A method and apparatus for protecting high throughput (HT) stations (STAs) are disclosed. In one embodiment, a physical layer (PHY) legacy preamble transmitted by one STA is decoded by another STA that does not use a legacy preamble. In another embodiment, one STA is identified by another STA by using bits in the preamble of a packet to indicate which PHY type will be used in the remaining portion of the packet. In yet another embodiment, one STA sends ready-to-send (RTS)/clear-to-send (CTS) or CTS-to-self messages for reserving a medium in the presence of another STA of a different type than the one STA. In yet another embodiment, an access point (AP) transmits a beacon or an association message including a capability information element (IE) that indicates operation or support for a legacy preamble, HT STA preambles and a medium access control (MAC) packet transmission with HT protection mechanisms.