I frequently have a problem with my Motorola Moto G6+ (on the EE network
in the UK) whereby I lose incoming sound on voice calls, and I cannot
hear the person at the other end. Sometimes it's intermittent during a
call and sometimes there's no sound at all. The other person can
invariably hear me ok.

I was told by a local phone repair shop that this could be down to
signal strength. They said that if there were insufficient bars I may
lose incoming sound whilst outgoing sound would be ok.

Is there any truth in this or are they telling porkies? My instinct
tells me that it would be the other way round, because the signal from
the mast to my phone would be stronger than the signal from my phone to
the mast.

Any comments?
--
Cheers,
Roger

On Thu 28/10/2021 10:11, Roger Mills wrote:
> I frequently have a problem with my Motorola Moto G6+ (on the EE network
> in the UK) whereby I lose incoming sound on voice calls, and I cannot
> hear the person at the other end. Sometimes it's intermittent during a
> call and sometimes there's no sound at all. The other person can
> invariably hear me ok.
>
> I was told by a local phone repair shop that this could be down to
> signal strength. They said that if there were insufficient bars I may
> lose incoming sound whilst outgoing sound would be ok.
>
> Is there any truth in this or are they telling porkies? My instinct
> tells me that it would be the other way round, because the signal from
> the mast to my phone would be stronger than the signal from my phone to
> the mast.
>
> Any comments?

Porkies without a doubt.

Could be something as simple as a dodgy earpiece or its connection. Have
you tried using it in loudspeaker mode or with a plug-in headset when
the problem occurs? (You could try Bluetooth earpieces but that is
another radio system which needs to be ruled out by using the wired
connection.)

Woody <harrogate3@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> On Thu 28/10/2021 10:11, Roger Mills wrote:
>> I frequently have a problem with my Motorola Moto G6+ (on the EE network
>> in the UK) whereby I lose incoming sound on voice calls, and I cannot
>> hear the person at the other end. Sometimes it's intermittent during a
>> call and sometimes there's no sound at all. The other person can
>> invariably hear me ok.
>>
>> I was told by a local phone repair shop that this could be down to
>> signal strength. They said that if there were insufficient bars I may
>> lose incoming sound whilst outgoing sound would be ok.
>>
>> Is there any truth in this or are they telling porkies? My instinct
>> tells me that it would be the other way round, because the signal from
>> the mast to my phone would be stronger than the signal from my phone to
>> the mast.
>>
>> Any comments?
>
> Porkies without a doubt.
>
> Could be something as simple as a dodgy earpiece or its connection. Have
> you tried using it in loudspeaker mode or with a plug-in headset when
> the problem occurs? (You could try Bluetooth earpieces but that is
> another radio system which needs to be ruled out by using the wired
> connection.)
>

If the call stays connected but you can’t hear anything then I’d suspect
something up with your phone. If your phone can’t receive the base station
for any length of time the call would be dropped.

On 28/10/2021 12:02, Woody wrote:
> On Thu 28/10/2021 10:11, Roger Mills wrote:
>> I frequently have a problem with my Motorola Moto G6+ (on the EE
>> network in the UK) whereby I lose incoming sound on voice calls, and I
>> cannot hear the person at the other end. Sometimes it's intermittent
>> during a call and sometimes there's no sound at all. The other person
>> can invariably hear me ok.
>>
>> I was told by a local phone repair shop that this could be down to
>> signal strength. They said that if there were insufficient bars I may
>> lose incoming sound whilst outgoing sound would be ok.
>>
>> Is there any truth in this or are they telling porkies? My instinct
>> tells me that it would be the other way round, because the signal from
>> the mast to my phone would be stronger than the signal from my phone
>> to the mast.
>>
>> Any comments?
>
> Porkies without a doubt.
>
> Could be something as simple as a dodgy earpiece or its connection. Have
> you tried using it in loudspeaker mode or with a plug-in headset when
> the problem occurs? (You could try Bluetooth earpieces but that is
> another radio system which needs to be ruled out by using the wired
> connection.)

The same thing happens in speaker mode and with a bluetooth headset.
BUT, the sound is fine when streaming from the internet or listening to
stored MP3 files - and even when making internet voice calls using VoIP.
It's *only* on GSM voice calls so I don't think it's the earpiece.

