I found a way to restore Carrier TFW 15.6 to my iPhone. I don’t have the speed issue so I can’t say doing this will fix the problem. I also cannot promise doing this won’t cause you further problems. I can only tell you I did this to my iPhone 5. My carrier now shows TFW 15.6. My iPhone asks me to update. I presume to TFW 15.7 again. I still see the 3G when I MMS or go to voice mail, places I used to see a 4G. My phone shows LTE the rest of the time. I don’t notice or measure any difference in my speeds with or without 15.7. Try this at your own risk.
NOTE: This currently only works for iOS 7.0.x, not iOS 7.1. I am looking to see if I can find a way to do it. If or when I find a way, I’ll update this post. Please don’t leave a comment asking about it.
I recommend running a few speed tests before and after. Also after installing the profile, do a reset all settings on your iPhone.
Please leave a comment and let me know how it went.
Regards
Bob
Download Carrier Update TFW 15.6 to your Mac or PC
- From your computer browser, load http://appldnld.apple.com/iOS7/CarrierBundles/031-0815.20131022.815mb/ATT_TFW_US_iPhone.ipcc
- Your browser should download a file ATT_TFW_US_iPhone.ipcc to your computer
NOTE: It seems Internet Explorer changes ATT_TFW_US_iPhone.ipcc to ATT_TFW_US_iPhone.zip. You will need to remane the file back to ATT_TFW_US_iPhone.ipcc.
Modify iTunes
By default, you cannot install a carrier update file with iTunes. You need to enable the feature from your computers Terminal or Command Prompt. See the appropriate instructions for your Mac or Windows PC below.
Mac Users
- Open a Terminal Window
- Copy / Paste the line below in the Terminal and press enter
defaults write com.apple.iTunes carrier-testing -bool true
Windows (32 Bit) Users
- Open a Command Prompt
- Copy and paste the first line below on to the Command Prompt and press enter
- Copy and paste the second line below on to the Command Prompt and press enter
cd "C:Program FilesiTunes"
iTunes.exe /setPrefInt carrier-testing 1
Windows (64 Bit) Users
- Open a Command Prompt
- Copy and paste the first line below on to the Command Prompt and press enter
- Copy and paste the second line below on to the Command Prompt and press enter
cd "C:Program Files (x86)iTunes"
iTunes.exe /setPrefInt carrier-testing 1
Install TFW 15.6
- Launch iTunes
- Hold the Option (ALT) (Mac)
- Hold the Shift key (Windows)
- Click the Check for Update button
- Select and install ATT_TFW_US_iPhone.ipcc
After I installed TFW 15.6, I needed to go to Settings->General->Reset->Reset All Settings before the 3G indicator would change back to 4G.
References:
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1816504-Current-Status-of-AT-amp-T-SIM-Cards-from-ST
BOB!
I’m getting mixed results for speed tests, but at the very least it’s definitely faster!! Thank u so much for the work!! You are doing amazing work for us and we GREATLY appreciate it!!!! Thanks again!
D!
Thanks for the comment. Glad to hear your phone is faster.
We will see what happens later when 15.8 come out.
Regards
Bob
Open a command prompt in windows.
From the start menu, choose run. And type command
Copy and paste each line of text in the guide into the command prompt hit enter after the first
Hit after after the second
Look at the guide the commands are different for 32 bit and 64 bit windows.
Let me know when you have completed this
Regards
Bob
Launch iTunes
Hold the Option (ALT) (Mac)
Hold the Shift key (Windows)
Click the Check for Update button
Select and install ATT_TFW_US_iPhone.ipcc
You don’t know how to run a program on your computer?
Run iTunes.
Hi,
Just tell me what isn’t clear. I’d like to improve the guide.
Regards
Bob
Hi Bob,
Thanks. I have downloaded the file did the two command line for windows and then ran iTunes using the left shift key and the first time It prompted me for a library. I tried it again and nothing. I am using iTunes v11.1.4 If this version will not work where can I find an older version I can install it on my netbook and try it there. Is there any other way to change the carrier other then using iTunes I am stuck on carrier 15.5 on straighttalk using unlocked 5s. I want to update the carrier but can’t seem to get a carrier notice update.
