A method for accessing a hybrid network including a wide area network and a distributed network, a gateway apparatus, a wireless terminal and a gateway communication system are disclosed for reducing the power consumption of the wireless terminal which is an access gateway. The method comprises: sensing by a gateway apparatus a relay request slot on a downlink common control channel of the wide area network; transmitting by a wireless terminal a relay request signal requesting to relay a data packet to be transmitted, in the relay request slot on the downlink common control channel; and if the relay request signal from the wireless terminal is sensed in the relay request slot, establishing by the gateway apparatus a connection with the wireless terminal in a distributed network environment. As such, the gateway apparatus accesses the wireless distributed network only when the surrounding wireless terminals require data relay, without sensing signals on both networks simultaneously, in order to reduce the power consumption.