I suspect that it's a software issue associated with the phone app, but
don't know how to diagnose it - and even less how to fix it!
--
Cheers,
Roger

On 28/10/2021 12:22, Tweed wrote:
> Woody <harrogate3@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>> On Thu 28/10/2021 10:11, Roger Mills wrote:
>>> I frequently have a problem with my Motorola Moto G6+ (on the EE network
>>> in the UK) whereby I lose incoming sound on voice calls, and I cannot
>>> hear the person at the other end. Sometimes it's intermittent during a
>>> call and sometimes there's no sound at all. The other person can
>>> invariably hear me ok.
>>>
>>> I was told by a local phone repair shop that this could be down to
>>> signal strength. They said that if there were insufficient bars I may
>>> lose incoming sound whilst outgoing sound would be ok.
>>>
>>> Is there any truth in this or are they telling porkies? My instinct
>>> tells me that it would be the other way round, because the signal from
>>> the mast to my phone would be stronger than the signal from my phone to
>>> the mast.
>>>
>>> Any comments?
>>
>> Porkies without a doubt.
>>
>> Could be something as simple as a dodgy earpiece or its connection. Have
>> you tried using it in loudspeaker mode or with a plug-in headset when
>> the problem occurs? (You could try Bluetooth earpieces but that is
>> another radio system which needs to be ruled out by using the wired
>> connection.)
>>
>
> If the call stays connected but you can’t hear anything then I’d suspect
> something up with your phone. If your phone can’t receive the base station
> for any length of time the call would be dropped.
>

The call does stay connected, but I usually end it, having told the
person at the other end that I've got a problem with my phone and will
contact them by some other means.
--
Cheers,
Roger

On 28/10/2021 10:11, Roger Mills wrote:
> I frequently have a problem with my Motorola Moto G6+ (on the EE network
> in the UK) whereby I lose incoming sound on voice calls, and I cannot
> hear the person at the other end. Sometimes it's intermittent during a
> call and sometimes there's no sound at all. The other person can
> invariably hear me ok.
>
> I was told by a local phone repair shop that this could be down to
> signal strength. They said that if there were insufficient bars I may
> lose incoming sound whilst outgoing sound would be ok.
>
> Is there any truth in this or are they telling porkies? My instinct
> tells me that it would be the other way round, because the signal from
> the mast to my phone would be stronger than the signal from my phone to
> the mast.
>
> Any comments?

I had a similarly weird problem a couple years ago with Wifi Calling. It
would drop the call within a few seconds of answering. Are you using
Wifi Calling and can you try turning it off?

Roger Mills <watt.tyler@gmail.com> wrote:

> I frequently have a problem with my Motorola Moto G6+ (on the EE
> network in the UK) whereby I lose incoming sound on voice calls, and
> I cannot hear the person at the other end. Sometimes it's
> intermittent during a call and sometimes there's no sound at all. The
> other person can invariably hear me ok.
>
> I was told by a local phone repair shop that this could be down to
> signal strength. They said that if there were insufficient bars I may
> lose incoming sound whilst outgoing sound would be ok.
>
> Is there any truth in this or are they telling porkies? My instinct
> tells me that it would be the other way round, because the signal
> from the mast to my phone would be stronger than the signal from my
> phone to the mast.

I've read where the phone's outgoing signal strength is boosted when it
attempts to connect to a cell tower to make a call (not when receiving a
call). It's just temporary in trying to connect to the tower, but not
during the call. When your signal strength is low, calls will get
flaky. Could be artifacts you hear from the other end, or artifacts
from you heard on the other end.

How many bars do you have during those flaky calls? There is no
standard for what the bars represent, or what range of dBm each bar
measures. Don't use them to tell you the signal strength. 1 bar on one
phone might represent a higher signal strength than 2 bars on another
phone. There are apps to tell you your actual signal strenght, like
Network Cell Info, rather than relying on the crude and inaccurate 5-bar
icon. On my phone, I can go to Android settings -> About phone ->
Network to see the signal strength (in dBm). Under -90 dBm, calls start
to get flaky. The higher the negative dBm measure, the worse the call
quality and reliability. -85 dBm, or better, is usually usable. The
closer to 0 (zero), the stronger the signal.

Does the voice cutout happen everywhere you use the phone, or only at
home (or always in one location)?

In the Phone app's settings, do you have noise suppression enabled?
That can cause cutout, especially if you're in a noisy area. It may
have difficulty distinguishing your voice from the background noise it
is trying to cutout. I have a buddy whose calls cutout all the time.
Next time this happens, I'll suggest he disable noise suppression.
Yeah, there'll be more noise in his calls, so he'll have to talk louder
instead of getting cutout along with the noise. I don't if the default
is on or off for the noise suppression feature.

There might also be a Voice Clarity setting you can play with.

Make sure when hold your phone that your hand isn't over the mic port,
or even near it. Hold higher up on the sides of the phone, so your hand
is farther from the mic port.

Check there is no debris in the mic port. Do NOT stick a pin in the
port to clean it. Use compressed air at an angle to the port, not
straight into the port (which could damage the mic along with compacting
the debris worse into the port). A pin can puncture the diaghragm on
the mic which means losing noise cancellation if you want it.

