A method, apparatus, and
computer program product are disclosed for
wireless communications networks, such as WiMedia networks, to solve problems of channel congestion, searching for candidate channels to select, and achieving reliable channel changes that will be recognized by other devices in the network. A
wireless communications device selects a channel finding technique in a first stage, based on whether the device has any active connections in a
current channel. The device then performs the selected channel finding technique with a plurality of channels to find a candidate channel. Then the initiating device sends a request to at least one remote device to change its channel from the
current channel to the candidate channel during a time slot within a repeating time interval. If the request is successful, the initiating device receives an acceptance of the request from the remote device. Then in a second stage, the initiating device selects a channel changing technique based on whether the device has any active connections in the
current channel. The initiating device then executes the selected channel changing technique to change a channel from the current channel to the candidate channel, thereby establishing the desired new connection across the candidate channel with the remote device.