A first wireless node may synchronize its timeslots with the timeslots of a second wireless node that was previously transmitting and receiving data in an asynchronous manner with respect to the timeslots of the first wireless node. By synchronizing timeslots, the wireless nodes may avoid interference that may otherwise occur if the wireless nodes operate in an asynchronous manner. A wireless node shares its timing information with other wireless nodes by repeatedly transmitting timing reference signals in conjunction with a synchronization metric that defines the relative priority of the timing reference. In the event a wireless node does not receive a GPS-based timing reference, the wireless node may synchronize to a timing reference based on the parameters of the synchronization metric of that timing reference. In the event a wireless node does not receive any timing references, the wireless node may define and advertise it's a timing reference and associated synchronization metric. To avoid synchronization race conditions, the synchronization metrics may be defined such that wireless nodes that have different timing references will advertise different synchronization metrics.