On 13:01 28 Oct 2021, Roger Mills said:
> On 28/10/2021 12:22, Tweed wrote:
>> Woody <harrogate3@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>>> On Thu 28/10/2021 10:11, Roger Mills wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I frequently have a problem with my Motorola Moto G6+ (on the EE
>>>> network in the UK) whereby I lose incoming sound on voice calls,
>>>> and I cannot hear the person at the other end. Sometimes it's
>>>> intermittent during a call and sometimes there's no sound at all.
>>>> The other person can invariably hear me ok.
>>>>
>>>> I was told by a local phone repair shop that this could be down
>>>> to signal strength. They said that if there were insufficient
>>>> bars I may lose incoming sound whilst outgoing sound would be ok.
>>>>
>>>> Is there any truth in this or are they telling porkies? My
>>>> instinct tells me that it would be the other way round, because
>>>> the signal from the mast to my phone would be stronger than the
>>>> signal from my phone to the mast.
>>>>
>>>> Any comments?
>>>
>>> Porkies without a doubt.
>>>
>>> Could be something as simple as a dodgy earpiece or its
>>> connection. Have you tried using it in loudspeaker mode or with a
>>> plug-in headset when the problem occurs? (You could try Bluetooth
>>> earpieces but that is another radio system which needs to be ruled
>>> out by using the wired connection.)
>>
>> If the call stays connected but you can�t hear anything then I�d
>> suspect something up with your phone. If your phone can�t receive
>> the base station for any length of time the call would be dropped.
>
> The call does stay connected, but I usually end it, having told the
> person at the other end that I've got a problem with my phone and
> will contact them by some other means.

I seem to recall various audio problems with calls on Moto G. I had
this with a Moto G5 (on Three Mobile).

Some users find the problem improves if they switch to loudspeaker,
even though the problem may be on incoming speech. Others have
problems on outgoing speech, which you don't. Google for user reports
but I don't think anyone found a reliable solution.

I moved to a Moto G7 (also on Three) and it didn't have this trouble
at all.

On Thu 28/10/2021 15:44, VanguardLH wrote:
> Roger Mills <watt.tyler@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I frequently have a problem with my Motorola Moto G6+ (on the EE
>> network in the UK) whereby I lose incoming sound on voice calls, and
>> I cannot hear the person at the other end. Sometimes it's
>> intermittent during a call and sometimes there's no sound at all. The
>> other person can invariably hear me ok.
>>
>> I was told by a local phone repair shop that this could be down to
>> signal strength. They said that if there were insufficient bars I may
>> lose incoming sound whilst outgoing sound would be ok.
>>
>> Is there any truth in this or are they telling porkies? My instinct
>> tells me that it would be the other way round, because the signal
>> from the mast to my phone would be stronger than the signal from my
>> phone to the mast.
>
> I've read where the phone's outgoing signal strength is boosted when it
> attempts to connect to a cell tower to make a call (not when receiving a
> call). It's just temporary in trying to connect to the tower, but not
> during the call. When your signal strength is low, calls will get
> flaky. Could be artifacts you hear from the other end, or artifacts
> from you heard on the other end.
>
> How many bars do you have during those flaky calls? There is no
> standard for what the bars represent, or what range of dBm each bar
> measures. Don't use them to tell you the signal strength. 1 bar on one
> phone might represent a higher signal strength than 2 bars on another
> phone. There are apps to tell you your actual signal strenght, like
> Network Cell Info, rather than relying on the crude and inaccurate 5-bar
> icon. On my phone, I can go to Android settings -> About phone ->
> Network to see the signal strength (in dBm). Under -90 dBm, calls start
> to get flaky. The higher the negative dBm measure, the worse the call
> quality and reliability. -85 dBm, or better, is usually usable. The
> closer to 0 (zero), the stronger the signal.
>
> Does the voice cutout happen everywhere you use the phone, or only at
> home (or always in one location)?
>
> In the Phone app's settings, do you have noise suppression enabled?
> That can cause cutout, especially if you're in a noisy area. It may
> have difficulty distinguishing your voice from the background noise it
> is trying to cutout. I have a buddy whose calls cutout all the time.
> Next time this happens, I'll suggest he disable noise suppression.
> Yeah, there'll be more noise in his calls, so he'll have to talk louder
> instead of getting cutout along with the noise. I don't if the default
> is on or off for the noise suppression feature.
>
> There might also be a Voice Clarity setting you can play with.
>
> Make sure when hold your phone that your hand isn't over the mic port,
> or even near it. Hold higher up on the sides of the phone, so your hand
> is farther from the mic port.
>
> Check there is no debris in the mic port. Do NOT stick a pin in the
> port to clean it. Use compressed air at an angle to the port, not
> straight into the port (which could damage the mic along with compacting
> the debris worse into the port). A pin can puncture the diaghragm on
> the mic which means losing noise cancellation if you want it.
>

Well, not quite. The phone always attempts to initiate a call at full
power - with a Class 4 as most modern in-your-pocket phones are- that
will usually be 400mW. During call set up the base station will
negotiate with the handset to achieve the lowest transmitter power from
the handset consistent with solid reception at the base station in 2dB
sets down to 4mW..

I suspect the reply above is from someone in the US using an
infrastructure other than GSM - I have never seen a noise suppressor on
a GSM phone!