Thank you for your great work and time. it is appreciated.
Hi Jim,
You mentioned you are using Carrier 15.5. Do you mean “Carrier 15.5”, “AT&T 15.5”, or “TFW 15.5” ? You should only be using “TFW 15.6” or “TFW 15.7” with the Straight Talk AT&T network compatible SIM. If you are using the Straight Talk T-Mobile network compatible SIM or the Straight Talk Verizon compatible network then you don’t want to install this.
My windows PC is a mess, so I haven’t had time to fix it and it make trying out stuff on windows difficult. Some people report needing an older version of iTunes, I dont know a reliable source. You can do a Google search for it, look somneone running an older version of iTunes, or check the download folder on your PC. I always download apps and install them, so sometimes the older versions are lying around.
Where did you get your iPhone 5s? Did you buy it from Apple or Net10?
Regards
Bob
Hi bob,
Thanks for the reply. I have this all figured out now. I had the wrong sim in the phone I hate that tiny print. I put the at&t 4g lte sim in the phone and now I am on 15.7 and speeds are fast, mms seems to be working on first test. I see in the status bar at the top lte and signal is full. Back to the straight talk I had before I changed to the 5s.
Mission Accomplished … Thank you!
OK.
So what was the issue. You were unable to install the ipcc file or you installed it but it did not work.
Regards
Bob
Do this work for iPhone 4….??
Hi Robert,
If you are running iOS 7.0.2 or greater, and using the ATT network SIM, yes.
Regards
Bob
Thank you……..
It worked for my iPhone 4S. Try it…
Hi McKurd
Excellent!
Regards
Bob
This all worked for me, and it seems to have improved my iPhone 4S data speed with my Straight Talk AT&T sim.
Last week I purchased an unlocked iPhone 4S and started using it with an AT&T Straight Talk sim. I installed the v15.7 tfw initially, and I only ever saw 3G as my data type, even though I knew I was in an AT&T 4G territory.
Before running the procedure above I ran three Speedtests (using the OOKLA app on my iPhone). My download speeds didn’t change much (always between 5-6 mbps) but my upload speeds increased from 1.38 (range of 1.27 – 1.57) to 2.53 (range of 1.3 to 3.08). The range was high in my followup test with one outlier of 1.3 (the rest were 2.8 and above). Even so, I think I’m legitimately getting better upload speeds.
Just FYI the Speedtest host does not appear to be an issue: all four of the followup tests were through the same host (host-engine.com in Denver). Two of the three initial tests were with that same host, while one was with Comcast in Denver.
Thanks so much Bob Thompson for providing all this information on setting up iPhones on Straight Talk. I’m happy to be paying a reasonable amount but getting good coverage, and wouldn’t have been possible without sites like yours.
Hi LucasB,
Thank you for taking the time to leave such a detailed comment and share your results. Reader comments improve smartphonematters.com and help all of us learn about new problems, new potential fixes, and the effectiveness of fixes like this.
I’m using carrier TFW 15.6 too. I can’t say I have noticed speed improvements, but I know it works well and so I figured why take a chance since I was traveling.
Regards
Bob
My iTunes has the .ipcc file greyed out and I cannot select it. Has anyone ran into this problem before?
Hi Devin,
That is possible. Mac or PC? what Version of iTunes? I think the Windows dialog has a file type selector..
Regards
Bob
Mac. iTunes Version 11.1.3 (8)
Thank you. I can see it, but cannot select it.
Hi Devin,
It’s possible that this doesn’t work with 11.1.3, I’m using 11.1.
Did you type the terminal commands correctly?
Regards
Bob
I copied and pasted them right from this page. I will try to roll back to 11.1 and see if that works. Thank you.
