Embodiments of a master station and method for communicating in a high-efficiency Wi-Fi (HEW) network are generally described herein. In some embodiments, the master station is arranged to configure an HEW frame for communicating with a plurality of HEW compliant devices. The master station may transmit a master sync transmission that includes synchronization information and may be transmitted at a beginning of an HEW control period. The master station may configure an HEW frame to include an HEW signal field (HEW SIG) as a first field of the frame and may transmit the HEW frame without legacy synchronization information at the beginning of the HEW frame.