It started before Nougat, so it cannot be that. It happens very randomly, so it cannot be...Sorry, telling you what it isn't will not help you at this point.
I understand your frustration. I agree, you should not have to turn off anything. What you did turn off was only temporary for troubleshooting. Without the phone in my hand I am kind of working in the dark.
If you have an SD card installed, take it out, it could be failing. You can boot into safe mode to see if it is an installed app
https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-28008, however, you would have to be in safe mode for a while to find out anything since it is so random.
I certainly do not know everything and there are people on here that I am sure are more knowledgeable than I am. So, if anyone has any experience with this particular issue, please chime in!
Calling US Cellular does not sound like a bad idea.
I am at a loss and have no more ideas CWinkler. I am sorry I couldn't help you. I will let you decide on what you want to do from here. I am not going anywhere, so if you have any further questions don't hesitate to ask.