A method for improved decoding of hybrid automatic repeat request (H-ARQ) transmissions may include attempting to verify a physical layer (PHY) cyclic redundancy check (CRC) for a candidate H-ARQ encoder packet. If the PHY CRC is not verified, medium access control layer protocol data units (MPDUs) may be identified in the candidate H-ARQ encoder packet, and attempts may be made to verify a medium access control layer (MAC) CRC for each MPDU in the candidate H-ARQ encoder packet.