A method of operating a wireless communication network to serve a User Equipment, UE, based on co-location and Received Signal Strength, RSS, levels, the method comprising: a serving wireless access node selecting the serving wireless access node for an uplink and a downlink for the UE when candidate wireless access nodes are not co-located with the serving wireless access node, and in response, wirelessly exchanging user data with the UE over the uplink and the downlink; the serving wireless access node selecting one of the candidate wireless access nodes for the uplink and the downlink for the UE when the one of the candidate wireless access nodes is co-located with the serving wireless access node and has a highest one of the RSS levels that exceeds a first threshold; the one of the candidate wireless access nodes wirelessly exchanging the user data with the UE over the uplink and the downlink when the one of the candidate wireless access nodes is co-located with the serving wireless access node and has the highest one of the RSS levels that exceeds the first threshold; the serving wireless access node selecting the serving wireless access node for the uplink for the UE and selecting another one of the candidate wireless access nodes for the downlink for the UE when the other one of the candidate wireless access nodes has the highest one of the RSS levels that falls below the first threshold and that exceeds a second threshold, and wirelessly receiving an uplink portion of the user data from the UE over the uplink; and the other one of the candidate wireless access nodes wirelessly transferring a downlink portion of the user data to the UE over the downlink when the other one of the candidate wireless access nodes is co-located with the serving wireless access node and has the highest one of the RSS levels that falls below the first threshold and exceeds the second threshold. a serving wireless access node selecting the serving wireless access node for an uplink and a downlink for the UE when candidate wireless access nodes are not co-located with the serving wireless access node, and in response, wirelessly exchanging user data with the UE over the uplink and the downlink; the serving wireless access node selecting one of the candidate wireless access nodes for the uplink and the downlink for the UE when the one of the candidate wireless access nodes is co-located with the serving wireless access node and has a highest one of the RSS levels that exceeds a first threshold; the one of the candidate wireless access nodes wirelessly exchanging the user data with the UE over the uplink and the downlink when the one of the candidate wireless access nodes is co-located with the serving wireless access node and has the highest one of the RSS levels that exceeds the first threshold; the serving wireless access node selecting the serving wireless access node for the uplink for the UE and selecting another one of the candidate wireless access nodes for the downlink for the UE when the other one of the candidate wireless access nodes has the highest one of the RSS levels that falls below the first threshold and that exceeds a second threshold, and wirelessly receiving an uplink portion of the user data from the UE over the uplink; and the other one of the candidate wireless access nodes wirelessly transferring a downlink portion of the user data to the UE over the downlink when the other one of the candidate wireless access nodes is co-located with the serving wireless access node and has the highest one of the RSS levels that falls below the first threshold and exceeds the second threshold. <EOS>