A host device is configured to increase the power output by an internal amplifier of its wireless chipset in response to requests from a remote device coupled via a data link. Once the internal amplifier has reached its maximum power, the host device may determine the strength of the data link between it and the remote device. If the strength is low, it is an indication that further increases in signal power by the host device may have little effect on the link. If the signal strength from the remote device is sufficient, the host device determines an error rate. If the error rate is sufficiently low, the host device will not increase its signal output power. However, if the error rate is too high, the host device may increase power from its external amplifier to improve the error rate of the data link.