I went back to 11.1 and it still does not allow me to select the .ipcc file. Any other ideas?
update:
i went to my virtual windows machine and downloaded itunes 11.1 and got it to work. they must have patched it with 11.1.3. it still wouldn’t work with the mac 11.1 after i rolled back. thanks for all the help.
p.s. you wouldn’t happen to know where i could find the .ipcc file for version at&t 15.0 do you? my wife still has that version on her phone and it seems to work even better. maybe it’s just my thinking that it does though…
Hey Devin,
Thanks for the update. Nice going to go to your virtual machine to use the older version of iTunes.
This is the link for ATT 15.6 ATT_CC_US_iPhone.ipcc http://appldnld.apple.com/iOS7/CarrierBundles/031-2098.20131204.rVQEN/ATT_CC_US_iPhone.ipcc
I haven’t tested that ipcc on my phone. I wasn’t able to find a link to ATT 15.0
Regards
Bob
Thanks for this. Glad to see it wasn’t just me. 3G speed instead of 4G HSPA+ while on phone. Never get 4G HSPA after update, only 3G or LTE. Thanks Guys for the surely unintentional crippling. of my $850 device. Going to try it as soon as I get near a computer.
AIO/ATT GoPhone looking more attractive everyday. /end rant
Hi Josh,
If you haven’t reverted to TFW 15.6 yet I do recommend running a speed test before and after.
Regards
Bob
Thanks, My 4s Works like a champ now!
Hi Taylor,
Great news.
Regards
Bob
I’m sorry, I forgot to mention I haven’t sync’d it to iTunes yet.
Hi Ben,
If you follow the link in the post, it will take you to the guide that shows how to revert from TFW 15.7 to TFW 15.6. Was that unclear? Let me know. I want to make sure people can find the guide.
Regards
Bob
Thank you works for me
Juan,
Great news.
Regards
Bob
its not working for me!!!! Please help. what I am I doing wrong? I did it a million times and no luck. I have windows 64. I don’t know how to do it!
Hi Tracy,
I’d like to help you. Can you describe a little more clearly what the problem is. For example, it would be helpful if you told me that you are having a problem installing the file or you installed it on your phone but it didn’t go back to 15.6.
Regards
Bob
ok so this is what I did. I saved the file that is in the link, I renamed it before saving, and it saved successfully. Then I went ahead and opened the command prompt box. I copied the fist line, pushed enter, then I copied the second line, and pushed enter. After that, I opened iTunes, held the shift key, and clicked on the check for updates thing. I chose the file I downloaded, it said updating carrier for like 1 second, then… that’s it. I reset my phone, nothing happened! I did everything again, turned my phone off and on and still nothing. what am I doing wrong?
Hi Tracy,
Go to Settings->General->About What is your Version and Carrier?
Regards
Bob
not work on me, did all reset
Hi eid,
Perhaps I could help. Could you describe what steps you took and what issue you had.
Regards
Bob
Worked like a charm and the 4G indicator is back. Although I don’t have actual speed measurements, I’ve noticed page loads are definitely faster after reverting to the TFW 15.6 carrier settings. Thank you so much for posting this information. Your a genius!
Ej,
Glad it worked for you. Thanks for the comment.
Regards
Bob
Bob,I can’t even begin to figure out how you figured this out but I thank you so very much. The carrier update was a huge downer. Here I was thinking the update push was going to make things better for my iphone 4s,when I think what they were trying to do is force more phones onto 3g instead of 4g for whatever reason. A reboot put the 4g icon back,I figured I would try that before I resorted to a reset.Thank You,Thank You,Thank you
Hi G,
I am glad you were able to revert to TFW 15.6. By any chance, did you measure your before and after speeds with Speedtest? If so, could you share the any results. I did not have an issue with my data speeds with TFW 15.7 but many did. We are trying to track in the comments if reverting to 15.6 is improving data speeds.
Regards
Bob
I followed all of your steps and when I reset all of my settings it showed up as 4G. But my speed tests were the exact same both of the times, it just shows up as 4g again. They were 0.05 download and 0.05 upload
Hi Josh,
sorry to hear that. No one really knows what is causing the problem. or why reverting works for some people. If I were you I’d remove any APN profiles installed and do a Reset Network Settings.
