1. A method of selecting a common routing protocol in an ad hoc network having a set of nodes, the method comprising steps of: transmitting a request for routing protocol information to a limited number of nodes, the limited number of nodes including a number of nodes less than the number of nodes in the ad hoc network; receiving routing protocol information from one or more of the limited number of nodes; selecting a common routing protocol based on the received routing protocol information; and transmitting information associated with the selected common routing protocol to all the nodes in the network.