Embodiments of the present application provide a channel access method and an access point. The method includes: sending, by a first AP in a first system, a sense time identifier used to identify a sense time reserved on a channel to a first STA in the first system, so as to instruct the first STA to neither send information nor perform random access within the sense time; searching the channel within the sense time for a sequence that is used for random access and that is in a second system, so as to obtain a search result, and determining, according to the search result, whether the channel is obtained by means of competition; The technical solution of the present application provides a new channel access mechanism, which can implement coexistence of a next-generation WiFi system with a traditional WiFi system.