An extended acknowledgement mechanism is provided. In one aspect, a source node provides an indication that extended acknowledgement is supported. In response, the source node receives from a destination node an acknowledgement that comprises a regular acknowledgement frame, an extended acknowledgement frame, a bidirectional acknowledgement frame including payload data or an extended bidirectional acknowledgement frame that includes payload data. In another aspect, an indication is received from a source node a frame that extended acknowledgement is supported. In response, a destination node transmits to the source node an acknowledgement that comprises a regular acknowledgement frame, an extended acknowledgement frame, a bidirectional acknowledgement frame including payload data or an extended bidirectional acknowledgement frame that includes payload data. The ability of nodes supporting extended acknowledgement may be indicated during registration, and propagated throughout the network domain, so as to avoid per-frame indication in subsequent communications.