A wireless receiver (e.g., access point (AP)) is a member of a group of a plurality of receivers in a wireless local area network and time synchronized with other receivers in the group. A channel scan list is generated from a plurality of wireless channels available in one or more frequency bands. A channel is selected for the receiver to monitor from the channel scan list based on a current time at the receiver such that each of the plurality of receivers in the group are scanning the same channel at the same time. The selected channel is scanned and signal characteristic information (e.g., received signal strength (RSS)) is generated for the signals received during a given scan duration.