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Asus ROG Phone 5S connectivity issues to GSM networks

Ixonblitz
Star II
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.
========================================
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.
10 REPLIES 10

Ixonblitz
Star II
I've struggled for months and this is getting really annoying so please help asap.

FunBike31
Community Legend I
welcome to the club

Unfortunately no help to expect from asus, this dates and reported since 07/2021, you describe the behavior of ROG5 and ROG6 Android 11 & 12 quite well, GSM / 4G / 5G management is infamous shit, Wifi is not worth better.
If I compare the ROG 5 with one of my other random phones, I have at best -10db with the worst, -15db with the best
Double the ping, half the UP/DL speeds in WIFI and 4G or 5G (except within a minute after doing airplane mode Off/On) in 4G for speed
Example 4G Moto G8+ ping 40ms, DL70Mbs/UL 50Mbs/s all the time
Asus 4G ping 86ms, DL16Mbs/UL11MB/s. Plane On/OFF in the first minute, 2 max (ping 85ms DL74Mb/s, UL37Mb/s), after 2 minutes, ping DL and UL identical to the 1st measurements or worse (at the moment, DL10Mb/s UL9.8Mb/ s
If I compare with my G100 motorcycle (half the price of the Rog5) or S22, I might as well kill myself.
At work for our applications we have an impressive list of rugged smartphones and all of the NEXUS and PIXEL is the latest serve as a reference, in summary, in the event of a bug, if the bug cannot be reproduced on a Google device, this is not our problem and is not accepted by society). since 2013, except a Pidion BIp 5000 and a Wiko not accepted guess what are the other Smartphones not accepted since 2021

In summary.
General sensitivity is poor
After putting it in Airplane mode and then removing it, it hooks to the right antenna and the right sector (LCID), with the maximum signal (example -70 dBm) and detects all neighboring antennas
after a few minutes, it changes sector on the antenna and the signal gradually drops from -70dB (or max) to -100dB and stabilizes between -95 to -100 (note: excellent -50 to -85, good -85 at -95, bad -96 to -105, very bad beyond and off grid at -115)
It loses all the neighboring antennas, at best in a very dense area there is one left, in this case, by moving slowly it connects to it and that's fine, in most cases, you have to activate and deactivate the airplane mode so that he finds an antenna or wait long minutes without data.
It is very likely that this behavior is intended (or caused by the loss of the initial 10dBm) to reduce consumption or SAR, we arrive with values that are far too limited and a set of inherent bugs, change of frequency band, sector, loss of neighboring antennas.
Ping, speed them are always bad.
Install Network Cell info lite and compare with any phone, you will understand better.
No need even to change the antenna, each antenna broadcasts on 3 different sectors and bands, the bands are an example, they differ according to the operator
On the gauge screen, after an airplane mode off/we observe the signal value, the band and eNB-LCID (the last 2 digits correspond to the coverage angle)
at home I am in sector 3 on all my phones, band 28, on the antenna opposite my window, with the ASUS, a few minutes later it switches to sector 1, band 7 and calculates an imaginary antenna in the middle of the River
antenne4g.png
No need to wait for a fix from ASUS, it's been 16 months now, so stop struggling and switch brands

FunBike31
Community Legend I
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10:29 Airplane mode on/off 1 antenna detected + 7 neighboring antennas, 10:30 loss of 6 neighbors, signal good (-84) to bad (-95)

10:32 moved to go to sector 3 (20m from the antenna), after airplane mode excellent signal from the main one and the others, band 28 ideal, 10:32-36 motionless, loss of 25dBm, changed band for the 7, remains a neighbor of the same operator with signal at -102

If you reproduce with your ROG and another you will also see a drop* if you are next to an antenna, but the signal will remain in the green zone around 85 at worst 90, the neighboring antennas will be kept and if there is a change tape it is to use a better less cluttered and not the most used one.
*Normal, the chip reduces its emission, optimizes power/wave/consumption/quality (except on ASUS 5 and 6)
On this test outside, he did not change sectors, which he does stationary at home and takes the opposite one after a few minutes.

FunBike31
Community Legend I
Ixonblitz

Please tell us some basic information before asking for help:

  1. Model Name:Asus Rog Phone 5S ZS676KS
  2. Firmware Version: Android 12
  3. Rooted or not: No
  4. Frequency of Occurrence: Constantly
  5. 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.

========================================

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.


Asus ROG Phone 5S connectivity issues to GSM networks
I forgot, nothing to do with the USA or the operator, Europe, Indonesia is the same.
The lesser evil is in rural areas, at least with an Antenna, either you have network (bad but stable) or not at all, no bug when changing antenna since there is none 🙂
No need ADB, the calculator with these diag log codes will give you the same
On: .19595+=
Off: .09595+=