Can you look in Settings General About and verify your carrier is TDW 15.6?
Regards
Bob
to be honest i tried testing speeds at the 4G level with ST/TFW with downloads of about 2-4Mbps i live in sioux falls which is a HSPA+ ATT network only (no 4G LTE) and after updating carrier settings with the 3G display, the speeds were about the same at 2-4 download and 1-2 upload… i tried the above measures to revert back to 4G with success but no real measurable difference in speeds!. Same 4/2 up/download speeds. Cant complain of this plan… i am streaming spotify for my workouts, car rides, doing all sorts of browsing! perfect plan for $45. ATT and Verizon can go suck it!
Hi Nimz,
Thanks for sharing. This seems to be the case for many.
If you didn’t really see,your data slow down you won’t see a speed change by reverting to TFW 15.6.
And I agree all problems aside, A $45 a month data plan is a good thing!
Regards
Bob
I’m surprised people are seeing a speed change at all between the two updates. Nothing changes in the 15.7 update compared to the 15.6 update except for the “4G” indicator, which has no effect on speed.
Hi Danny,
The same was true for me. I wrote a post about it saying that was the only change I noticed
I Can’t Receive MMS Picture Messages Using Straight Talk or Net10 on My iPhone Using iOS 7.0.4. Other readers starting reporting extremely slow.
So, I did so investigation and found out how to revert. Do you have any information about the difference between 15.6 and 15.7? I didn’t look into what else changed. Why would they do an update to only change the 4g to 3G?
Regards
Bob
I saved the folder as ipcc file and I can select it from iTunes, but IT cannot find the files to install, what am I doing wrong?
If you downloaded the file with Internet Explorer, it named it with a .zip extension. Don’t unzip it. Rename it to a .ipcc file and install with iTunes
Regards
Bob
Thank you Bob. Even though I renamed to file to ATT_TFW_US_iPhone.ipcc, the format of the folder still says zip file and IT does not see it.
Steve,
Delete the file. Download it it again. If you use firefox or chrome it will now load as an ipcc file. If you download it with internet explorer, the browser changes it to .zip. Rename it to .ipcc at that point it shouldn’t look like a folder.
Regards
Bob
THANK YOU IT WORKED AND NOW HAVE MY 4G BACK !
Lisa,
Great news. Glad it worked.
Regards
Bob
Thank you so much it went back to 4G and speeds are way better from 1.5mbps to 3
Sophie,
Awesome. Glad your data is faster
Regards
Bob
How do I Open an ipcc file? My computer keeps saying “to open this file, windows needs to know what program you want to use to open it” soooo confusing.
Hi
You need to follow the instructions. Did you use iTunes? Did you hold the option off shift key while clicking the update button?
Regards
Bob
Made the change back to 15.6 for the 4G indicator. I ran speed tests before and after. Interestingly my 3G speeds were faster. Download and upload for 3G were 4.86 and 1.09 while 4G was 3.84 and 0.38. Perhaps I’ll update back to 15.7. Thanks for posting the info.
Hi Dave,
Did you try the reset all setting?
Regards
Bob
Does it work?
yes
Thank you so much, I have gone from 3G to 4G on my iPhone 4s. Bob, the install went perfect as planned.
Cody,
Great news. Did you run before / after speed tests? Did it get faster?
Regards
Bob
I have pinged Tampa, FL with a ping of 366 while using 3G my DL was 1.18Mbps and UL was 1.58Mbps. After rolling back the software to 4G, aagain pinged Tampa, FL with 210 my DL was 3.66Mbps and UL was 1.60Mbps.
Again, Thank you!
Where can I download older carrier updates .ipcc files like att 15.5?
I dont know.
