Determining the reasons for packet loss in a wireless local area network; such as an IEEE 802.11 network. The method uses the strength of received signals at a wireless station, such as the received signal strength indicator (RSSI), noise levels (e.g, non-802.11 energy in the 2.4 GHz frequency range), and packet loss information together to determine the network status. In most implementations, the 802.11 implementation (e.g., the 802.11 driver) is responsible for maintaining statistics on the RSSI and the noise whereas the measure of the packet loss is the responsibility of the application. The network status is determined by the endpoint station independent from the access point.