A repeater is configured to selectively generate and transmit control message packets between wireless stations on both a transmit side and a receive side of the repeater. The repeater manages and manipulates an end to end protocol of the control message packets in a manner that does not change media access control (MAC) addresses of the end to end protocol so as to achieve a network objective, such as preventing other transmitters from transmitting while the repeater repeats a signal from its receive side to its transmit side. The control message management is applicable to analog signal repeaters as well as digital repeaters, such as symbol to symbol or packet to packet repeaters, in which physical layer control message management is performed.