Methods, systems, and devices are described for wireless communications. A device may utilize enhanced roaming techniques to identify a candidate channel for roaming. In one example, a device determines whether a candidate channel is congested by calculating a congestion metric associated with traffic over the shared channel. In some examples, the congestion metric is calculated based at least in part on an amount of energy measured over the candidate. For instance, the calculated congestion metric can be an instantaneous congestion level measured during a CCA. The device may then determine whether to roam to the candidate channel based at least in part on the calculated congestion metric.