A data communication for a handoff mobile unit is maintained by data forwarding through neighboring mobile units in indoor wireless cellular communication networks operates such that, when the master unit has no available channels, the mobile unit switches over to master status to create an ad hoc cell. The mobile unit then pages neighboring slave mobile units for data forwarding assistance. The mobile unit chooses one or more slave mobile units and establishes wireless links with the chosen slave mobile units. These chosen mobile units then have two masters; one the master unit of the cell and the other the handoff mobile unit which has created the ad hoc cell. A list of the slave mobile units in the ad hoc cell is sent to the network server, and data communication proceeds with data forwarding through the chosen mobile slave units. When a channel becomes available with the master unit for the cell, the handoff mobile unit becomes a slave mobile unit to the master unit and the ad hoc cell is dissolved.