A method for changing a channel in a wireless local area network (WLAN) to alleviate congestion and high interference levels, the WLAN having an access point (AP) and at least one station, begins by determining a list of candidate channels. A channel is selected from the candidate list and is evaluated against predetermined criteria. If the selected channel meets the predetermined criteria, then all of the stations communicating with the AP are disassociated and the AP is changed to the selected channel. If the selected channel does not meet the predetermined criteria, then the selected channel is removed from the candidate list and the selecting step is repeated if there are additional candidate channels.