A system and method are provided for improving the throughput of wireless networks, such as IEEE 802.11 networks. Individual devices in the network determine the level of activity on the network. In the event that the network is active, the devices increase throughput by skipping the pending packet transmission and appending its data payload to a future packet transmission. By encoding multiple payloads in a single packet transmission, packet overhead is reduced and MAC layer delays are eliminated. The data payloads are subsequently split back into individual packets for transmission over the wired portion of the network.