Techniques for fast cell search, selection and reselection for wireless communication systems such as OFDM or OFDMA communication systems. In various implementations of the described techniques, downlink subframes from base stations to mobile stations are designed to include information in form of preambles or post-ambles in one or more downlink subframes to facilitate cell search at receiving mobile stations at high speeds. The described preambles and post-ambles may also be used to improve the accuracy of signal synchronization in time and frequency.