Constant dropped calls and poor signal - phone signal reception issues

[Nicholas77]

I've been having terrible phone signal reception issues with my OnePlus 9 for the past month. I'm constantly dropping calls, texts fail to send, and my data speeds are awful even when I have full bars. I've tried switching between 5G and 4G, updating the phone, and even got a new SIM card from my carrier. The weird part is my wife has the same phone on the same network and hers works fine. I'm wondering if this could be antenna damage or something internal. Has anyone successfully fixed phone signal reception issues themselves, or is this always a hardware repair situation?

[BrandonZW]

Phone signal reception issues can be tricky to diagnose. Since your wife's identical phone works fine, it's almost certainly your specific device. First, check if the problem happens everywhere or just in certain locations. If it's everywhere, it's likely hardware. Try removing your case - some cases with metal components or certain materials can interfere with antenna reception. Also, check if you have any magnetic mounts or accessories that could be affecting the antenna.

[Stella_M]

OnePlus phones are known for having antenna bands around the edges. If you've dropped the phone, even without visible damage, you could have cracked an internal antenna line. These are usually printed on the phone's frame. Phone signal reception issues after a drop are common with this design. Try holding the phone differently - sometimes covering certain areas with your hand can block the antenna completely on phones with edge antennas.

[Brandon.J]

Try dialing *#*#4636#*#* to access the phone testing menu. You can check your signal strength in dBm there. Compare it with your wife's phone in the same location. If yours is significantly worse, it's definitely hardware. Also check if you're connecting to the same cell tower - sometimes phones can get stuck on a distant tower. You can try forcing it to search for networks and reconnect.

[Nathan_T]

I had phone signal reception issues that turned out to be a software problem. After a certain update, my phone's modem firmware got corrupted. Flashing the modem firmware fixed it. You might try downloading the full ROM for your phone and flashing just the modem partition. But this is advanced stuff - if you're not comfortable with it, a repair shop might be better. Phone signal reception issues from software are less common but do happen.