A method of ameliorating the hidden node problem in wireless local area networks employing power control is disclosed. The illustrative embodiments function in a variety of ways that have a common theme: while the Data Frames are transmitted at lesser potency, at least one of the control frames--Request-to-Send, Clear-to-Send, and Acknowledgement--associated with the Data Frame are sent at a greater potency. This causes at least one of the "loud" control frames to be heard and decoded by all of the potentially contending stations. And because the control frames carry duration information for the virtual carrier sense mechanism, their reception suppresses transmissions by potentially-contending stations that cannot sense the "quiet" Data Frames.