A wireless communication system for utilizing at least one smart antenna for establishing a backhaul network, the system comprising: a plurality of nodes (102a-n), each node connected to at least one neighbor node, at least one of the plurality of nodes being a hybrid node that further comprises a wired backhaul connection to a core network; a first node comprising: a smart antenna configured to generate a plurality of directional beams, a memory configured to store a list of neighbor nodes having connections and beam configuration information to be used in transmission of messages to the neighbor nodes, and a controller configured to update the list stored in the memory by monitoring signals received from the neighbor nodes and determining configurations for transmitting data to the neighbor nodes, and select a particular directional beam for transmitting a particular beamformed message to another node using the updated list stored in the memory; wherein the controller is further configured to exchange backhaul data over a wireless cellular connection with a second node; wherein the controller is further configured to receive wireless beamformed backhaul data from the second node and transmit wireless beamformed backhaul data to a third node; and wherein the controller is further configured to change a beam to the third node in response to measured channel conditions. a plurality of nodes (102a-n), each node connected to at least one neighbor node, at least one of the plurality of nodes being a hybrid node that further comprises a wired backhaul connection to a core network; a first node comprising: a smart antenna configured to generate a plurality of directional beams, a memory configured to store a list of neighbor nodes having connections and beam configuration information to be used in transmission of messages to the neighbor nodes, and a controller configured to update the list stored in the memory by monitoring signals received from the neighbor nodes and determining configurations for transmitting data to the neighbor nodes, and select a particular directional beam for transmitting a particular beamformed message to another node using the updated list stored in the memory; a smart antenna configured to generate a plurality of directional beams, a memory configured to store a list of neighbor nodes having connections and beam configuration information to be used in transmission of messages to the neighbor nodes, and a controller configured to update the list stored in the memory by monitoring signals received from the neighbor nodes and determining configurations for transmitting data to the neighbor nodes, and select a particular directional beam for transmitting a particular beamformed message to another node using the updated list stored in the memory; wherein the controller is further configured to exchange backhaul data over a wireless cellular connection with a second node; wherein the controller is further configured to receive wireless beamformed backhaul data from the second node and transmit wireless beamformed backhaul data to a third node; and wherein the controller is further configured to change a beam to the third node in response to measured channel conditions. <EOS>