A method is provided for controlling communications to and from an access terminal during a hand off period. A smart packet filter is used to identify a packet flow, apply a first treatment to a packet flow based on its destination, and transmit the first treated packet flow along a first route to the access terminal. During a hand off, the packet stream is duplicated, a second treatment is applied to the packet flow and the second treated duplicate packet flow is transmitted to the access terminal via a second route.