ATT 15.6 http://appldnld.apple.com/iOS7/CarrierBundles/031-2098.20131204.rVQEN/ATT_CC_US_iPhone.ipcc
FYI.. i didn’t test this on my phone
Thank you Bob. I succeeded with the .ipcc update to 15.6 in ITunes on my daughters ATT 4s. The 4G icon is back and TFW 15.6 in About Phone. Unfortunately even after resetting All Settings AND a reboot same painfully slow speeds as before (.04 Mbs down & up). Thinking now I should at changing the APN settings but to what? She took off with the phone so I probably wont get to try it for awhile. Merry Christmas!
Over Doubled my download speed! kicked up the upload a bit.. 🙂 Thanks for the info…
Jody,
Awesome.
Regards,
Bob
Sorry I fixed it. I did a all reset and erase all reset still no different is there something I’m doing wrong ??
Hi Jovan,
I don’t have any other solutions for slow data. I can’t tell from your comment if you successfully downgraded from TFW 15.7 to TFW 15.6
Did you run speed tests before and after? Can you share the results? Did you go into yours setting and verify that your carrier is back to TFW 15.6? Which iPhone using? Are you seeing the 4G speed indicator in your status bar?
Regards
Bob
I followed you steps and got 15.6 back showing 4g but it seem to be slow and when I go to a 4gLTE area it show on my iphone but is still slow
Hi Zack,
I don’t have an answer for you. I don’t have a phone with a speed problem myself. Did you follow the step to reset all settings? that seems to be a key step for many. I don’t remember if you had before / after speed results. if it were me I’d probally to a iPhone restore in iTunes and start with a fresh phone. Backup first if you do.
Regards
Bob
yes I followed you steps & reset all settings? I gonna try it again see if it helps
I reset all setting and follow you step I gonna retry to see if it helps
I didn’t 100% understand the steps to reverse back to 15.6 help
Hey,
You cannot leave a comment using my name, you are not me.
OK, so you need to tell me a little more about what you don’t understand for me to help you.
Regards
Bob
Ok sorry I fixed it. But I tried doing all rest settings and it still didn’t work I even tried erase all setting am I doing this correctly?? Is there anything else I could try to back to 4g speed
Hi Jovan,
I don’t have any other solutions for slow data. I can’t tell from your comment if you successfully downgraded from TFW 15.7 to TFW 15.6
Did you run speed tests before and after? Can you share the results? Did you go into yours setting and verify that your carrier is back to TFW 15.6? Which iPhone using? Are you seeing the 4G speed indicator in your status bar?
Regards
Bob
Thank you, first and foremost.
Your speed-up downgrade worked exactly as described. Ping time was reduced by about a third. Down speeds doubled. Up speeds stayed about the same.
Lastly, I spoke to Straighttalk support daily for six days running about this issue before I searched for an online solution. Those disingenuous bastards blamed everything and everybody — including AT&T. One rep even made certain I had the 15.7 version. No one of them either admitted responsibility or offered a solution.
Hi Ken,
You are welcome. As far as Straight Talk support, I have empathy for the employees that have to answer the phones there. You have to answer calls from a forigen country and try to help or support people solely based on a set of scripts. I couldn’t imagine having to support a product I have never used. That is, unless Straight Talk works in India.
If I were Straight Talk, my goal would to make the company beloved by its customers. They are selling the actual service that makes my phone work and they are doing it for half the cost of post paid cellular service. But hey, I am just a guy with a website.
Anyways, I am glad to read you were able to revert your phone to TFW 15.6 and regain performance. Thank you for taking the time to comment. Every reader comments helps all of us understand whether the fixes shared on this site are helping people.
Regards
Bob
I agree. They offer a service not a product perse. Theyve actually were quite helpful last time I called. The script stuff sucks but what can you do. Get ripped off or deal with CS that is about the same as ATT and save a mint in money.
Thanks for your website and energy to help Bob…
I restore all settings, the speed is still slow, 1.2MBPS 0.24MBPS,
Or show TFW?
What does your carrier setting show? Settings general about
Straight Talk（new）：changes the APN to tfdata Verified
My iphone4s, can not find the APN settings, APN settings, I was through the website http://www.unlockit.co.nz
Hi Bob,
Reverting back to 15.6 enabled my mms abilities after I had lost them with the new carrier update. I am running iOS 7 on an ATT unlocked iPhone 4S.
