A node in a multi-hop wireless network includes a master radio and a surrogate radio. The master radio performs data communication on a main multi-hop path in the multi-hop wireless network, and the surrogate radio simultaneously scans one or more channels in the multi-hop wireless network. A channel manager determines if a link between two different nodes on the main multi-hop path is disconnected, and, in response to determining a disconnection of the link between two different nodes on the main multi-hop path, the data communication is switched to an alternative multi-hop path in the multi-hop wireless network based on information obtained from the scanning of the one or more channels.