A system and method for implementing a peer-to-peer wireless local area network (WLAN) that does not require a conventional wireless access point, yet facilitates many of the features provided by an access point, such as channel access management and Quality of Service functions. A method for dynamically selecting a Channel Access Manager (CAM) that (preferably) has the ability to communicate with the greatest number of wireless stations in a given WLAN is provided. The CAM is then used to manage channel access for the WLAN. A method for selecting one or more proxy CAMs that establish communication paths between the CAM and wireless stations with which the CAM traditionally would not be able to communicate is also provided. The invention also provides a method for resolving the issues that occur when a new station is added to the WLAN, and provides optimize routing of messages to maximize transmission bandwidths.