Various methods and network nodes (e.g., base stations or base transceiver nodes) are provided to address the need for enhanced uplink performance. In a first method, a virtual soft handoff network node receives (501), from a serving network node, information related to uplink communications of user equipment (UE) served by the serving network node, wherein a soft handoff is not established between the virtual soft handoff network node and the UE. The virtual soft handoff network node receives (502) uplink communications between the UE and the serving network node and processes (503) the uplink communications to determine decoded uplink data from the UE. In a second method, a serving network node sends (401) to a virtual soft handoff network node, information related to uplink communications of user equipment (UE), the UE being served by the serving network node but not in soft handoff with the virtual soft handoff network node.