Nexus some has working LTE, but service limited.

Without a doubt, Virginia, there is a Father christmas Claus. Despite Google’s claims towards contrary and no mention within FCC filing documents, a group of intrepid Android enthusiasts has revealed to you the motherlode of Nexus some secrets. The phone has operating LTE.

The discovery of an LTE chip into the latest flagship phone from Google created brief hope that this handset could be hacked to back up the 4G network technology. That hope was soon opportunity down when folks realized the unit did not have the complimentary radios essential to cover the wide deployment of LTE bands. That didn’t end the curiosity of a gaggle of individuals over at XDA.


Using a simple software tweak, Nexus 4 owners uncovered what appeared to be support for LTE on Canada’s TELUS along with Rogers. AnandTech followed up with a round of testing and confirmed that this device does indeed feature unofficial service for LTE Band 4 nearly 20MHz. Currently these Canadian networks are one of the few that support Band some for LTE.

Those in america haven’t had the same luck caused by network compatibility (AT&T, Verizon, along with Sprint use alternate bands regarding LTE), but the one glimmer of hope is that T-Mobile does intend to launch LTE on Band 4 inside the coming year. Coincidentally, T-Mobile will be the only carrier to partner with Google on the launch of the Nexus some.

So what does it many mean? It’s unlikely we will discover official LTE support rolled out for certain networks. Google does not intend for that Nexus 4 to be the LTE device, and despite limited 4G support the product still does not contain all the hardware necessary for a trustworthy, optimized experience.


It makes us wonder why Google would not be upfront about the likelihood for LTE support after a certain amount of tweaking, though. Don’t they realize who these are dealing with? Hardly a secret goes uncovered as a result of the ever-dedicated community of enthusiasts which will stop at nothing to produce their ideal Android experience.

Nonetheless, for the average consumer this particular discovery means little. The vast majority of anyone who has managed to snag a Nexus 4 may have little use for LTE Wedding ring 4, and there are certain to get set backs for those that do have access to the 4G network. We’ll still list an absence of LTE support as our chief complaint regarding the phone (other than the debacle that's its public launch). Hopefully future Nexus models will push forward while using the new technology rather than backtrack as with the Nexus 4.