Interference mitigation for network communications

A network device, comprising:

• a processor,
• memory coupled to the processor and configured to store program instructions executable by the processor, the program instructions comprising program code configured to perform the operations of:
• performing a first scan of a first plurality of channels of the network, wherein the channels are scanned for a first scan time;
• identifying a list of one or more potentially available channels based on results of the first scan;
• performing a second scan of the network channels, the second scan scanning only those channels identified in the list, wherein the channels identified in the list are canned for a second scan time and wherein the second scan time is longer than the first scan time;
• and
• identifying an available channel based on results of the second scan and selecting the available channel for communication;
• wherein the first scan time is short enough to enable scanning of every channel of the network before the expiration of a maximum idle time allowed for network devices communicating on the network.