Wireless device, method, and computer readable media for channel contention in wireless communication devices. The wireless communication device may include hardware processing circuitry configured to: determine to adapt the channel contention, and configured to adapt the channel contention settings by changing a level of a clear channel assessment (CCA) and adapting at least one additional channel contention setting. The hardware processing circuitry may be configured to adapt the channel contention settings by raising a level of the clear channel assessment (CCA) and by decreasing a power used to transmit, raising a back-off time, or modifying a portion of or parameter to a distributed coordination function (DCF). The hardware processing circuitry may be configured to adapt the channel contention settings by decreasing the clear channel assessment (CCA) and increasing a power used to transmit or decreasing an amount of time to wait after a CCA determines the channel is free.