In one embodiment, a method comprises a first wireless network device identifying a deterministic receive slot reserved for reception of a first data packet from a second wireless network device along a deterministic track in a deterministic network; the first wireless network device transmitting an acknowledgement in the deterministic receive slot, to the second wireless network device, in response to successful reception of the first data packet in the deterministic receive slot; the first network device transmitting a second data packet in the deterministic receive slot, following the acknowledgement, to the second network device.