A mobile station involved in a call receives a forward link signal from a radio access network (RAN) and transmits a reverse link signal to the RAN. If the mobile station detects a reception failure of the forward link signal, such as the receipt of an errored frame, the mobile station determines the power level that the RAN used to transmit the forward link signal when the reception failure occurred. If the RAN was already transmitting at its maximum power level, the mobile station may discontinue transmission of the reverse link signal if the next frame from the RAN is also an errored frame. Otherwise, the mobile station defines a test period that is sufficient for the RAN to increase its transmit power to the maximum level. If the reception failure continues throughout the test period, the mobile station discontinues transmission of the reverse link signal.