Woody <harrogate3@ntlworld.com> wrote:

> On Thu 28/10/2021 15:44, VanguardLH wrote:
>> Roger Mills <watt.tyler@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I frequently have a problem with my Motorola Moto G6+ (on the EE
>>> network in the UK) whereby I lose incoming sound on voice calls, and
>>> I cannot hear the person at the other end. Sometimes it's
>>> intermittent during a call and sometimes there's no sound at all. The
>>> other person can invariably hear me ok.
>>>
>>> I was told by a local phone repair shop that this could be down to
>>> signal strength. They said that if there were insufficient bars I may
>>> lose incoming sound whilst outgoing sound would be ok.
>>>
>>> Is there any truth in this or are they telling porkies? My instinct
>>> tells me that it would be the other way round, because the signal
>>> from the mast to my phone would be stronger than the signal from my
>>> phone to the mast.
>>
>> I've read where the phone's outgoing signal strength is boosted when it
>> attempts to connect to a cell tower to make a call (not when receiving a
>> call). It's just temporary in trying to connect to the tower, but not
>> during the call. When your signal strength is low, calls will get
>> flaky. Could be artifacts you hear from the other end, or artifacts
>> from you heard on the other end.
>> ...
>> In the Phone app's settings, do you have noise suppression enabled?
>> That can cause cutout, especially if you're in a noisy area.
>
> Well, not quite. The phone always attempts to initiate a call at full
> power - with a Class 4 as most modern in-your-pocket phones are- that
> will usually be 400mW. During call set up the base station will
> negotiate with the handset to achieve the lowest transmitter power from
> the handset consistent with solid reception at the base station in 2dB
> sets down to 4mW..
>
> I suspect the reply above is from someone in the US using an
> infrastructure other than GSM - I have never seen a noise suppressor on
> a GSM phone!

LG V20 (H910 AT&T unlocked) phone.
Yep, GSM.
Specs: https://www.gsmarena.com/lg_v20-8238.php#h910
5-year old phone, no 5G, Android 8.0.0 (discontinued, so no OS updates).

Don't own, but Moto G6+ has noise suppression, too. I've read where
Samsung S5, Note 4, and Sony Z2 have noise reduction (it can have
different names on different phones).

Perhaps a feature of the particular Phone app I'm using on my phone.
The app is not listed under Apps, so likely LG's bundled app. Don't
know whose Phone app that LG uses. The Phone app is just a dialer (for
calls). I also have the Google Voice app which is another dialer, too.
At one time, I remember having 3 dialers: Phone, Google Voice, and
Hangouts (with the ancilliary Hangouts Dialer app).

Woody wrote:

> I have never seen a noise suppressor on a GSM phone!

It's pretty common to have multiple microphones on a phone for background noise
cancellation, which I suspect is what they were referring to as "suppression"

On 28/10/2021 14:42, Chris wrote:
> On 28/10/2021 10:11, Roger Mills wrote:
>> I frequently have a problem with my Motorola Moto G6+ (on the EE
>> network in the UK) whereby I lose incoming sound on voice calls, and I
>> cannot hear the person at the other end. Sometimes it's intermittent
>> during a call and sometimes there's no sound at all. The other person
>> can invariably hear me ok.
>>
>> I was told by a local phone repair shop that this could be down to
>> signal strength. They said that if there were insufficient bars I may
>> lose incoming sound whilst outgoing sound would be ok.
>>
>> Is there any truth in this or are they telling porkies? My instinct
>> tells me that it would be the other way round, because the signal from
>> the mast to my phone would be stronger than the signal from my phone
>> to the mast.
>>
>> Any comments?
>
> I had a similarly weird problem a couple years ago with Wifi Calling. It
> would drop the call within a few seconds of answering. Are you using
> Wifi Calling and can you try turning it off?

No, I'm not using wifi calling - this is pure GSM.
--
Cheers,
Roger

On 28/10/2021 15:44, VanguardLH wrote:
> Roger Mills <watt.tyler@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I frequently have a problem with my Motorola Moto G6+ (on the EE
>> network in the UK) whereby I lose incoming sound on voice calls, and
>> I cannot hear the person at the other end. Sometimes it's
>> intermittent during a call and sometimes there's no sound at all. The
>> other person can invariably hear me ok.
>>
>> I was told by a local phone repair shop that this could be down to
>> signal strength. They said that if there were insufficient bars I may
>> lose incoming sound whilst outgoing sound would be ok.
>>
>> Is there any truth in this or are they telling porkies? My instinct
>> tells me that it would be the other way round, because the signal
>> from the mast to my phone would be stronger than the signal from my
>> phone to the mast.
>
> I've read where the phone's outgoing signal strength is boosted when it
> attempts to connect to a cell tower to make a call (not when receiving a
> call). It's just temporary in trying to connect to the tower, but not
> during the call. When your signal strength is low, calls will get
> flaky. Could be artifacts you hear from the other end, or artifacts
> from you heard on the other end.
>
> How many bars do you have during those flaky calls?

My phone doesn't have bars as such - it has a right-angled triangle
which fills up from the left. At the moment, it's less than half full.

