, i int) {
-	out := make([]byte, mtu)
+	rejectBuf := make([]byte, mtu)
+	batch := newSendBatch(sendBatchCap, udp.MTU+32)
 	fwPacket := &firewall.Packet{}
 	nb := make([]byte, 12, 12)
 
 	conntrackCache := firewall.NewConntrackCacheTicker(f.conntrackCacheTimeout)
 
 	for {
-		batch, err := reader.ReadBatch()
+		pkts, err := reader.ReadBatch()
 		if err != nil {
 			if !f.closed.Load() {
 				f.l.WithError(err).WithField("reader", i).Error("Error while reading outbound packet, closing")
@@ -337,14 +338,28 @@ func (f *Interface) listenIn(reader overlay.Queue, i int) {
 			break
 		}
 
-		for _, pkt := range batch {
-			f.consumeInsidePacket(pkt, fwPacket, nb, out, i, conntrackCache.Get(f.l))
+		batch.Reset()
+		for _, pkt := range pkts {
+			if batch.Len() >= batch.Cap() {
+				f.flushBatch(batch, i)
+				batch.Reset()
+			}
+			f.consumeInsidePacket(pkt, fwPacket, nb, batch, rejectBuf, i, conntrackCache.Get(f.l))
+		}
+		if batch.Len() > 0 {
+			f.flushBatch(batch, i)
 		}
 	}
 
 	f.l.Infof("overlay reader %v is done", i)
 }
 
+func (f *Interface) flushBatch(batch *sendBatch, q int) {
+	if err := f.writers[q].WriteBatch(batch.bufs, batch.dsts); err != nil {
+		f.l.WithError(err).WithField("writer", q).Error("Failed to write outgoing batch")
+	}
+}
+
 func (f *Interface) RegisterConfigChangeCallbacks(c *config.C) {
 	c.RegisterReloadCallback(f.reloadFirewall)
 	c.RegisterReloadCallback(f.reloadSendRecvError)
diff --git a/udp/conn.go b/udp/conn.go
index 30d89dec..652ff79d 100644
--- a/udp/conn.go
+++ b/udp/conn.go
@@ -8,6 +8,12 @@ import (
 
 const MTU = 9001
 
+// MaxWriteBatch is the largest batch any Conn.WriteBatch implementation is
+// required to accept. Callers SHOULD NOT pass more than this per call; Linux
+// backends preallocate sendmmsg scratch sized to this value, so exceeding it
+// only costs a chunked retry.
+const MaxWriteBatch = 128
+
 type EncReader func(
 	addr netip.AddrPort,
 	payload []byte,
@@ -18,6 +24,12 @@ type Conn interface {
 	LocalAddr() (netip.AddrPort, error)
 	ListenOut(r EncReader) error
 	WriteTo(b []byte, addr netip.AddrPort) error
+	// WriteBatch sends a contiguous batch of packets, each with its own
+	// destination. bufs and addrs must have the same length. Linux uses
+	// sendmmsg(2) for a single syscall; other backends fall back to a
+	// WriteTo loop. Returns on the first error; callers may observe a
+	// partial send if some packets went out before the error.
+	WriteBatch(bufs [][]byte, addrs []netip.AddrPort) error
 	ReloadConfig(c *config.C)
 	SupportsMultipleReaders() bool
 	Close() error
@@ -40,6 +52,9 @@ func (NoopConn) SupportsMultipleReaders() bool {
 func (NoopConn) WriteTo(_ []byte, _ netip.AddrPort) error {
 	return nil
 }
+func (NoopConn) WriteBatch(_ [][]byte, _ []netip.AddrPort) error {
+	return nil
+}
 func (NoopConn) ReloadConfig(_ *config.C) {
 	return
 }
diff --git a/udp/udp_generic.go b/udp/udp_generic.go
index 44632fed..9e39436f 100644
--- a/udp/udp_generic.go
+++ b/udp/udp_generic.go
@@ -42,6 +42,15 @@ func (u *GenericConn) WriteTo(b []byte, addr netip.AddrPort) error {
 	return err
 }
 
+func (u *GenericConn) WriteBatch(bufs [][]byte, addrs []netip.AddrPort) error {
+	for i, b := range bufs {
+		if _, err := u.UDPConn.WriteToUDPAddrPort(b, addrs[i]); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func (u *GenericConn) LocalAddr() (netip.AddrPort, error) {
 	a := u.UDPConn.LocalAddr()
 
diff --git a/udp/udp_linux_64.go b/udp/udp_linux_64.go
index 48c5a978..96c548e7 100644
--- a/udp/udp_linux_64.go
+++ b/udp/udp_linux_64.go
@@ -55,3 +55,23 @@ func (u *StdConn) PrepareRawMessages(n int) ([]rawMessage, [][]byte, [][]byte) {
 
 	return msgs, buffers, names
 }
+
+// prepareWriteMessages allocates one Mmsghdr/iovec/sockaddr scratch per slot,
+// wired up so each writeMsgs[i] already points at writeIovs[i] and
+// writeNames[i]. Callers fill in the iovec Base/Len, the sockaddr bytes, and
+// Namelen before each sendmmsg.
+func (u *StdConn) prepareWriteMessages(n int) {
+	u.writeMsgs = make([]rawMessage, n)
+	u.writeIovs = make([]iovec, n)
+	u.writeNames = make([][]byte, n)
+	for i := range u.writeMsgs {
+		u.writeNames[i] = make([]byte, unix.SizeofSockaddrInet6)
+		u.writeMsgs[i].Hdr.Iov = &u.writeIovs[i]
+		u.writeMsgs[i].Hdr.Iovlen = 1
+		u.writeMsgs[i].Hdr.Name = &u.writeNames[i][0]
+	}
+}
+
+func setIovLen(v *iovec, n int) {
+	v.Len = uint64(n)
+}