Signal strength issue

[red_devil_fan_1999]

This may be a bit wordy but please bear with me. Currently using a Note 4 SM-910H using stock marshmallow. Now network coverage at my job at a hospital is terrible, i'm perpetually on EDGE data and it's pretty much a pain to use any function that requires some sort of internet connectivity. However, i discovered a little trick that i find myself using very often when i need a page to load or i need an important whatsapp message to go through. I dial my voicemail account number which disables any sort of data connectivity and once it connects i hang up. The signal strength goes from EDGE to 3G and then H+, after which i can send whatsapps or google etc. The effect is transient though as it always reverts back to the useless edge data. While on edge data, the upward arrow constantly flashes but the downward arrow would occasionally flash. So at the end of this, my questions to any person with knowledge of phone networks and connectivity are:
why does the phone's connection improve after i make a call?
is there any way to maintain that constant H+ connection so that i don't have to rely on EDGE data?

 

[IAmSixNine]

Its possible your forcing a connection to a different tower or weaker signal for the call and when the phone reverts back to a stand by state its simply locking into the stronger single of EDGE.
Im guessing the model number is stock and not unlcoked and is for your carrier?
I ask because an unlocked unit may have band compabilitiy with a carrier. Just a guess.
But keep in mind your in a hospital. Unless a carrier has come in and done a dedicated antenna system in there then in building penetration may be difficult at best. Which your seeing.

 

[natehoy]

The service menu (in the dialer, type *#*#4636#*#* and when you hit the last * a menu should appear) allows you to specify different types of service to look for. However, I don't see an option other than "LTE Only" that eliminates EDGE from the possible technologies it will use - and "LTE Only" will eliminate everything other than LTE (meaning 3G, HSPA, and HSPA+ will not work, either).

The good news is that any changes you make in that menu (which is a diagnostic menu) do not appear to survive a reboot, or even a toggle into and out of Airplane Mode. I would not mess with the VOLTE provisioning flags or IMS settings, but using the pulldown menu on the radio prioritization mode might (MIGHT!) give you a mode that allows your phone to prefer 3G or HSPA/HSPA+ over EDGE no matter the signal strength.

Can't hurt to try, anyway. Just make note of the setting when you first go in so you know what to reset it to if nothing else works for you and it doesn't reset on its own for some reason. And, again, I would advise not messing with any of the other settings. Nothing in that menu should survive a reboot or airplane mode, but why take chances?