Asus ROG Phone 5S connectivity issues to GSM networks

[Ixonblitz]

Please tell us some basic information before asking for help:
Model Name:Asus Rog Phone 5S ZS676KS
Firmware Version: Android 12
Rooted or not: No
Frequency of Occurrence: Constantly
APP Name & APP Version (If your issue relates to the app):N/A
In addition to information above, please also provide as much details as you can, e.g., using scenario, what troubleshooting you've already done, screenshot, etc.
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Alright guys, I have bought myself an Asus ROG Phone 5s ZS676KS and it works great in hardware sense except for connectivity to GSM networks in the US. I can verify that the phone is the issue as I have tried on multiple GSM networks with no avail. I am now on Tmobile which besides Verizon(CDMA) has the best connectivity in my area. I have learned that other people on other phones with Tmobile often have service even if I don't. Me being a young IT guy have looked into the Mobile Data settings to find that the APN Settings were correct and even after doing all basic troubleshooting to eliminate all simple issues. The Manually select network option allows me to see all the available network and often the Strengths do not match others as if my phone is inaccurate and even if it shows up it doesn't seem to keep connected or connect at all. The speeds are slower and it does not seem to work like other US phones do. I have a few beliefs that could be true. I believe that there are other technologies used in Europe and Russia that the phone has built in because it is not typically on American Networks and that it is causing issues connecting/staying connected. I also believe that the way that the phone switched from one tower to the next is also different(and not working) so if I move out of range of 1 tower that the connection does not reset to the next tower but just disconnects. I have not been able to use adb to debug and read the logs and try and see if there are errors that the phone does not tell me. Although I have seen other discussions showing similar issues with certain parts of my issue but mine seems to cover a broad list of issues.

[Ixonblitz]

Thank you so much for that it's actually giving me so much clarity in comparison to anything I've ever read on anything close to this issue on other discussions. Although just for clarification it is the software that Asus has developed on the Android distro that connects to sectors that it's having issues connecting and that the actual hardware isn't really broken or anything?

[Ixonblitz]

Ixonblitz

Thank you so much for that it's actually giving me so much clarity in comparison to anything I've ever read on anything close to this issue on other discussions. Although just for clarification it is the software that Asus has developed on the Android distro that connects to sectors that it's having issues connecting and that the actual hardware isn't really broken or anything?

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I only ask for the clarification because I'm confident in my ability to develop a solution as long as it is more software than hardware based as I know would be very hard after seeing these DIY videos on this ROG phone 5S that there are a lot of steps to just take me up as soon as parts of the phone much less replacing them and putting it back together. Although if it was a software issue each company that develops the phone often develops their own distribution of Android and whatever version it is does not matter. And then they customize it straight for the hardware that the running it on in which Asus has done here as you can see that the application armory crate is only supported on Asus phones because of the ASUS Android distribution. Other distribution such as Samsung are very much more developed because they are larger company that are more focused on user design then high performance hardware but when it comes to people like me or whoever else about this phone we're planning on trying to get both and that's why they paid such a high price. Now what could be done is if it was completely software we could just test and see other distributions to see if any of their ways of connecting to cellular networks could apply to the Asus distribution If not I can attempt at developing a solution to replace the current solution that ASUS has to attempt to create a working more efficient one. This would help out so many of the owners of this phone and future phones as backwards compatibility is usually never an issue.

[FunBike31]

The chip's transmit power is unfortunately not the only criterion for having a good signal, but we can see that the signal is excellent at initialization when it is transmitting at full power, so increasing it in use would be a solution.
However, the SAR values are not far from the regulatory limits and do not leave much margin.
Regulation 2, 2, and 4 / Rog 5 1.561 W/kg (body), 1.331 W/kg (head), 3.583 W/kg (limbs)

This power is controlled by the software, this is a certainty
Example, our ANFR agency had the OnePlus 6T modified, which exceeded the maximum legal values, trunk SAR measured at 2.56 W/kg, i.e. 0.56 above legality, to a much more acceptable value of 1.17 W /kg after a firmware update by OnePlus.

But I am unable to say without extensive research if this modification can be made in a source module or if it is in a compiled driver modifiable only by the manufacturer of the chip or by ASUS.

[Ixonblitz]

FunBike31

The chip's transmit power is unfortunately not the only criterion for having a good signal, but we can see that the signal is excellent at initialization when it is transmitting at full power, so increasing it in use would be a solution.

However, the SAR values are not far from the regulatory limits and do not leave much margin.

Regulation 2, 2, and 4 / Rog 5 1.561 W/kg (body), 1.331 W/kg (head), 3.583 W/kg (limbs)

This power is controlled by the software, this is a certainty

Example, our ANFR agency had the OnePlus 6T modified, which exceeded the maximum legal values, trunk SAR measured at 2.56 W/kg, i.e. 0.56 above legality, to a much more acceptable value of 1.17 W /kg after a firmware update by OnePlus.

But I am unable to say without extensive research if this modification can be made in a source module or if it is in a compiled driver modifiable only by the manufacturer of the chip or by ASUS.

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Thank you the idea of this actually could be onto something and maybe only the manufacturer can *normally* change this but if Asus made it they would probably be more inclined to help with solid plan if we attempt to fix the ongoing issue. If not there are other ways of doing so thanks 🙂

[Ixonblitz]

Regulation 2, 2, and 4 / Rog 5 1.561 W/kg (body), 1.331 W/kg (head), 3.583 W/kg (limbs)
Can you explain this last part please