Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT
Original factory unlocked iphone 5 (A1428, Model ME486LL/A), ios 7.1.1. Under setting/celluar, there is only "enable 3G" option. With a LTE SIM card from Ting/T-mobile, it can only support 3G. From T-mobile site, it said they support this particular iphone 5. Is there anything I need to do to support LTE on this phone? Everywhere I looked suggested that I should see an "enable LTE" under setting/celluar, but I do not have it.
More than likely, the model you have does not support the LTE bands being used by your carrier.
See this list: http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/
I got the this page: T-Mobile USA: Understanding network compatibility of an unlocked iPhone 5 - Apple Support
T-Mobile USA: Understanding network compatibility of an unlocked iPhone 5
Any GSM iPhone 5 model A1428 will support T-Mobile's LTE network and HSPA+ speeds of up to 21 Mbps. To experience DC-HSDPA up to 42 Mbps on T-Mobile, you need an iPhone 5 GSM model that supports T-Mobile's AWS band (1700/2100).
I checked that my phone's series number falls into the T-mobile's AWS band (1700/2100). Is this LTE band or 3G?
So are you using T-Mobile USA?
yes, Ting told me that they use T-mobile network. I have factory unlocked phone that works on T-mobile.
So, it sounds like you should contact Ting and ask why you can't access the Sprint LTE network with your phone.
As LACAllen said you need to discuss this with Ting. It may be a problem with the nanoSIM you got from them or it could be the carrier settings on your phone. While Ting is an MVNO using the T-Mobile network are they an approved iPhone provider?
And I believe LACAllen meant the T-Mobile LTE network.
Yes I did. Thanks for catching that.
I have discussed with Ting. They claimed they support this phone with 4G. They asked me to contact Apple for support.
I did not buy the phone from T-mobile or Ting. The phone was purchased from Apple store with original factory unlocked version which I have used on T-mobile. The phone has only "enable 3G" in setting. Since it still has original ios 7.1.1 on it, I figure if the "enable LTE" option should be in newer ios version. Ting asked me to upgrade ios. I did not upgrade because many mentioned upgrade will slow down app, drain battery etc. I need to make sure if "enable LTE" option will only be available in later ios (>7.1.1) or I just missed something obvious.
The ability to have particular settings on your device is determined by the carrier file. Depending on the carrier file that is located on your device, evidenced by the listing under Settings>General>About>Carrier, that determines what switches you will find in specific areas of the phone. I would ask your carrier what carrier file version you should have on your device to have the settings for LTE.
As far as the issues with iOS updates, if you come here or to many other forums, you find people that are complaining, not ones that are gushing about wonderful things that occur with updates. This forum will also show you threads after each iOS update claiming it is the worse, it is the one that ruined my device, and what was Apple thinking. Intelligent use and update of devices will keep things in perspective. You will also see that 99% of the problems encountered during an update are device specific. Not model specific, but individual user device specific, where a user has done something or has some content that has caused an issue with the update. A restore to factory usually corrects these issues, but requires the user to sync content back individually, not from a backup, as that backup can contain the problematic file/date and just moves it right back to the device.
You need to contact Ting again to determine what carrier file you need to be using. They should be able to tell you, especially if it is theirs, or one from T-Mobile.
Here's the T-Mobile bands:
LTE Frequencies:
1700 MHz & 2100 MHz AWS band 4
1900 MHz PCS band 2 (in refarmed areas)
Lower 700 MHz band 12 (in development) / in service in selected areas
3G/4G Frequencies (WCDMA):
1700 MHz & 2100 MHz AWS band 4
1900 MHz PCS band 2 (in refarmed areas)
2G Frequencies (GSM/GPRS/EDGE):
1900 MHz PCS band 2
Thank you, ChrisJ4203! This makes a lot sense to me. I will ask Ting for carrier file. Will follow up. Thank you again!
You're welcome.
Hi, ChrisJ4203,
I'm on a long chat with Ting right now. It does not seem that they can mess up with carrier profile. After long chatting, we discover a few interesting thing with my particular phone:
> under setting>general>about>carrier, mine shows as "Carrier 16.1". I'm asking Ting what it supposed to be. The guy is going to the lab to check it out for me. At first he though it should be "T-mobile" (he is in Canada, cannot verify for T-mobile USA"). I'm waiting to see if I got a bad SIM. (They kept saying my phone is bad:-)
> question for iphone: does the carrier profile loaded when a SIM inserted? I did not pay attention to what it was before I switch to Ting.
Follow up with this SIM card:
I took the Ting SIM card out, and put the old SIM card in. The setting>general>about>carrier does not change. Is it supposed to be like that?
Well, the old SIM is out service because I have ported the number out to Ting already. The SIM works for voice, text etc.
This phone has only been used with the previous SIM (another MVNO on T-Mobile network). During this time, I have never received any carrier update.
On setting>general, I got notification for ios upgrade on software update only. I never get any notification of carrier update from setting>genera>about like many other people mentioned about. Could it have anything to do with ios 7.1.1 (come with the phone when purchase, at the Apple store, had to mention as Ting person kept asking if this is not a original factory unlocked phone)? or could it be that I'm using MVNO whom does not support carrier upgrade?
Iphone 5 and LTE support