I've just installed Network Cell Info, and that's showing a signal
strength of about -110dB

There is no
> standard for what the bars represent, or what range of dBm each bar
> measures. Don't use them to tell you the signal strength. 1 bar on one
> phone might represent a higher signal strength than 2 bars on another
> phone. There are apps to tell you your actual signal strenght, like
> Network Cell Info, rather than relying on the crude and inaccurate 5-bar
> icon. On my phone, I can go to Android settings -> About phone ->
> Network to see the signal strength (in dBm). Under -90 dBm, calls start
> to get flaky. The higher the negative dBm measure, the worse the call
> quality and reliability. -85 dBm, or better, is usually usable. The
> closer to 0 (zero), the stronger the signal.
>
> Does the voice cutout happen everywhere you use the phone, or only at
> home (or always in one location)?

It can happen anywhere, but I make more calls from home than from
elsewhere. It does seem less likely to happen when I've got a strong
signal - so maybe the man in the phone shop wasn't telling porkies after
all?
>
> In the Phone app's settings, do you have noise suppression enabled?

No.

> That can cause cutout, especially if you're in a noisy area. It may
> have difficulty distinguishing your voice from the background noise it
> is trying to cutout. I have a buddy whose calls cutout all the time.
> Next time this happens, I'll suggest he disable noise suppression.
> Yeah, there'll be more noise in his calls, so he'll have to talk louder
> instead of getting cutout along with the noise. I don't if the default
> is on or off for the noise suppression feature.
>
> There might also be a Voice Clarity setting you can play with.
>
> Make sure when hold your phone that your hand isn't over the mic port,
> or even near it. Hold higher up on the sides of the phone, so your hand
> is farther from the mic port.
>

It's not a mic problem! The person the other end can hear me clearly -
but I can't hear them!
--
Cheers,
Roger

Roger Mills <watt.tyler@gmail.com> wrote:

> VanguardLH wrote:
>
>> Roger Mills <watt.tyler@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I frequently have a problem with my Motorola Moto G6+ (on the EE
>>> network in the UK) whereby I lose incoming sound on voice calls, and
>>> I cannot hear the person at the other end. Sometimes it's
>>> intermittent during a call and sometimes there's no sound at all. The
>>> other person can invariably hear me ok.
>>>
>>> I was told by a local phone repair shop that this could be down to
>>> signal strength. They said that if there were insufficient bars I may
>>> lose incoming sound whilst outgoing sound would be ok.
>>>
>>> Is there any truth in this or are they telling porkies? My instinct
>>> tells me that it would be the other way round, because the signal
>>> from the mast to my phone would be stronger than the signal from my
>>> phone to the mast.
>>
>> How many bars do you have during those flaky calls?
>
> My phone doesn't have bars as such - it has a right-angled triangle
> which fills up from the left. At the moment, it's less than half full.
>
> I've just installed Network Cell Info, and that's showing a signal
> strength of about -110dB

Too low for reliable calls, especially since signal strength will
fluctuate (often getting lower) as you move around. When in my
basement, and because I'm near a river (dip in geographical elevation)
in a forested location, and the cell tower is high up on a small cliff
on the other side of the river, signal strength is poor in my basement,
and just sufficient upstairs. I've several times considered installing
a cell signal booster (e.g., weBoost). I'm using Google Voice, so it's
simple and cheaper to press * during a call to have my other phones ring
to transfer the call, like to a cordless one in the basement whose base
unit connects to a wired phone jack.

>> Make sure when hold your phone that your hand isn't over the mic port,
>> or even near it. Hold higher up on the sides of the phone, so your hand
>> is farther from the mic port.
>
> It's not a mic problem! The person the other end can hear me clearly -
> but I can't hear them!

The port for the speaker and mic could be close enough that your hand
causes feedback. On mine, both the speaker and mic ports are on the
bottom of the phone. Unknown if you were using the earpiece speaker, or
the speakerphone speaker. For speakerphone mode, sometimes it helps to
move my hand up to the middle sides of the phone; i.e., get my hand,
usually cupped, away from the bottom of the phone to eliminate feedback
between speakerphone speaker and mic. In fact, on another phone, it
helps when I lay the phone on a table when using speakerphone to move
the bottom of the phone over the edge of the table to open up the area
around the speakerphone speaker and mic ports; else, and especially
obvious when they're playing background music while on hold, I can
repeated cutouts.

The other speaker is called the earpiece and near the top of the phone
near your ear. Normally when you hold the phone near your head (to have
your mouth closer to the mic port and your ear closer to the earpiece
speaker), the phone uses its proximity sensor to turn off the display to
save on power. Not always sure why, but I've seen some users hold the
phone where its mic port is near their mouth but the earpiece is away
from them; i.e., they hold it horizontal with the to of the phone away
from their headr. Perhaps that's because they need to see something on
the phone during the call. With the earpiece away from your hear, the
proximity sensor is also away from your head, and the display stays on.
See if that position helps. That means the earpiece is farther from
your head, so volume is lower, but maybe not having the display turn off
fixes the problem. When listening to audio files, the phone wouldn't be
against your head.

