By Khurram Aziz | Dec 11, 2012 01:42 PM EST
Google's LG-made Nexus 4 smartphone isn't meant to have support for 4G LTE networks. But, hot on the heels of enterprising hackers adding that functionality to networks in Canada, reports on the web show the phone connecting to LTE networks in some places in the US as well.
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The phone can access LTE through band 4 on a few select AT&T markets, specifically in Athens, Charlotte, Chicago, College Station, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Raleigh and San Juan.
However, as Android Police points out (the website which first reported the tweak), this is not the intended use of the phone.
"So if you're not comfortable screwing with radios on your phone, you should probably skip the whole freaking out thing," said Android Police.
The Nexus 4 is Google's flagship Android smartphone which is designed to show off the capability of the latest Jelly Bean version of the operating system. It is as feature-packed as any smartphone on the market, but it is sold for a fraction of the cost of a Samsung Galaxy S3 or Apple iPhone 5 handset.
One of the reasons for the low price (only $299 for an 8GB model without a contract) is because Google has not included LTE support for the device. However, the phone is based on the hardware of LG's Optimus G smartphone which does have support for LTE in certain bands, and enterprising developers in November have shown how this feature can be accessed on Canada's Roger and Telus networks.
The news of the tweak was first broken on the XDA Developers forum by the user checkitonetime, who has yet to release details of the hack.
The user has, however, posted screenshots of the phone running LTE on AT&T and says it can run max download speeds of 29.80MBS and 10.75MBS up speeds.
The hack also only works in AT&T markets using band 4 (1700MHz) for LTE, while the majority of AT&T users are on band 17 (700MHz). But even then, some XDA users are saying they are struggling to get it to work in several band 4 markets as well.
The Nexus 4 has been sold out on Google Play for days and the company is unlikely to have any more handsets back in stock in time for Christmas.
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