Apple iPhone 5 On T-Mobile LTE Enjoys Increased Download Speed, Thanks To Hacked Carrier Update [Tutorial]

There were some good news of late for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 5 users with the flagship device finally being launched on T-Mobile and those using the unlocked AT&T iPhone 5 receiving a carrier update to enable the 4G LTE support on T-Mobile’s network.

However, that’s not the whole picture. It has turned out eventually that the T-Mobile carrier update also affects the bandwidth, which is available to customers using the unlocked iPhone 5 units.

If you are one of those T-Mobile users, who are experiencing something of a lame LTE service on your unlocked iPhone 5, fret not. A hacker has claimed to have figured out a way out, a trick that can effectively boost the speed.

Joseph Brown (@joe012594), the hacker who previously showed how users of jailbroken iPhones could enable LTE on their devices, has done it this time as well. Brown, along with another developer called Sky Zangas (@cooldayr2), has hacked the T-Mobile carrier update in question and has become successful in “increasing the amount of bandwidth allowing for better throughput of data and data connection.”

The process includes installing a new carrier update in the handset. The hacker has claimed that the hacked update “works on both the official T-Mobile variants of the iPhone 5 and the AT&T unlocked model.” In addition, it also does not require the iPhone 5 to be jailbroken.

Take a look at some of the technical aspects related to the hacked carrier update, as noted by TmoNews:

“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… 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.”

Below are the tutorials for both the non-jailbroken and jailbroken iPhone 5. Users are recommended to follow instructions carefully.

Note: IBTimes cannot be held responsible for anything that goes wrong. Users should proceed at their own risk.

For Non-Jailbroken iPhone 5

Step 1: Plug your iPhone 5 into iTunes and backup the device so you won’t lose anything.

Step 2: In the device, tap the “Settings” app and navigate to “General >Reset > Reset Network Settings.”

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

Step 4: Download the hacked carrier update.

Step 5: Once downloaded, your iPhone will boot up into iTunes. Before you do anything, make sure to decline all prompts to update carrier settings. Now enable iTunes to accept custom carrier bundles, if it’s not already.

Step 6: Windows users will need to open command prompt and type the following and press enter:

64 bit: cd “C:Program Files (x86)iTunes” then type: iTunes.exe/ setPrefInt carrier-testing 1

32 bit: cd “C:Program FilesiTunes” then type: iTunes.exe/ setPrefInt carrier-testing 1

Mac users will need to open terminal and type the following and press enter:

Mac: defaults write com.apple.iTunes carrier-testing -bool true

Step 7: 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 the hacked carrier update, file named “TMobile_US_iPhone.ipcc,” and select it. After that, click “Open.”

Step 8: The carrier update should now be successfully installed. Restart your iPhone 5.

Step 9: If you encounter any problems or want to revert, just download the file below and repeat the above steps only with the default file instead.

Download the Default File here.

For Jailbroken iPhone 5

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

Step 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.

Step 3: Reboot your device.

Step 4: If you encounter any problems or want to revert, just download the file below and repeat the above steps only with the default file instead.

Download the Default File here.

[Source: TmoNews]