Dynamic frequency selection (DFS) is often a requirement for a wireless local area network (WLAN) apparatus to prevent the apparatus from interfering with other systems that have a priority to a radio frequency (RF) channel. When DFS is executed, the WLAN apparatus ceases WLAN operations on the channel and searches for an open channel to resume WLAN operations. Often a WLAN apparatus misinterprets signals from another system as operating on the channel when actually the received signals are signals leaked into the channel from a system transmitting on a different channel. Presented herein are methods and apparatuses for preventing unnecessary DFS operations resulting from misinterpreted signals through the use of a signal to noise ratio determined from a pulse spectral density of the received signal.