Hackers Mod T-Mobile’s Carrier Update To Boost iPhone 5 Speeds

It wasn’t too long ago that T-Mobile issued a carrier update prior to the release of the iPhone 5 which according to the update, would enable LTE connectivity, improve battery performance and add Visual Voicemail support. However according to a smattering of reports from T-Mobile iPhone users, it seems like the update actually ended up slowing down their speeds instead. However the good news is that according the folks at TmoNews, a couple of cellular programs @joe012594 and @cooldayr2 have actually managed to modify the update in such a way that the speeds T-Mobile users are experiencing are actually faster.

In fact the screenshot above seems to prove just that, with the speed on the left being the before photo, and the right one being the after photo. Before you start thinking that you might need to jailbreak your iPhone in order to enjoy this update, fret not because it seems that this update can be applied to both jailbroken and non-jailbroken iPhone devices. In any case if you’d like to apply the update to your phone, check out the instructions below for the details, but as usual with any non-official updates and mods, be sure to back up your device first before proceeding.

Since many unlocked iPhone 5 users report weakened signal on the refarmed 4G HSPA+ and many iPhone users (unlocked or official T-Mobile versions) report slower data speeds, I have done many hours for many days doing research on what could be done to fix the issue. After partnering with @cooldayr, we both have come up with the best possible solution to this issue. Below is a fix we have provided for all iPhone 5 users on the T-Mobile network. This will not take away any features added by the official carrier update nor does it require a jailbreak, however, we have made it user friendly for both jailbroken and non-jailbroken users. If you have any issues, please tell Joe at twitter.com/joe012594. Thanks!

 

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  > Reset Network Settings”

3.      Once you have done that, the iPhone will auto reboot.

4.      Download the hacked carrier update here:http://www.4shared.com/file/WF0uqJL-/TMobile_US_iPhone_Hack.html

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 named “TMobile_US_iPhone.ipcc,” and select it then click Open.

9.      The carrier update should now successfully be installed. Restart your iPhone 5 for any 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 file instead.

Default File:http://www.4shared.com/file/M3vMO7Pe/TMobile_US_iPhone_Default.html

Jailbroken Users:

1.       Download the file to your device through iFile here:

http://www.4shared.com/zip/OF1KKmyt/TMobile_US_iPhone_Hack.html

2.      Unarchive the files and copy the file name “overrides_N41_N42.pri” then navigate to var/mobile/Library/Carrier Bundles/TMobile_US.bundle and paste it into the folder replacing the original .pri file.

3.      Reboot your device for changes to take effect.

4.      If you encounter any problems or wish to revert back just download the file below and repeat the above steps only with the default file instead.

Default File:http://www.4shared.com/zip/zoXpN_ce/TMobile_US_iPhone_Default.html

Tech talk:

This hack enables Release 9 DC-HSPA+ on the iPhone 5. Though T-Mobile has not yet upgraded their network to support these speeds, the device itself becomes more open to an increased amount of bandwidth thus allowing for better throughput of data and data connection. The average increase has been 3mbps to as high as 8mbps on the downlink. This hack also includes a fix to any and all iPhone 5 users who have experienced degraded/weakened signal over the past couple of months on the PCS and/or AWS bands, though a lot of this could be due to the eminent release of LTE in many upcoming markets as this is normal. The issue was due in part to the carrier update. It set the band preference for HSPA+, even if your iPhone 5 doesn’t support it, to AWS which can cause conflictions and problems for the devices that don’t support that band. The setting has been set to the default “auto” setting and should help the 4G signal perform a bit better, whether you’re iPhone 5 is PCS only or dual PCS/AWS. For those with an iPhone 5 that supports AWS, this hack will also help you as well as it will connect to the strongest tower (PCS and AWS) rather than the preferred type of tower. Enjoy!

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Cellphones
Tags: iPhone 5, T-Mobile