The disclosure relates to a collaborative demand-based dual-mode Wi-Fi network control framework that may optimize wireless power and performance on wireless devices that may support multiple Wi-Fi networking technologies. In particular, a high performance Wi-Fi link may be reserved to services or applications that have substantial quality of service (QoS) requirements and conventional Wi-Fi links may be utilized to transfer data for services or applications that have typical performance requirements. For example, bandwidth requirements associated with forward traffic may be measured according to sizes and latency requirements associated with the forward traffic and the appropriate Wi-Fi networking mode may be controlled according to the forward traffic bandwidth requirements in combination with the average bandwidth and average retransmission rate associated with the conventional Wi-Fi links, among other factors. Furthermore, when no forward traffic needs to be transmitted, all Wi-Fi subsystems may enter a low power state.