An adaptive antenna signal identification process to provide increased interference rejection in a wireless data network, such as a wireless Local Area Network (LAN). An adaptive antenna, such as a directional antenna, can be steered to various angle of arrival orientations. For example, the adaptive antenna can be steered to the last known best direction for reception of a particular detected signal. When the invention is deployed in a relay function, messages received from a first node are forwarded to a second node using a recorded direction of best reception from the second node. Storage of the best antenna angle for propagation to neighbor nodes can be handled by control functions in a manner that is analogous to other router lookup tables, such as being contained in a lookup table that stores Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.