How To: Enable LTE on iPhone 5 for T-Mobile

 

UPDATE 3/31/13: Now a super easy way to install. Just install the CommCenter Patch and the LTE enable from out repo. This will be a better solution for people who want to enable LTE on their unlocked iPhone 5. Not only does it save people the time and hassle of having to go into the iPhone’s system files, but it also creates an automatic backup of the original carrier.plist should the choose to revert.

Here are the steps to follow:

1. Open Cydia
2. Tap “Manage” and then tap “Sources”
3. Tap “Edit” then tap “Add” and put the following URL into the text box: http://v.backspace.jp/repo
4. Once the URL is entered in tap “Add Source” and allow for it to download all of the repo’s info and packages.
5. After your iPhone has refreshed, tap the v.backspace.jp/repo field or go to the search bar and find the package CommCenter* patch…
6. Once you have found it, install it and then reboot your iPhone once completed.

7. After the iPhone has restarted, open Cydia once again.
8. Tap “Manage” and then tap “Sources”
9. Tap “Edit” then tap “Add” and put the following URL into the text box: http://beta.leimobile.com/repo/
10. Once the URL is entered in tap “Add Source” and allow for it to download all of the repo’s info and packages.
11. After your iPhone has refreshed, tap the LEIMobile field or go to the search bar and find the package LTE Enabler for T-Mobile…
12. Once you have found it, install it and then reboot your iPhone once completed.

13. After the iPhone restarts, allow it to acquire signal and display the T-Mobile logo then go to where you edit the APN settings (Settings –>General–>Cellular) click reset network settings. Once that is done, enable the LTE toggle and you’re good to go. The APN to connect to T-Mobile LTE is fast.t-mobile.com and the apn for Internet Tethering on T-Mobile is pcweb.tmobile.com

 

Update 3/28/13 Part III: Updated the main file to fix a calling issue as people were still reporting it. ISR for LTE wasn’t enabled. The Phone, rather than connecting to the strongest signal for voice, remains connected to the LTE tower during calls and reduces call quality. The latest fix enables ISR. Just follow the instructions below the red text to install the latest version.

 

Update 3/28/13 Part II: Everyone Just follow the original instructions below the red text to install the new files over the previous ones. There should now be 4 files instead of 3. We added a carrier.pri file.

 

UPDATE 3/28/13: THE text in RED is instructions ONLY for people who installed the initial fix we released. If you are brand new or unsure proceed with the 15 step instructions below the RED Text

Users have reported bad calling quality, inability to make/receive calls, and downgrading to 4G HSPA+ while on a phone call. We did take note of the issue and took a close look at the LTE coding. VoLTE (Voice over LTE) was enabled by mistake but has been fixed in this updated version. Please follow the below instructions to fix this issue. If you have any other concerns or problems please leave a comment below.

1. On your iPhone please tap this link: http://iphone2.googlecode.com/files/T-Mobile%20LTE%20V2.zip
2. Tap “Open in iFile” and once in iFile tap “Unarchiver”. A new version of the “Overrides_N41_N42.pri” will appear.
3. Tap the clipboard icon at the bottom and tap “cut”
4. Now tap “done” at the top and tap the house icon at the bottom then tap “Library”, then tap “Carrier Bundle.bundle” (the one with blue text), and then tap edit at the top again and tap the clipboard icon. Tap “paste” and it will auto inject the updated carrier file into the carrier folder. Be sure to chose the overwrite option.
5. After this has been done, exit iFile and reboot your iPhone. That’s it!

Did this fix your issue? Please let us know below in the comments section.

START HERE Manual method: 

So you purchased an unlocked iPhone 5 before T-Mobile released their new version of the iPhone 5 that supports 1700mhz. This could be the AT&T model or the officially unlocked version sold by Apple. Please understand that if you have a Verizon iPhone 5 you will not be able to connect to T-Mobile’s LTE network. It does not have the correct LTE band. Currently T-Mobile only has a few cities listed that have support for LTE and they are upgrading towers all year long.

Now that you have an unlocked AT&T model A1428 or an officially unlocked model A1428 you can proceed to follow the instructions below to load a custom carrier file onto your iPhone and enable LTE. This will only work on A1428 model iPhone 5’s.

This is the guide to enabling LTE on your iPhone 5 model A1428 for T-Mobile.

1. Open Cydia
2. Tap “Manage” and then tap “Sources”
3. Tap “Edit” then tap “Add” and put the following URL into the text box: http://v.backspace.jp/repo
4. Once the URL is entered in tap “Add Source” and allow for it to download all of the repo’s info and packages.
5. After your iPhone has refreshed, tap the v.backspace.jp/repo field or go to the search bar and find the package CommCenter* patch…
6. Once you have found it, install it and then reboot your iPhone once completed.

