A method for scanning in a wireless network 3 comprises determining attributes for an on-going service of a mobile station, MS 5 and allocating scanning intervals for the MS depending on the determined attributes. The attributes for the ongoing service may include at least one of: type of service; and quality of service requirements. In one method, scanning intervals for the MS are allocated by a base station 4 also depending on the size of the neighbor cell list. The wireless network may, for example, be a WiMAX network.