Cheers Bob!
Sebastian,
I am glad to hear it helped get your mms back.
Regards
Bob
Hi there, I would like to change the 4G icon to LTE, do you have any clue? Maybe edit the ipcc file, but I don’t know where to start… Tks ph
Hi Phelipe,
Why would you want to change the 4G icon to LTE? The 4G on your iPhone is not LTE. If you don’t have an iPhone 5, your phone won’t get LTE. If you have an iPhone 5 (ATT model) your phone should get LTE. Do you have an iPhone 5? Maybe we could figure out why your are not getting LTE.
Regards
Bob
Bob,
Youre a legend!!! I speednet test was 193 ping, 3.23 dl, 1.07 ul on 15.7 iPhone 4s on 15.7. Now as directed 294 ping, 7.05 dl, 1.12 ul.
Thank you sir… #brilliant
D
Hi Dylan,
I am glad it helped. Thanks for the comment.
Regards
Bob
Is it possible reverting to this version will allow mms to work again I seem to have lost it not sure if it was during this upgrade or the 15.7 upgrade and the sim swap is not working to resolve the issue. Thanks
Celeste
Yes. It’s possible. I don’t see how it would hurt.
Regards
Bob
It worked for me!
Awesome!
This fix worked for me. Got 4G and higher speeds back. Thanks.
Awesome. Can you share some before and after results? If you used Speedtest there is a history of results in the app.
Regards
Bob
worked like a charm. I have 4g now.
Paul,
That is great news.
if you could share any speed results before and after that would really help the other readers. If you ran speed test, you can look in the app, it saves a history.
Regards
Bob
it went back to 15.6 but its still show 3g help
Hi Christopher
Did you follow the instructions to do a Reset All Settings?
Also if you could share any speed results before and after that would really help the other readers. If you ran speed test, you can look in the app, it saves a history.
Regards
Bob
Time after time, browsing many different sites i finally figured out how to get it to work.
I updated my carries settings when my iphone 5 told me i had a update and i lost 4G and the speeds on straighttalk. I called the CSR many of times to be told i didnt have 4G where i lived, which i do with AT&T. I restored my iphone, then restored from icloud, not itunes. My phone then said HOME LTE with carrier AT&T 15.5. IT WORKED! Very simple.
1. Back up your phone to icloud.
2. Restore your phone through itunes.
3. Use your icloud to restore everything.
4. BAM! Should be done, saying HOME 4G or LTE.
DO NOT UPDATE CARRIER SETTINGS.
Hi Devan,
Great news. Nice fix. I like having carrier TFW 15.6 so I don’t need to SIM swap or use APN profiles though.
I’d encourge others to try this method too if they don’t want to directly install TFW 15.6 again.
Regards
Bob
muchas gracias Devan ise todo lo que dijiste y si me funciono pude volver a tener home 4g lte
muchas gracias
Hola,
Yo uso el traductor de google para comentarios en español. Yo beleive arreglaste tu teléfono, si ese es el caso … de nada
saludos
Bob
Thanks for your help on this. When all was said and done it restored my iPhone to ATT 15.5 instead of 15.6. In any case, though, it also restored my speed to 4G and after several tests using Speedtest all is good again.
Thank you for hosting this website and thank you for providing several ways to restore my iPhone to its maximum operating speed. If only Straight Talk had been able to do so!
Hi DJ,
Thanks for commenting. I a glad to hear you got your phone working.
Regards
Bob
Thanks Bob It works for me.
JJ
Great news.
Regards,
Bob
says firm ware is not compatible.. I have an iPhone 5 (ATT)
every sense the update i cant get email or internet if not connected to wi-fi…
I need to fix this..
Thanks in advance
Hi Woody,
I might be able to help you. can you describe the problem you had a little more clearly?
You used a Mac? A PC? what version of iTunes? You got the error message on your computer? The phone? What was the exact message?