7. After the iPhone has restarted, open Cydia once again.
8. Search for iFile. The free version includes basic features. You will want to purchase it to take advantage of all of the features.
9. Once you have found it, install it. No reboot is required, though you can do it just to be on the safe side.

10. Once iFile has been installed, close Cydia and click on this file from your iPhone and click “Open in iFile”
11. Once you’re in iFile tap “Unarchiver” and 3 files will show up above T-Mobile LTE.zip
12. At the top, tap “edit”and tap the dots with a check mark next to carrier.plist, carrier.pri, overrides_N41_N42.plist, and overrides_N41_N42.pri
13. Tap the clipboard icon at the bottom and tap “cut”
14. Now tap “done” at the top and tap the house icon at the bottom then tap Library, then tap Carrier Bundle.bundle (the one in blue), and then tap edit at the top again and tap the clipboard icon. Tap “paste” and it will auto inject the carrier files into the carrier folder overwriting the other files. (you may want to make a backup of these files in case anything goes wrong or we have a backup below.)

15. After the files have been placed, exit iFile and restart iPhone. After the iPhone restarts, allow it to acquire signal and display the T-Mobile logo then go to where you edit the APN settings (Settings –>General–>Cellular) click reset network settings. Once that is done, enable the LTE toggle and you’re good to go. The APN to connect to T-Mobile LTE is fast.t-mobile.com and the apn for Internet Tethering on T-Mobile is pcweb.tmobile.com

 

Here is a link to the original file in case you run into any issues. Download the original carrier file here. replace carrier.plist with the file you just downloaded. You also need to delete any overrides_N41_N42 files and the new carrier.pri included in the Release 2 bundle that were placed in the Unknown.bundle carrier bundle.

If you run into any problems please leave a comment below. A rare issue that happens is that is doesn’t work while the apn settings tab disappears. A simple fix to this is to go into var/mobile/Library/Carrier Bundles/overlay and delete any and all files in that folder and then restarting the phone 2 times. The first reboot you need to let it acquire signal. It will take awhile but will eventually acquire it. After the signal is found it will say T-Mobile 3G and then this will be where the 2nd reboot must be done. After the 2nd reboot it will acquire signal faster this time and display T-Mobile 4G. Once you see the 4G icon that’s when you know it has worked. But this is a rare occurrence but should be a disclaimer and this fix should be available to the people that install it.

 

 

[Thanks Joe Brown! for the initial fix! Thanks Sky Zangas for the Debian Package!]

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Comments

  1. Kyle Skip says

    Works on my Verizon iPhone A1429
    Installed “T-Mobile USA Carrier Bundle” from the leimobile repo.
    Automatically installed the commscenter too upon reboot. Picks up T-Mobile “4G” but I’m pretty sure it’s my 3G, just rebranded. Carrier bundle just changed around my APN settings.

  2. Bill says

    Hey Joe,

    I installed this last week before you started on the “automated path”.

    The T-Mobile Service is bad by me so I am trying to roll back to AT&T I copied the Original files you have here back and deleted any overrides_N41_N42 files and the new carrier.pri included in the Release 2 bundle that were placed in the Unknown.bundle carrier bundle.

    restarted and lost the carrier Blue bundle and now have no data.

    How do I fix this as I don’t want to do a restore, want to keep my jailbreak?

    • iPhone5SF says

      I am a reader of this blog, first there are many bundle for difference carriers, when you insert T-mobile SIM card, it will jump to unknown bundle, if you insert AT&T SIM card, it will jump to att_us.bundle, after the installation of this patch, it will not involve what SIM card you insert. But if you insert ATT sim card and delete the overrides_N41_N42.plist, and overrides_N41_N42.pri etc… You are deleting the att_us.bundle inside files. The correct restore bundle should be unknown bundle.

      • Bill says

        I think, if I understand what you are saying is that after this patch it doesn’t matter what sim you use?

        Funny part is I tried to use my AT&T sim and the phone recognize the network but had no data services,

        Now I tried the “restore” and both sims don’t work. I have tried countless restarts but still don’t have data services.

        • iPhone5SF says

          Do you restore to 6.1.3? Because you cannot restore back to 6.1.2 after jailbroken. If you are restoring 6.1.3, can you try to DFU mode first and restore again? If you still are 6.1.2, then you can wait the author to reply you.

          • Bill says

            I did not restore, I am still at 6.1.2 and would like to keep it that way. I appreciate you trying on this. Yeah I am going to wait on the author, I am working from home today so data isn’t an issue. Hopefully I can get this fixed by tomorrow, out in the field on Saturday.

