So to wrap this up and try to close this thread:
*Verizon does not share tower deployment locations or time lines. I get it, being a carrier and network guy myself for 30 years. Operational Security. First to market.
*If Wi-Fi calling works for you to your home router, knock yourself out. My experience is that calls do not come through or go out reliably and voicemail alerts do not show up on my Android when Wi-Fi calling is the primary source. You can mess around now in current Android OS to setup primary/secondary/failover for calling. My experience is, it does not work great or reliably. And my feeling is, I should not have to do that anyway.
*Femtocall (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femtocell ) is something that Verizon does, but then anyone that can hit that Small-Cell station is then using your bandwidth with whomever your home-internet provider is (AT&T FTTH, Comcast, Optimum, Spectrum, whomever).
*What I was told by the Verizon rep that I initially called in and spoke to was incorrect. I am not 45 miles from the closest tower based on my home address, and I am within 2 to 3 miles of a Verizon tower. Which initially sounds great. But the fact that I get 1 to 2 bars is till not great if I am truly that close.
*I was told that while past cell phone technologies worked great, the generations of tech are good for some things and not for others. And told that the evolution of the networks have been:
LTE > 3G > 5G (Wideband), and now 5G (Ultrawideband).
And that while people in the past have expected to be able to take and make calls while indoors, the newer radio technology is not always the best for being able to make cell phone calls or certainly get 5 full bars indoors. Again, because I am techno-nerd, this is peripherally interesting to me, but not ultimately helpful. Also, I have the same issue in my house, in my driveway, up the street, and driving along highway 380 miles away going wast towards Denton TX or east towards McKinny TX . So there goes the "it's because you are indoors" or inside a concrete and steel building downtown or beneath street level.
*I was told that more and more Verizon finds that people are relying on their cell phones to use them for data, and less and less for phones. Those points can be argued depending on who you are, how old you are, what you do for a living, and if you work remotely (calls now being more and more things like Webex and MS-Teams, and people not all having unlimited voice plans). This data again is interesting in discussion, but does not improve my service unfortunately.
*I will not go down the rabbit hole of radio-waves, line of sight, scattering, and reflectance over bodies of water, user or subscriber load, how crowded the electromagnetic frequency range in my and more and more areas, but those are things to. Ever had to change your wireless N frequencies because your neighbors are using the same frequencies? Similar.
I appreciate everyone's help, users (Verizon subscribers) and Verizon (the company proper).
But for me and my family all having brand new Android phones, service is 1 to 2 bars at home, in the driveway, in the neighborhood, across Little Elm Texas, and in nearby areas along highway 380. That is not great. Not going to inspire me to be an evangelist for Verizon (or any carrier) in this area. I will continue to look at my options before changing carriers. Cost is not the issue, although there is some money to be saved if changing (at least for me I found). Having to look at all these little hacks to try and get 5 bars or accept lowered expectations, is not really something I have the time/money/desire/interest in.If I move in a few years to an area where another carrier has poor service, then another switch would be required, and I hate that. I did that years ago when I moved to Naples FL where AT&T had no towers and all calls dropped, in 2007-ish, that is when I made the jump to Verizon. Wife was already on them. Brand loyalty might be appreciated, but means nothing frankly. I was a Ford loyalist, until I had to replace the plastic oil pan 4 times.
Do your research before choosing carriers, and buy your own phones. Don't ever get locked into a contract. Because if you move to an area with poor coverage, you will pay to leave.
