System and method for forward detection of wireless capabilities

An access point (AP) comprising:

• a receiver configured to receive, from a station (STA), an association request frame including a subset of STA capabilities;
• a processor, coupled to the receiver and a transmitter, configured to associate with the STA based on the association request frame;
• the processor configured to determine that a full set of STA capabilities of the STA is desired;
• the transmitter configured to transmit, in response to a determination that a full set of STA capabilities is desired, a beacon report measurement request frame to the STA;
• the receiver configured to receive, from the STA in response to the beacon report measurement request frame, a probe request frame including a full set of STA capabilities;
• and
• the processor configured to update a database of station capabilities with the full set of STA capabilities based on the received probe request frame.