A wireless transmitter includes a stream parser for generating a plurality of spatial streams from a digital signal and a space time block coder (STBC) for mapping each of the spatial streams to a plurality of space-time streams that each include data and a preamble for estimating a channel transfer function. The transmitter also includes a spatial mapper for spatially expanding each of the space-time streams by applying a spatial expansion matrix to data and to first training symbols used in the preamble to probe a channel experienced by the data and by applying an extension matrix to second training symbols used in the preamble to probe at least one additional dimension of the channel to enable use of beamforming to achieve range extension The spatial expansion matrix and the extension matrix form an overall matrix that has at least two orthogonal columns with different norms. The wireless transmitter also includes an analog front end for modulating the spatially expanded space-time streams onto a wireless carrier.