A method includes receiving, at a network node, a device-to-device D2D discovery request from a first device and sending a D2D discovery response from the network node to the first device. The D2D discovery response includes information associated with a second device that is available to establish a D2D connection with the first device. The network node may perform inquiries regarding D2D connection permission from both devices. If D2D connection is permitted by both devices, the network node may facilitate the D2D scanning by sending each device's scanning information to the other device via a non-D2D link. In parallel to D2D scanning, the network node may speed up D2D link setup by distributing, via non-D2D links, link setup information to each device, where the link setup information may include device credential(s), IP address allocation(s), and / or group owner assignment.