I didn't see you mention the obvious: using the volume up/down buttons.

What audio apps do you have on your phone? Not just players, but any
mixers, prank/voice changer, noise cancellation, or other apps that
might affect call quality or volume? I can't find it now, but recall
someone saying when they had the Audio Recorder app running (to record a
conversation) that they encountered volume problems.

Do you have any nearby Bluetooth earpieces or headsets nearby? Are they
paired to your phone at the time of the problematic calls? At the time
of those calls, look at what BT devices are paired to your phone. Not
those in the list of previously paired BT devices, but the ones that are
currently actively paired to your phone. Alternatively, you could pull
down the config shade, and tap the BT icon to temporarily disable
Bluetooth to see if the earpiece speaker on the phone starts working.

On 28/10/2021 10:11, Roger Mills wrote:
> I frequently have a problem with my Motorola Moto G6+ (on the EE network
> in the UK) whereby I lose incoming sound on voice calls, and I cannot
> hear the person at the other end. Sometimes it's intermittent during a
> call and sometimes there's no sound at all. The other person can
> invariably hear me ok.

It is possible in a borderline to not spot area. I know this well enough
although for my phone it is always the downlink that fails first due to
local topography. My transmit power is adequate to go the other way.

It manifests as roughly what you see. I get a txt msg to say "missed
call" about half an hour after the call and then cannot retrieve it when
I dial in to voicemail. It also affects TFA since I sometimes (often)
don't get the passcode txt before the damn website times out (15 min).

I have been know to be wondering around the garden with my phone in the
air trying to find enough signal to get an incoming TFA txt. It also
makes the phones battery life pretty awful since it is forever losing
its base station and then reconnecting again on max transmit power.
>
> I was told by a local phone repair shop that this could be down to
> signal strength. They said that if there were insufficient bars I may
> lose incoming sound whilst outgoing sound would be ok.

It can happen either way round some phones have lousy antennae. Usually
the mast can transmit a signal that is more than adequate for its local
area but not if you are in a hollow.

> Is there any truth in this or are they telling porkies? My instinct
> tells me that it would be the other way round, because the signal from
> the mast to my phone would be stronger than the signal from my phone to
> the mast.
>
> Any comments?

The mast is equipped with a much better antenna and amplifier than your
puny phone. I invariably lose downlink first (almost in a not spot).

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On Fri 29/10/2021 07:49, VanguardLH wrote:
> Roger Mills <watt.tyler@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> VanguardLH wrote:
>>
>>> Roger Mills <watt.tyler@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I frequently have a problem with my Motorola Moto G6+ (on the EE
>>>> network in the UK) whereby I lose incoming sound on voice calls, and
>>>> I cannot hear the person at the other end. Sometimes it's
>>>> intermittent during a call and sometimes there's no sound at all. The
>>>> other person can invariably hear me ok.
>>>>
>>>> I was told by a local phone repair shop that this could be down to
>>>> signal strength. They said that if there were insufficient bars I may
>>>> lose incoming sound whilst outgoing sound would be ok.
>>>>
>>>> Is there any truth in this or are they telling porkies? My instinct
>>>> tells me that it would be the other way round, because the signal
>>>> from the mast to my phone would be stronger than the signal from my
>>>> phone to the mast.
>>>
>>> How many bars do you have during those flaky calls?
>>
>> My phone doesn't have bars as such - it has a right-angled triangle
>> which fills up from the left. At the moment, it's less than half full.
>>
>> I've just installed Network Cell Info, and that's showing a signal
>> strength of about -110dB
>
> Too low for reliable calls, especially since signal strength will
> fluctuate (often getting lower) as you move around. When in my
> basement, and because I'm near a river (dip in geographical elevation)
> in a forested location, and the cell tower is high up on a small cliff
> on the other side of the river, signal strength is poor in my basement,
> and just sufficient upstairs. I've several times considered installing
> a cell signal booster (e.g., weBoost). I'm using Google Voice, so it's
> simple and cheaper to press * during a call to have my other phones ring
> to transfer the call, like to a cordless one in the basement whose base
> unit connects to a wired phone jack.
>
>>> Make sure when hold your phone that your hand isn't over the mic port,
>>> or even near it. Hold higher up on the sides of the phone, so your hand
>>> is farther from the mic port.
>>
>> It's not a mic problem! The person the other end can hear me clearly -
>> but I can't hear them!
>
> The port for the speaker and mic could be close enough that your hand
> causes feedback. On mine, both the speaker and mic ports are on the
> bottom of the phone. Unknown if you were using the earpiece speaker, or
> the speakerphone speaker. For speakerphone mode, sometimes it helps to
> move my hand up to the middle sides of the phone; i.e., get my hand,
> usually cupped, away from the bottom of the phone to eliminate feedback
> between speakerphone speaker and mic. In fact, on another phone, it
> helps when I lay the phone on a table when using speakerphone to move
> the bottom of the phone over the edge of the table to open up the area
> around the speakerphone speaker and mic ports; else, and especially
> obvious when they're playing background music while on hold, I can
> repeated cutouts.
>
> The other speaker is called the earpiece and near the top of the phone
> near your ear. Normally when you hold the phone near your head (to have
> your mouth closer to the mic port and your ear closer to the earpiece
> speaker), the phone uses its proximity sensor to turn off the display to
> save on power. Not always sure why, but I've seen some users hold the
> phone where its mic port is near their mouth but the earpiece is away
> from them; i.e., they hold it horizontal with the to of the phone away
> from their headr. Perhaps that's because they need to see something on
> the phone during the call. With the earpiece away from your hear, the
> proximity sensor is also away from your head, and the display stays on.
> See if that position helps. That means the earpiece is farther from
> your head, so volume is lower, but maybe not having the display turn off
> fixes the problem. When listening to audio files, the phone wouldn't be
> against your head.
>
> I didn't see you mention the obvious: using the volume up/down buttons.
>
> What audio apps do you have on your phone? Not just players, but any
> mixers, prank/voice changer, noise cancellation, or other apps that
> might affect call quality or volume? I can't find it now, but recall
> someone saying when they had the Audio Recorder app running (to record a
> conversation) that they encountered volume problems.
>
> Do you have any nearby Bluetooth earpieces or headsets nearby? Are they
> paired to your phone at the time of the problematic calls? At the time
> of those calls, look at what BT devices are paired to your phone. Not
> those in the list of previously paired BT devices, but the ones that are
> currently actively paired to your phone. Alternatively, you could pull
> down the config shade, and tap the BT icon to temporarily disable
> Bluetooth to see if the earpiece speaker on the phone starts working.
>

