An event-driven, power-saving method of controlling link adaptation for wireless transmission in battery powered stations through selectively controlled PHY parameters uses a PHY parameter controller for selectively changing the PHY parameters. The number of retransmissions required per time unit (herein ReTXrate), and missing ACK numbers (e.g., more than two) are used as first and second link quality metrics in the method, instead of the PER as in prior art. Also, the measured ReTXrate after each packet transmission is used for establishing lower and higher thresholds for the ReTXrate. Based on the lower and higher ReTXrate thresholds and based on said missing ACKs, link adaptation by way of changing the PHY parameters through the PHY parameter controller is triggered. The link adaptation method is especially suitable for VoIP traffic but applies to non VoIP traffic too (e.g., data,) including FTP and web browsing situations, and conserves battery power in mobile stations.