Regards
Bob
I got it.. I copied the wrong line into cmd… thanks… still have no data or internet.. updated the apns and everything..im using a pc/win8 and the latest version of itunes.. im about over net10
Thanks Bob,
Worked for me (4S, Factory Unlocked, Straight Talk) back to TFW 15.6 and my upload and download speeds are significantly improved. 4G is showing up too 🙂
That is awesome
Regards
Bob
When you download the file…if you are using windows it treats it as a .zip file…..when you download save as to your desktop and change the extension to .ipcc
Hi Adam,
I use Chrome on my Windows 7 64 bit computer. It downloads a .ippc file? what browser and version of windows are you using?
Update: I tried Internet Explorer… it downloads a zip file.
Regards
Bob
going to chrome worked an I looked at carrier on my phone and it says 15.6 but I still see 3g
Hi Zach,
Do a Reset All Settings on your iPhone.. I had to do that for the display to go back.
Regards
Bob
What do I do after I change the extension to .ipcc? Cause I’m still having the same problem.. I hold shift & check for updates after & it still doesn’t bring up the folder.
Hi Jermink
I don’t know what the issue you are having is. Did you type the commands into the command prompt correctly? What version of iTunes are you running? I have two windows PCs. One has iTunes 10, the other has the latest iTunes but doesn’t recognize I have plugged in an iPhone.
Regards
Bob
Thanks for this tutorial. I was quite put off after running the pushed 15.7 update and “loosing” my 4G label. Immediately I perceived slower speeds. I’m a bit OCD and run the Speedtest.net app A LOT. I ran it after the update and didn’t notice a big difference in the speeds I was getting. I’ve now ran through your tutorial and have my 4G label back. Subsequent Speedtests have revealed that really not that much has changed. Hmm.
I’ve work in IT and have dealt with mobile phones for many years. I’m new to the whole MVNO thing – like StraightTalk. I was a bit surprised when setting up the service on my iPhone 4S that I had to install a “profile”. Why exactly is this needed? If StraightTalk is only reselling services on major providers’ networks, why don’t I just see the name of the provider I’m using on my phone (AT&T in my case)?
I’ll keep running Speedtests periodically and see if I can notice any trends in data. From what I’ve read on this site I’m going to guess that I’ll get fairly random results.
Thanks for your help.
Hi Dave,
You are welcome. Yes. The the carrier speed indicator is distracting if you rely on it as the only indicator of network performance. You wouldn’t do that as an IT guy right? 🙂
The MVNO thing is not that hard to understand. They are buying AT&T service and bulk and reselling it, but they are not using the same back end systems for data and MMS. The problem has been that the iPhone would think your Straight Talk SIM was an ATT SIM and program the values needed for ATT, which are wrong for straight talk. TFW 15.6 fixes this some people by programing a set of APN and MMS setting that work for some of their customers. Older customers and using a few different combinations.
From a business standpoint, If I were ATT I wouldn’t want a Straight talk phone to show ATT if they were not my retail customer. If I was Straight Talk or Net10. I wouldn’t have setting for TFW (Tracfone Wireless) as the name either. I’d want to brand what is displayed.
Think of it like having to set the IP address, DNS, and gateway on your PC because the backend or client was configured correctly to get DHCP to work right.
Anyway, glad to hear you are going again.
Regards
Bob
Thanks Bob. After several speed tests today I noticed no improvement after going back to 15.6, but as I had mentioned, I’m not sure that going to 15.7 made any difference to start with. I’ve updated back to 15.7, figuring that the update was created and pushed out for some reason. I’ve kept the 15.6 firmware around in case my OCD kicks in again on a rainy day.
Thanks again for your help.
Hey Dave,
Thanks for the update. I think this is true for many. They see the 3G and fear they are not getting as fast a connection. The people really affected by the update are getting worse than 2G speeds and its obvious.
Check smartphonematters first, next time your iPhone pops up a carrier update.
