A wireless user equipment (UE) device may transmit a random access preamble to a base station, using a physical resource on an uplink signal. After failing to receive an initial transmission of a response message from the base station (BS), the UE device may monitor for one or more retransmissions of the response message. Each of the retransmission may include a corresponding transmission number. As an alternative, each of the retransmissions may be at least partially scrambled using a corresponding Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI). As another alternative, a window for monitoring and RNTI calculation may be extended to include the one or more retransmissions. The successive retransmissions may include the same set of UE-specific payloads, or, a decreasing set of payloads over time as UE devices acknowledge successful receipt of their respective payloads.