Aspects describe channel estimation in an OFDM system. Baseline DFT-based channel estimation can be performed and scaling can be applied to mitigate distortion in the DFT-based estimations. In some aspects, baseline DFT-based channel estimation can be performed and tones for which DFT-based estimate is deemed unreliable can have MMSE based processing applied locally. If orthogonal sequence is deemed excessive, orthogonal sequence cancellation can be applied prior to the MMSE based processing.