A method of determining handoff of a user equipment (UE) to a transferee serving station from a transferor serving station at the transferee serving station is provided. The transferee serving station (e.g., a Node B) measures an energy level in a first portion of an uplink channel (e.g., an uplink high-speed dedicated physical control channel (HS-DPCCH)), the first portion of the uplink channel associated with the transferee serving station. In an example, the first portion of the uplink channel is where a channel quality indicator (CQI) is expected to be reported from the UE for the transferee serving station. The transferee serving station also measures an energy level in a second portion of the uplink channel, the second portion of the uplink channel associated with the transferor serving station. In an example, the second portion of the uplink channel is where a CQI is expected to be reported from the UE for the transferor serving station. The transferee serving station then determines when the UE has handed off to the transferee serving station based upon the measured energy levels.