We present BEND, a MAC layer solution to practical network coding in multi-hop wireless networks. It is the first exploration of the broadcasting nature of wireless channels to proactively capture more coding opportunities. In BEND, any node can code and forward a packet even when the node is not the intended MAC receiver of the packet, if the node believes that in doing so it can lead the packet to its ultimate destination. Essentially, BEND considers the union of all interface queue contents at the nodes within a neighborhood, i.e. a "neighborhood coding repository", whereas traditional mixing methods only process "individual coding repositories" at separate nodes. Categories and Subject Descriptors C.2.2 [Computer-Communication Networks]: Network Protocols ? protocol architecture (OSI Model); C.2.1 [ComputerCommunication Networks]: Network Architecture and Design ? wireless communication. General Terms Design, Performance Keywords Wireless network, Multi-hop, Ne...