A system and method for changing retransmission and rescheduling queues to support retransmission in a communications system is presented. A method for changing queue size values includes, for an increase in data rate, determining a new retransmission queue size value for a retransmission queue at the transmitting device and a new rescheduling queue size value for a rescheduling queue at the receiving device such that an amount of time for a DTU to enter and exit the retransmission queue is greater than a roundtrip delay. For a decrease in data rate, the method includes determining the new retransmission queue size value and the new rescheduling queue size value such that an amount of time for a DTU to enter and exit the retransmission queue is less than a maximum delay. Systems and methods for changing the retransmission and rescheduling queue sizes are also presented.