How I got 4G LTE on my Nexus 4 (on T-Mobile’s Network)

By Ryan Kamauff

If you’re interested in checking out some T-Mobile LTE, just follow this easy tutorial

The Nexus 4 shipped with an oddity – a 4G LTE modem that wasn’t quite turned on. Many people have done this in the past, but I wanted to give a quick and dirty rundown of how I did it. I’m routinely getting over 20Mbps in DC, and will do further testing. Do not try this unless you are in one of the markets outlined in this document, or travel there frequently (you won’t see much value). Note: do not attempt this with stock firmware, or without being rooted. If you do not know what that is, this is not the guide for you! I would suggest you make a Nandroid backup or the like (I did a Titanium Backup myself).

I currently have my Nexus 4 running on AOKP JB1-6, running Android version 4.2.2. The baseband (radio number) was .48, which is the wrong version for LTE fun. I had to download the .33 radios from XDA (here). I downloaded the .zip file and saved it to my internal storage. This has been said to work with both AOKP and CyanogenMod ROMs, I cannot promise that it will work however!

My next step was to download the Franco Kernel. Franco is a developer who develops excellent kernels for numerous Android devices. You can find his Nexus 4 thread at XDA as well (here). Again, just download the kernel (.zip format) to your internal storage.

And now it’s time to boot into your recovery. You need to have the current versions of your ROM as well as the GAPPs package to reinstall locally. Once in recovery follow these steps:

• Flash the .33 modem file.
• Wipe data/factory reset
• Flash ROM
• Flash GAPPs package
• Wipe dalvik cache/cache
• Flash Franco Kernel
• Reboot!

Your phone will now reboot in a fresh version of Android. You are now ready to set the phone version to LTE and update your APN.

First, go to the native phone dialer:

• Dial the following code: *#*#4636#*#*
• Click on Phone Information
• “Set preferred network type:” and choose LTE/GSM/auto (prl)

Now go to your phone settings and change the APN. Change it to: “fast.t-mobile.com” (just the APN field itself). You are now ready for T-Mobile LTE speeds! I’m getting those 25/14 Mbps in the Arlington, VA area, so your results may vary.

*I have heard this works on Solavei as well, but have yet to check it myself.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments or on twitter: @ryan_kamauff. Cheers, enjoy some super fast data speeds!

Original post