slow pickup of Hot Spot signal

Hi!

I use my iPhone 5S with hotspot to give my laptop access to the internet.

My issue (seen on a number of different laptops, so I think the problem is with the iPhone): the laptop virtually immediately finds my neighbor's very weak WiFi signal, but it takes switching hotspot on and off a good many times before the laptop wakes up to the fact that it is sitting besides a mobile phone with a strong 3G signal.

What can I do to improve the iPhone's signal or the laptop's ability to notice the signal? Thanks!