SummaryIn this paper, we propose an adaptive Forward Error Correction (FEC) coding algorithm at the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer used in wireless networks. Our algorithm is based on the lookup table architecture, including a distance lookup table and a bit error rate lookup table. These tables will store the best value of the FEC codes based on different distances and bit error rates. Because radio channels change over time, the bit error rate is always changing, or in the case of mobile nodes, when the transmission distance changes, the bit error rate also changes, so previously proposed algorithms take longer to find the optimal value of the FEC code for data transmission. Our proposed algorithm, however, is based on 2 lookup tables, and thus, it can always quickly select an optimal FEC code during early data transmissions and achieve high performance. We compare our algorithm with other methods based on performance metrics such as the recovery overhead of FEC codes, energy efficiency, and peak‐signal‐to‐noise ratio values in the case of image transmission. Our simulation indicates that the proposed algorithm achieves better performances and proves the correctness of the proposed lookup table architecture.