Various examples relate to a wired local area network (WLAN) including a shared transmission medium. An apparatus includes a beacon counter and an operational mode controller. The beacon counter is operably coupled to a line of a shared transmission medium of a wired local area network. The beacon counter is to count beacon signals on the line and determine a beacon count over a predetermined time period, or a beacon rate of the beacon signals. The operational mode controller is to control the apparatus to take over operation as a master node of the wired local area network based, at least in part, on a maximum bus cycle length of bus cycles on the line and responsive to the beacon count or the beacon rate.