In an example embodiment, a number of contending nodes and colliding nodes for a plurality of links of a network is determined. The capacity of each of the plurality of links is determined. A sum of the traffic demand of each of the plurality of links divided the throughput of each of the plurality of links is used to form a cost function for the network. One, or more, of a group consisting of a plurality of frequency assignments, a plurality of transmit powers, and a plurality of clear channel assessment (CCA) values is searched to obtain a global minimum for the cost function. The frequency assignments, transmit powers, and/or CCA values providing the global minimum for the cost function are selected.