A method and system for operating a wireless access point is disclosed. In an embodiment, a wireless access point determines whether bursty interference is present within the operating range of the wireless access point and then adapts a transmission characteristic in response to the determination. In an embodiment, the wireless access point determines whether bursty interference is present by changing at least one transmission characteristic and monitoring the resulting error rates. The presence of bursty interference can be detected if a lowering of the transmission rate causes an increase in the error rate. The increase in the error rate is a result of the lower transmission rate and corresponding longer transmission time for each frame, which in turn increases the likelihood that a frame will overlap with bursty interference.