A wireless data communication network distributes network addresses to wireless relays. The network receives attachment requests from the wireless relay over wireless access points and transfers network address requests to a network address server. The network receives network address responses from the network address server having network addresses for the wireless relay. The network stores the network addresses for the wireless relay in a memory and transfers the network addresses to the wireless relay. The network wirelessly exchanges user data with the wireless relay. The network receives subsequent attachment requests from the wireless relay and retrieves the network addresses for the wireless relay from the memory without re-using the network address server. The network transfers the network addresses to the wireless relay and wirelessly exchanges user data with the wireless relay.