A method and wireless local area network (WLAN) adapter for the reduction of receive packet processing in a communications system receiver. The method includes establishing a set of criteria which identifies a packet as one requiring demodulation. The method further includes detecting a packet preamble to trigger at least one waveform identification function and determining with the at least one waveform identification function of the detected packet meets an established criteria for demodulation. The established criteria may include at least one of data rate, modulation type, signal to noise ratio, or coding rate. If the detected packet meets the established criteria for demodulation, a host processor may be interrupted to begin demodulation.