Earlier this month, Google began rolling out the December Pixel Drop update to all eligible devices. Along with the new features, the update brought fixes to several bugs that appeared under certain conditions. However, it seems that the experience is not entirely positive in all cases. Some Pixel users have been reporting connectivity issues after installing the December update.
Some Google Pixel users are reporting connectivity issues after the December update
In most of the reported cases, the December update negatively impacted the quality of connectivity. Pixel phone owners claim to be experiencing constant mobile data drops that prevent them from connecting to the internet. Affected devices display an exclamation mark in the status bar indicating that they cannot use mobile data but can still make calls since they do not actually lose signal.
There are cases of owners of devices from the Pixel 6 to the Pixel 9, so the connectivity issues after the December update do not seem to affect a particular model or series. Users have tried a few workarounds to try and mitigate or resolve the issue, but not everyone has been successful. The most common tip that many have tried is to reset the mobile network settings of their Pixel devices. You can find the option under Settings > System > Reset options > Reset Wi-Fi, mobile & Bluetooth. Note that this will wipe all of your saved WiFi and Bluetooth connections.
You can also try disabling the 4G/VoLTE calling feature as a potential fix. The option is available under Settings > Network & Internet > SIMs > Provider’s name.
The potential cause of the problem
Some affected users claim that the issue is occurring because the phones are not connecting to as many cell towers as before after the update. User Rainer_B even noticed with the Network Signal Info Pro app that their Pixel 6 is now constantly stuck on a single network band. Previously, their device switched between three bands dynamically.
It’s not that all Google Pixel device users are experiencing such issues. However, they seem to be enough to make waves on forums and social media. Anyway, there’s still no official word from Google on the matter, so it’s not clear if they’re aware.
Connectivity issues are not unknown to Pixel device users. Historically, the modems on these phones have had similar problems since the Pixel 6. Anyway, the Pixel 9 series features a new modem that finally resolved them. The latest incident seems more to blame for a potential bug in the December update than the hardware.
