A method for a QAM receiver to decide a value of a received symbol of an N-point QAM constellation transmission including extracting coordinate values for the received symbol, and using a decision method for deciding the value of the received symbol based on the extracted coordinate values, in which the decision method for the N-point QAM constellation is updated based on a clustering of received symbols. A method for a QAM transmitter to modify an N-point QAM constellation including starting with an initial N-point QAM constellation, measuring a clustering of coordinates of the N-point QAM constellation, shifting coordinates of at least one symbol of the N-point QAM constellation, and producing a modified constellation with shifted coordinates, wherein the shifting is based on data describing a clustering of at least some symbols of the N-point QAM constellation. Related apparatus and methods are also described.