Bi-dimensional Markov chain model based on cooperative medium access control (MAC) of wireless local area networks (WLAN) is considered to reflect system performance accurately. Two basic factors that affect the analysis results are station retry limits and non-saturated transmit probability. A uniform solution considering both factors is proposed. To prove the theoretical analysis, a cooperative MAC (CoopMAC) topology is established and the simulation model is enhanced by changing the cooperative table to the nodes’ memory with more information added. Meanwhile, the three-way handshake scheme is modified and a handshake threshold is set based on the packet size. Simulation results show the performance analytical model is accurate, and the rate-adaptive cooperative MAC protocol significantly improves the network performance in terms of non-saturated system throughput and delay. Bi-dimensional Markov chain model based on cooperative medium access control (MAC) of wireless local area networks (WLAN) is considered to reflect system performance accurately. Two basic factors that affect the analysis results are station retry limits and non-saturated transmit probability. To prove the theoretical analysis, a cooperative MAC (CoopMAC) topology is established and the simulation model is enhanced by changing the cooperative table to the nodes’ memory with more information added. Meanwhile, the three- way handshake scheme is modified and a handshake threshold is set based on the packet size. Simulation results show the performance analytical model is accurate, and the rate-adaptive cooperative MAC protocol significantly improves the network performance in terms of non-saturated system throughput and delay .