A wireless communication device is described. The wireless communication device includes a transmit/receive (T/R) switch that is configured with an antenna port coupled to an antenna, a transmitter port coupled to a transmitter and a receiver port coupled to a receiver. The T/R switch selectively connects the transmitter port to the antenna port or the receiver port to the antenna port. The wireless communication device also includes a T/R switch controller that sets the T/R switch to disconnect the transmitter from the antenna when the transmitter is actively transmitting in a high insertion loss mode to reduce power from the transmitter to the antenna.