  3. generalleoff says

    It has worked on my factory unlocked phone but it may work too well. Even if I disable LTE the phone will sometimes still show 4G on the status bar and will still connect at 4G speed. Other times it will show E on the status bar indicating it is connected using Edge however the phone seems to continue operating at 4G speed.

  4. Mehul says

    Hi thnks for replying
    But it dont work for me and i try to restore original carrier bundle file but now i m not seeing and carrier budle.bundle folder where i can replace the original file

    Should i remove comcenter patch and replace the original file cuz ones i remove comcenter patch the carrier bundle.bundle folder not found

  5. Bilal says

    Does anyone know what happens if you move out of LTE coverage zones? Do you switch back to 2G/Edge if your area has not been refarmed?

  6. Brian says

    I followed the directions and am getting LTE signal. Safari works fine, but when I open Facebook app everything loads but the pics. Instagram will not load anything, and the App store will not load either. The Speedtest app will not work either. Is anyone else having this problem. All the apps work fine on wi-fi, but LTE wont load anything but webpages.I deleted and re-downloaded these apps and they still wont work on LTE.

  7. david says

    I tried the LTE patch and the apn is set to fast.t-mobile.com
    and on my friends phone it has no patch but the apn is set to epc.tmobile.com…. I tried sending her a MMS but no picture will show up? but when I send it to someone else with AT&T the get the picture?

  8. Richard Wells says

    Hi,
    In step 10 of your tutorial, you state, “Once iFile has been installed, close Cydia and click on this file from your iPhone and click “Open in iFile”
    I guess the file is TMobile LTE Package release but where do you find this file on your iPhone? If this file is not yet on your phone after installing iFile, how do you download it?
    Thanks for clarifying this step.
    Richard Wells

  9. Bill says

    Hey Joe,

    Haven’t heard back from you yet could really your help roll back to AT&T.

    Please send me the files.

    Thanks,
    Bill

  10. Murathan says

    It doesn’t seem to work with Straight Talk T-Mobile compatible, I don’t know why…

    Did anyone else try?

    • iPhone5SF says

      I am in San Francisco, I have tried simple mobile. Ok, first, LTE depend on which city has LTE. I think SF still has no LTE, it will show 4G icon. I feel that speed is the same as 3G icon when non-modified. Actually it doesn’t matter for the speed of 4G or LTE. The big problem is that when 3G/4G not available, it will connect EDGE. The EDGE turning is super slow. Even if you get success with 4G or LTE. If you are in non-4G area, your head will like a bomb. The problem should be 1900mhz and 1700mhz. Even if you can connect 2100mhz or 1900mhz, T-mobile is upgrading 1900mhz to 3G/4G network but there are a lot of place where can’t receive 4G, then band will go to 1900mhz Edge. Finally, this tweak is very good but it doesn’t mean useful because iPhone will also get the edge speed when 4G not available. If author can make the frequency from 1900mhz to 1700mhz. It is the only way.

  11. 6italia0 says

    I am also in an area that does support 4G data with a consistent 10+Mbps speed but the only way to hold the 4G data is to manually select Tmobile and I can only keep data for about 30-45 minutes and then its just edge. I would think that the towers just aren’t strong enough but then in areas nearby that barely do 4-7 Mbps automatically enable the data. My question is why my iPhone can’t keep a consistent connection where data is much stronger.

  12. says

    i need to know how i remove this thing that i installed in my phone i have no data at all help me please….IMPORTANT EMAIL ME FAST!!!! I have simple mobile as a company

  13. Zack says

    Can you please give me the steps to put it back to the default settings? My LTE doesn’t work with the steps here and keeps messing up, and I want to go back to the default settings and use the carrier update. Thanks

  14. CookieQ says

    When I in Manhattan, I could see 4G but still get Edge speed.. I used to get 3G in Manhattan before this hack.. Does it mean the hack doesn’t work?

  15. Shady says

    WORKS!! Thanks a lot guys. Just follow all of the updated instructions and it’ll work. Right now, I only get 4G (HSPA+ I think, it’s pretty fast) because T-Mobile hasn’t fully switched to LTE yet. At the end of May, everything will be fully LTE, but it’s all good now.

    Only con is, when it can’t get 4G, it goes down to ‘E’ (EDGE, I think) which is horribly slow, hopefully there’s another tweak to make fall to 3G/2G? Let me know, thanks again.

    Los Angeles, CA

  16. says

    Hey how’s it going? First off I absolutely love this LTE hack for T-Mobile. It’s awesome that you were able to do this before they released their carrier update which brings me to question.

