Disclosed in some examples is a method of channel access by a wireless device in a wireless network by determining whether there is network traffic associated with a preamble of a first type and whether there is network traffic associated with a preamble of a second type, wherein the wireless device is not capable of decoding the preamble of the second type, and wherein determining that there is network traffic associated with a preamble of the second type includes determining that an energy level of the channel is above a threshold for a period of time, the first and second preamble types being different lengths; and sending a packet with a preamble of the first type, responsive to determining that no network traffic is detected associated with the preamble of the second type or network traffic associated with a preamble of the first type for the period of time.