One embodiment of the present invention provides a device for joining a known Wi-Fi network. During operation, the device performs a scanning operation during a scanning process to find a known access point of a WLAN for the device to join. Next, if the scanning operation finds an access point, the device determines whether the access point neighbors a known access point. If so, the device attempts to associate with the known access point by performing a scanning operation on the specific channel associated with the known access point.