    I’m sure it’s possible but would you be willing to do this hack but for Simple Mobile? Seeing how they’re a T-Mobile MVNO offering $50 for unlimited everything including 4G data this LTE hack would be golden.

    I know a lot of people I could convince to switch from the slow Sprint, expensive Verizon and just awful AT&T for $50 unlimited LTE.

    So please can you make this hack applicable to Simple Mobile? Thank you for your time.

  17. says

    Hey how’s it going? First off I absolutely love this LTE hack for T-Mobile. It’s awesome that you were able to do this before they released their carrier update which brings me to question. I’m sure it’s possible but would you be willing to do this hack but for Simple Mobile? Seeing how they’re a T-Mobile MVNO offering $50 for unlimited everything including 4G data this LTE hack would be golden. I know a lot of people I could convince to switch from the slow Sprint, expensive Verizon and just awful AT&T for $50 unlimited LTE. So please can you make this hack applicable to Simple Mobile? Thank you for your time.

  18. says

    Hey how’s it going? First off I absolutely love this LTE hack for T-Mobile. It’s awesome that you were able to do this before they released their carrier update which brings me to question. I’m sure it’s possible but would you be willing to do this hack but for Simple Mobile?

  19. ken says

    Urgent Help,
    hi, i have followed all steps for changing the n_42 files but it looks like i have lost the internet speed totally. can someone help for get the orginal files back plase.
    Iphone 5 (verizon) (unlocked) (jailbroken)
    carrier: Simple Mobile.

      • sunnie says

        Thanks LEI.

        I have the factory unlocked iPhone 5, and am using T-Mobile, but whenever I am in an LTE area, I have absolutely no internet connection. I was hoping your instructions would help fix this problem. I guess I have to figure out how to jailbreak my phone now.

        • says

          Non-jailbroken users:
          1. Plug your iPhone 5 into iTunes and backup the device so you won’t lose anything, just in case.
          2. In the device itself, tap the “Settings” app and navigate to General >Reset > Erase All Content and Settings.
          3. Once you have done that, the iPhone will auto reboot.
          4. While the iPhone is rebooting, download the hacked carrier update here:
          https://www.dropbox.com/s/9vnxx3eqi8ci3p9/TMobile_US_iPhone_Hack.ipcc
          5. Once downloaded, your iPhone will boot up into iTunes. Before you do anything, make sure to decline any and all prompts to update carrier settings. Now, you’ll to go ahead and enable iTunes to except custom carrier bundles, if it’s not already.
          7. Windows users, you will need to open command prompt and type the following and enter it in:
          64 bit: cd C:\Program Files (x86)\iTunes then type: iTunes.exe/setPrefInt carrier-testing 1
          32 bit: cd C:\Program Files\iTunes then type: iTunes.exe/setPrefInt carrier-testing 1
          Mac users you will need to open terminal and type the following and enter it in:
          Mac: defaults write com.apple.iTunes carrier-testing -bool true
          8. After this has successfully been entered in, click on the tab for your iPhone 5 and click “Update” or “Check For Update” while holding down the Alt/Option key for Mac users and the Shift key for Windows users. Navigate to where you downloaded the hacked carrier update file, which will be named “TMobile_US_iPhone_Hack.ipcc” then select it and click Open.
          9. The carrier update should now successfully be installed. Now, go back into the “Settings” app and navigate to General > Cellular > Cellular Data Network and change all APNs to epc.tmobile.com, even the LTE (Optional) setting. Once done, restart your iPhone one last time for the changes to take effect.
          10. If you encounter any problems or wish to revert back just download the file below and repeat the above steps only with the default carrier file instead.
          Default File: https://www.dropbox.com/s/l7rdmvpnb5blppj/TMobile_US_iPhone_Default.ipcc

          • says

            Hi, LEI.

            I’m trying to use this last solution on other carrier (Antel Uruguay), with no luck (can’t even see LTE enable switch).
            The phone is an A1428 GSM unlocked from Apple, and hasn’t been jailbroken (yet). 🙂

            LTE provided service un Uruguay is Band 4 (AWS).

            Can you provide some help?

            Thanks a lot.

          • Nathan Franco says

            Will this work on Simple Mobile? If I want to test this and then revert back to the default carrier will everything be back to normal

  20. Mohammed says

    Hi, how can I revert my E and 3G networks as normal on iPhone 5? The 3G and LTE option is killing my battery 🙁

    Pls help

    Thanks.
    Mo

  21. jcarloshbk says

    anyone know if it works for Sprint iphone 5 that I have currently unlocked on simple mobile network in 3g with ios 7.0.4 let me know if this works for iphone sprint to try

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