LTE on the Nexus 4

[7789849803]

While searching the forums (and Google) trying to fix a minor problem with the touchscreen on my Nexus 4, I came across a video showing how to enable LTE on the device. Since this is a 3G-only phone (which I've had for almost 3 years now), I laughed it off as another one of those troll videos on Youtube, posted by someone desperate to gain some viewership.

But then I researched it, and long story short...now I really do have LTE working on my Nexus 4! *gasp*

It's so strange that LG/Google had LTE support built into this device from the very start, but they didn't get regulatory clearance in time for it, so they never enabled this option for users (and in a later firmware release they explicitly blocked that option...but there's a "hack" available to re-enable it).

Anyhow, I'm super thrilled that I have working 4G on my phone now! I was planning on switching to a 4G capable device sometime later this month or the next, but now I think I'm going to keep using this phone for quite a while longer! I'm so excited - I even did a speedtest and am getting >35 Mbps here in Vancouver. Too bad I didn't find out about this sooner...

[Sackboy]

What LTE Modem are you using?

[7789849803]

Haha - if I can tolerate it for that long, yeah! 🙂

[ckl]

Awesome! Good for another 4 years I suppose?

[7789849803]

@ckl Yep - I replaced the battery myself just last month!

[ckl]

glad you got it working. I had a nexus 4 the year it came out and it has served me well. I didn't enable the LTE hack because Wind doesn't have LTE. Anyway, the battery eventually crapped out along with the USB port. So I had to ditch it for a another phone.

BTW, although the Nexus 4 is not supposed to have a replaceable battery, there are guides at ifixit.com that teaches you how to take the phone apart. ebay or amazon sells the nexus 4 battery. So you can replace the battery yourself if you decide to keep it longer.

[7789849803 · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the tip, @McLaren. But there's not been any decline in battery life since I switched to 4G. Any decline (if even present) has been small enough for me to not notice.

[McLaren]

Just be careful that enabling LTE on the nexus 4 will reduce battery life, so sometimes the extra speed is not worth the battery loss.  So I would only enable it when you are using the data and not while it's on standby.

[youbme]

Thanks for letting us know about this @7789849803.  I had looked into activating LTE on my wife's nexus 4 but haven't gone through with it yet since she is still with Virgin mobile and no data plan.  Once she switches to PM I'll definitely try the same.  I'm consistently impressed with that phone,  it should last you a good while!

[Martin]

Hi,

To add to the above posts, I'm committed to using Moto G phones, which I hope will continue to improve in the years to come.

I have two 2013 units, and one 2015. They run stock Android, which I greatly appreciate because I dislike bloatware. Both models have an FM radio, which I truly hope will be maintained in future iterations.

Though both models are intertwined with all-seeing Google, I have more concerns about CSIS and the U.S. NSA. If they want the name and number of my favorite pizzeria, they can have it!

Cheers.

[7789849803]

That's exactly how I feel right now, @NDesai! I'm going to use this phone to the ground! 🙂

[NDesai]

Great post. It's always fun when you find something interesting.

And once you get hang of one device, you don't feel like switching unless it's unusable.