A communications device with a switched beam antenna operates in a
wireless local area network (WLAN) that includes a plurality of
transmitters. The switched beam antenna generates a plurality of antenna
beams. A method for operating the communications device includes
receiving signals from the plurality of transmitters operating within the
WLAN, identifying the received signals comprising medium access control
(MAC) information, and determining a quality metric for each received
signal comprising MAC information. A transmitter is selected based on the
quality metrics. The antenna beams are scanned for receiving from the
selected transmitter the signals comprising MAC information. A quality
metric associated with each scanned antenna beam is determined. One of
the scanned antenna beams is then selected for communicating with the
selected transmitter based on the quality metrics.