-110dBm suggests the measurement is of a 3G signal - you would expect
signals in the -50dBm to -70dBm on 2G. -110dBm is around 30uV in
absolute terms which should be more than enough for any phone.

On Fri 29/10/2021 08:48, Martin Brown wrote:
> On 28/10/2021 10:11, Roger Mills wrote:
>> I frequently have a problem with my Motorola Moto G6+ (on the EE
>> network in the UK) whereby I lose incoming sound on voice calls, and I
>> cannot hear the person at the other end. Sometimes it's intermittent
>> during a call and sometimes there's no sound at all. The other person
>> can invariably hear me ok.
>
> It is possible in a borderline to not spot area. I know this well enough
> although for my phone it is always the downlink that fails first due to
> local topography. My transmit power is adequate to go the other way.
>
> It manifests as roughly what you see. I get a txt msg to say "missed
> call" about half an hour after the call and then cannot retrieve it when
> I dial in to voicemail. It also affects TFA since I sometimes (often)
> don't get the passcode txt before the damn website times out (15 min).
>
> I have been know to be wondering around the garden with my phone in the
> air trying to find enough signal to get an incoming TFA txt. It also
> makes the phones battery life pretty awful since it is forever losing
> its base station and then reconnecting again on max transmit power.
>>
>> I was told by a local phone repair shop that this could be down to
>> signal strength. They said that if there were insufficient bars I may
>> lose incoming sound whilst outgoing sound would be ok.
>
> It can happen either way round some phones have lousy antennae. Usually
> the mast can transmit a signal that is more than adequate for its local
> area but not if you are in a hollow.
>
>> Is there any truth in this or are they telling porkies? My instinct
>> tells me that it would be the other way round, because the signal from
>> the mast to my phone would be stronger than the signal from my phone
>> to the mast.
>>
>> Any comments?
>
> The mast is equipped with a much better antenna and amplifier than your
> puny phone. I invariably lose downlink first (almost in a not spot).
>

Have you tried wi-fi calling Martin? Most SPs now provide the capability
and from the experience of a relative I can tell you it really does work
- well, in most cases anyway!

Am 28.10.21 um 17:25 schrieb Andy Burns:
> Woody wrote:
>
>> I have never seen a noise suppressor on a GSM phone!
>
> It's pretty common to have multiple microphones on a phone for background noise
> cancellation, which I suspect is what they were referring to as "suppression"

That is standard on mobile devices.
Otherwise they would be unusable in urban environments.

--
De gustibus non est disputandum

On 29/10/2021 09:31, Woody wrote:
>
> Have you tried wi-fi calling Martin? Most SPs now provide the capability
> and from the experience of a relative I can tell you it really does work
> - well, in most cases anyway!

My phone an elderly Moto G4 is a bit long in the tooth for that. Even so
its battery life is still comparable with what a new one would manage.
(when new it would last nearly a week between charges)

I will get around to replacing it one day.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On Fri 29/10/2021 16:22, Martin Brown wrote:
> On 29/10/2021 09:31, Woody wrote:
>>
>> Have you tried wi-fi calling Martin? Most SPs now provide the
>> capability and from the experience of a relative I can tell you it
>> really does work - well, in most cases anyway!
>
> My phone an elderly Moto G4 is a bit long in the tooth for that. Even so
> its battery life is still comparable with what a new one would manage.
> (when new it would last nearly a week between charges)
>
> I will get around to replacing it one day.
>

I have an elderly Huawei which works perfectly but I fear the battery is
being a bit stretched. I would buy another Huawei save for the fact that
The Donald made Google cut off access to Play Store.

