A wireless mesh network with dynamic back off for reduced power consumption is generally described herein. In some embodiments, the wireless mesh network includes a network controller to configure a data frame comprising a sync period followed by at least one data period and a plurality of network nodes configured to operate in at least one of a network-running mode and a sleep/RF quiet mode. The network controller is configured to transmit synchronization messages during a first portion of the sync period and receive upstream requests from the network nodes during a second portion of the sync period. During the sleep/RF quiet mode, the network nodes are configured to wake up periodically during a listening interval for detection of a synchronization message from the network controller, and return to the sleep/RF quiet mode and increase a back-off time between listening intervals for increasingly longer periods when no synchronization message is detected.