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.