At block 1102, misalignment of a first optical system 250a of a first communication device 200a and a second optical system 250b of a second communication device 200b is detected. At block 1104, the first optical system 250a is rotated according to a primary search pattern 800, and the second optical system 250b is rotated according to a secondary search pattern 700. The primary search pattern 800 includes maintaining the first optical system 250a in a fixed position for a set amount of time. The secondary search pattern 700 includes a series of positions ordered in increasing distance from a starting position. A set of frames is captured at the second communication device 200b at block 1106. At block 1108, whether a beacon beam 24a transmitted from the first communication device 200a is detected in one or more of the captured frames is determined at the second communication device 200b. Then, a communication link 22b is formed between the first communication device 200a and the second communication device 200b when the beacon beam 24a is detected at block 1110.

The features described above may provide for an efficient way to detect a beacon beam location and establish a long distance optical communication link between two communication devices. A communication network created using the features described may provide end users with network coverage that is robust to outages because beacon beams may be detected quickly and the optical systems may quickly adjust for any system movements.