Techniques for performing carrier switching in a multi-carrier access network are described. A terminal may be assigned to a carrier among multiple carriers having different transmit power levels, e.g., by the access network during system access or handoff. The terminal may receive a switch threshold from the access network. The terminal may periodically measure the received signal strength of the assigned carrier and may compare the received signal strength against the switch threshold. The terminal may refrain from switching to a stronger carrier if the received signal strength exceeds the switch threshold and may switch to the stronger carrier if the received signal strength is below the switch threshold. This carrier switching scheme may prevent the terminal from switching to the strongest carrier when the assigned carrier can provide satisfactory performance. The access network may also switch the terminal to another carrier by sending a carrier switch message.