A recurring issue with my phone, where it gets no bars in areas where I know there’s coverage. My wife and I are on the same plan, same carrier; standing next to me she has 2 bars on her phone and I have none.
(If it matters, I have a XS Max, she has a 14 Pro Max. Both with 256GB.)
While I’m in this sorry state I can’t place or receive phone calls or text messages. I can get data – browse the web, get notifications, etc.
And it doesn’t help if I’m connected to wi-fi, even though I have the option checked to use wi-fi for calls & text.
But I can make the problem go away by powering off & on. When it comes back on, ta da! Bars.
What kind of connectivity problem could be fixed by powering off and on?
One thing you can try is (power the phone down completely first) remove the SIM card and clean the electrical contacts carefully (I used a clean tissue slightly damp with lighter fluid) and then reinstall the SIM card. Had a similar defect a few years back and an Apple tech walked me through it and that solved the problem.
You describe the problem as being tied to a location.
I think it is highly unlikely your phone is behaving differently based on location.
Maybe you should look at what you’re doing on your way there: a faulty charger? Do you use a different gps app? Some website you use on your way there?
If it is tied to a location. Do you have any geofenced settings you forgot about? (Apple has “focus” settings that can seem really weird if you forgot about them)
I’m assuming your iOS is up to date, so if not, do that first.
Your carrier settings might (but probably aren’t) out of date. Go to Settings > General > About to see if there is an update available. You can also scroll down to “Carrier” to see the version number installed and check the web to see if that’s the latest.
You can try reseting all network settings. You’ll have to reenter your wifi passwords and maybe pair your bluetooth devices again after doing it. Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Network Settings. I’m not sure that will fix the problem, but it’s worth a shot.
You can also switch around your VoLTE settings if your carrier supports that. Settings > Cellular Data Options > Enable LTE. I’d turn it off if it’s on and on if it’s off and check.
You can also try a factory reset on the iPhone which is the nuke-and-pave option. Be sure to make a backup first if you go this route.
If none of this works, instead of powering the phone off and on, you might want to check to see if enabling airplane mode for a few seconds does the same thing. It’s still a workaround, but easier than turning it on and off.