Itching to get an iPhone 5 for T-Mobile but unwilling to wait for Apple (AAPL) to release unlocked iPhone hardware compatible with T-Mobile’s 1700MHz AWS LTE band? Then you may want to check out a new jailbreak tweak that purportedly lets you latch onto T-Mobile’s recently launched LTE network using your AT&T (T) iPhone 5. LeiMobile has posted instructions that it claims allow you to “load a custom carrier file onto your iPhone and enable LTE” on T-Mobile’s network by using either “an unlocked AT&T model A1428 or an officially unlocked model A1428.”
9to5Mac notes a couple of caveats that interested users should know about, however. First, the tweak will not work on Verizon (VZ) iPhone 5 models since they don’t have the proper radios connect with the AWS bands. Second, the tweak only “enables LTE AWS support for T-Mobile” and “won’t allow you to access HSPA+ 42Mbps on 1700mhz like Apple’s new A1428 variant.” In other words, if you want to have an iPhone on T-Mobile that’s able to access both T-Mobile’s LTE network and its HSPA+ network, you’ll still need to wait for Apple to release an updated version of its unlocked model.
And of course, since T-Mobile’s LTE network is only live in seven markets right now, you’ll probably want to have HSPA+ connectivity no matter what. All the same, it’s a pretty cool tweak for iPhone 5 users who want to ditch AT&T for T-Mobile as soon as they possibly can.
