A network node computes a fair share data rate for the sharing of a shared communication channel in a local area network. The network node determines the required information for computing the fair share by snooping the network, by receiving the required information from other network nodes, or a combination of the two techniques. Alternatively, instead of computing the fair share data rate, the network node may receive the fair share data rate which was computed by another network node. The fair share data rate is enforced by the network node in a network protocol stack layer above the media access control layer. In one embodiment, the network protocol stack layer above the media access control layer is the link layer.