However I found a Motorola G8 Power going at John Lewis for £109.99 in
the July sales which is not far short of half price. It has the
magnetometer for the compass that I require and in most other ways works
well but it is nowhere near as flexible as the Huawei, plus you have to
go through this stupid flashing colours/pictures every time it is turned on.

Point of interest I noticed the G4 a year or so ago which does exactly
what I want/need and whilst I couldn't get that any more I did find the
G5 at the right price so I bought one. On GSMArena it says it has a
magnetometer and Gorilla 3 glass which also suits my needs. Oh no it
doesn't, at least not in the UK/Eire market. My wife has recently got
some smart hearing aids and needs a smartphone to adjust them - much to
her disgust as she detests smartphones. Guess what she is now using........?

Woody <harrogate3@ntlworld.com> wrote:
[...]

> I have an elderly Huawei which works perfectly but I fear the battery is
> being a bit stretched. I would buy another Huawei save for the fact that
> The Donald made Google cut off access to Play Store.

He not only made Google cut off access to Play Store, which is -
depending on your needs - not all that bad, but also to Android itself,
which is AFAIC the real showstopper. (I had/have two old Huawei phones.)

[...]

On 29/10/2021 07:49, VanguardLH wrote:
> Roger Mills <watt.tyler@gmail.com> wrote:
>

>
> I didn't see you mention the obvious: using the volume up/down buttons.
>
Yes, the volume is at max but, when there's no sound, there's no sound!

> What audio apps do you have on your phone? Not just players, but any
> mixers, prank/voice changer, noise cancellation, or other apps that
> might affect call quality or volume? I can't find it now, but recall
> someone saying when they had the Audio Recorder app running (to record a
> conversation) that they encountered volume problems.
>
Smart Recorder is installed, but not running.

> Do you have any nearby Bluetooth earpieces or headsets nearby? Are they
> paired to your phone at the time of the problematic calls?

There are various devices potentially paired with my phone, but the
problem can still happen with bluetooth on the phone turned off.

--
Cheers,
Roger

On 29/10/2021 08:58, Woody wrote:

>
> -110dBm suggests the measurement is of a 3G signal - you would expect
> signals in the -50dBm to -70dBm on 2G. -110dBm is around 30uV in
> absolute terms which should be more than enough for any phone.

Yes, you're right, that figure of -110 is for 4G LTE (Band 3). The
Network Cell Info app can also display the signal strength for 2G GSM -
which is about -90dB. It seems to display one or the other randomly, and
I haven't figured out how to tell it which one to display.
--
Cheers,
Roger

>>>>> Any comments?
>>>>
>>>> Porkies without a doubt.
>>>>
>>>> Could be something as simple as a dodgy earpiece or its
>>>> connection. Have you tried using it in loudspeaker mode or with a
>>>> plug-in headset when the problem occurs? (You could try Bluetooth
>>>> earpieces but that is another radio system which needs to be ruled
>>>> out by using the wired connection.)
>>>
>>> If the call stays connected but you can’t hear anything then I’d
>>> suspect something up with your phone. If your phone can’t receive
>>> the base station for any length of time the call would be dropped.
>>
>> The call does stay connected, but I usually end it, having told the
>> person at the other end that I've got a problem with my phone and
>> will contact them by some other means.
>
>I seem to recall various audio problems with calls on Moto G. I had
>this with a Moto G5 (on Three Mobile).
>
>Some users find the problem improves if they switch to loudspeaker,
>even though the problem may be on incoming speech. Others have
>problems on outgoing speech, which you don't. Google for user reports
>but I don't think anyone found a reliable solution.
>
>I moved to a Moto G7 (also on Three) and it didn't have this trouble
>at all.

Got a few MOTO 4 G's around here and similar to same problems with the
audio.

Cure is to take off the screen dismantle the PCB from its mountings then
clean and re spring the connectors that go to the PCB board from the
speaker etc, all sorted once done that and whist you've got it apart
change the battery!

Job done:)...

--
Tony Sayer

Man is least himself when he talks in his own person.

Give him a keyboard, and he will reveal himself.

On 31/10/2021 19:06, tony sayer wrote:

> Got a few MOTO 4 G's around here and similar to same problems with the
> audio.
>
> Cure is to take off the screen dismantle the PCB from its mountings then
> clean and re spring the connectors that go to the PCB board from the
> speaker etc, all sorted once done that and whist you've got it apart
> change the battery!
>
> Job done:)...
>
>

If that was my problem, the sound wouldn't work for other apps - but it
does - it's only the phone app that plays up.
--
Cheers,
Roger