The present invention provides a method and apparatus for providing improved quality or power control by recognizing the delays inherent in a closed-loop communication system. The mobile station or receiver properly adjusts its forward link quality or power level thresholds or measurements with which it compares incoming frames or portions thereof to reflect the level it anticipates receiving (after the delay). For example, the mobile station can recognize that at a given measurement time, two outstanding messages have not been executed by the transmitter (where each message indicates a corresponding increase of 1 dB). As a result, the mobile station can adjust its measurement threshold down by 2 dB to more closely correspond to future power adjustments. If the currently received frame or portion thereof is still below the readjusted threshold, then the mobile station sends out a new message to request a further increase in the forward link channel.