Method and communication system for selecting a transmission mode for transmitting payload data

A transmission mode selection for packet-oriented transmission of useful data between a first and a second communication device is provided, where lists of transmission modes for the communication devices are transmitted to a quality-of-service device. The quality-of-service device uses available transmission resources to select one or more transmission modes from the lists such that the quality of service, which is dependent on the selected transmission modes, can be assured by the available transmission resources. The selected transmission modes are transmitted to a connection controller which prompts further selection of a transmission mode from the transmission modes for the communication devices. The useful data are then transmitted between the communication devices using the transmission mode selected by the further selection.