A system for selecting a communication mode for a transmitting node to communicate with a receiving node in a mesh network is provided. For example, a transmitting node can gather mode selection data that describe communication conditions of the transmitting node and the receiving node. Based on the mode selection data, the transmitting node can determine a first white list of modes that can be used by the transmitting node to successfully transmit data packets to the receiving node. The transmitting node also determines a second white list of modes that can be used by the receiving node to send acknowledgment packets successfully to the transmitting node. The transmitting node further identifies overlapped modes between the first and second white lists of modes. The transmitting node can then select one of the overlapped modes for transmitting data packets to the receiving node.