A system and a method are presented for determining when to exit an existing wireless communications coverage network. The method comprises: sampling received input power levels; measuring the difference between the received input power level samples and a predetermined baseline threshold value; adjusting an indicator based on the received input power level samples compared to the predetermined baseline threshold value; setting a terminal condition indicating when the wireless communications device should exit the existing wireless communications coverage network; and exiting the existing coverage network based on a comparison of the indicator to the terminal condition.