A method for preventing ping-pong handover in mobile radio networks having a multiplicity of stationary base stations at a distance from one another, and also stationary and/or moveable mobile radio stations, such as mobile radio telephones, which are in the transmission and reception range of the base stations. Repeated unwanted handover of a mobile radio station in the connected/active mode from a source base station to a destination base station is reduced or prevented. System messages are transmitted between the mobile radio stations and the base station, wherein the system messages for initiating the handover are used to transmit historical information relating to handovers which have already been performed, that information being used to automatically ascertain and set optimum operating parameters for the mobile radio stations and/or at least one of the base stations which are involved. The aim is to develop a method for preventing ping-pong handover in mobile radio networks, specifically in networks with network elements from different manufacturers, such that the parameters, particularly the hysteresis of the reception field strength, of the mobile radio and/or of the base stations are automatically set independently, to prevent ping-pong handover, without the need for expensive measurement trips with “manual” measurements.