A multihop network has nodes divided into user nodes, and base stations (BSs) each connected to a core network (CN). Each user node scans a surrounding area by an antenna array to identify a subset of the nodes wirelessly reachable by this user node and connectable to any BS. Node-specific information items determined for each reachable node include a farness value indicating farness in location between the reachable node and the user node. A target reachable node through which the user node communicates is selected and has a lowest farness value among the reachable nodes in the subset. The user node is communicable with a BS directly, or indirectly by multihop communication via the target reachable node, thereby allowing a total number of BSs adequate to support data communication between the CN and all the user nodes to be reduced when compared to non-multihop communication over the same geographical area.