Regards
Bob
I trying for hours to get it to work and seem to not be working I have Window 64bit & iTunes 11.0.3
*iTunes 11.1.3
Hi Zach,
What is the problem?
Regards
Bob
well I followed you sets and when I got to the command prompt I enter cd “C:\Program Files (x86)\iTunes” and then iTunes.exe /setPrefInt carrier-testing 1 but it keeps showing C:\Program Files (x86)\iTunes” every time I enter the second in
*followed you steps
& I went to itunes click SHIFT and click Check for Updates & click on the file and there is nothing in the folders what am I doing wrong ?
is it best to stay where I’m at or will there be an update soom
I think I followed the step right and then I went to iTunes click SHIFT and Check for Updates, found the folder and theres was nothing in it what am I doing wrong?
do I need to just stick with what I got or will there be a update soon
Did you download the ipcc file? Did you make sure the dialog is filtering for ippc files or all files?
Regards
Bob
Same with me!
well I download the file and extracted it how do I change dialog filtering for ippc files or all files
now I see the the dialog box for ippc but still nothing
Did you download the file? to where?
Regards
Bob
is there going to be a update to get 4g back beside doing this because I read on some forum they did set it back to 15.6 and update keeps popping up
Great workaround… it took me about 2 minutes to complete the process!
Only had to restart my iPhone and it was back to 4G.. connection speed is back to normal!
Thanks a lot!.. I was suffering for couple of day.. because the speed and having to see that stupid 3G sign there!
Cheers… OddO
OddO,
Great news. Thank you for taking the time to comment.
Regards
Bob
It worked for me. I still have spotty speeds, but the reached as high as 9 down and 1 up. Got my 4g badge back and MMS is working. Thanks Bob, very kind of you to help us out.
Paul,
That is great news
Regards
Bob
It has been several hours since I reverted back to the 15.6 carrier update. I noticed that even after doing so that my phone would often say 3g in places where it would previously say 4G. I went into set up and reset all settings and restarted my phone. Since then it has shown 4G and LTE has it had previously done. Speeds have also improved again to what they were prior to the update. With 15.7, I would never get above 3.5 mbps even with LTE and most of my tests would be below 2.5 mbps. After reverting back, my 4g speeds are probably slightly improved; however, my LTE speeds have reached up to 9-10 mbps as they were prior to the update. This is where I have seen the biggest change between the carrier updates. Also, for those of you who didn’t not have any change in speed but miss the 4G label at the top, this solution should work for you in getting that back.
Thanks again Bob for the work.
Just completed and shows that I am back to 15.6. I do have the newest version of itunes which is 11.1.3.8. I followed the directions as stated above. However, the first time I was clicking on the help tab at the top of itunes and checking for updates with iTunes which was not working. I guess I misunderstood. However, if you go into your iPhone to the summary page where it will show that you have ios 7.0.4 for your phone and hold shift while clicking on check for updates it will work as stated. I then powered my phone off and then back on and it states I have 15.6.
Thanks Bob.
I just tried to revert back as well with no success. I have windows 64 bit. Copied and pasted the commands in the commands prompt as stated. No error messages appeared. Opened iTunes and cried to hold shift and click on check for updates but it just automatically checked for updates and stated that I have the newest version of I tunes as stated by another user above.
This is probably what I did wrong. I will have to retry and see if I can get mine working. Thanks Makay for your post.
I attempted the restore using Itunes 11.1.3.8. Unfortunately I had no luck with this attempt. I will continue to monitor the site for other options. Thank you Bob for all your help! I know your on top of it.
Chad
Hey chad,
What happened? Where you unable to downgrade to tfw 15.6? Or you did but there was no improvement?
Regards
Bob
I was unable to install TFW 15.6. Everything was fine until I held the shift key and clicked “check for updates.” Itunes notification read “The version of iTunes (11.1.3) is the current version.” I assume the newer version will not allow this modification. Hope this helps.
Chad
OK I tried it again using the suggestions from a fellow poster “Makay” and it worked perfectly. I was attempting to update iTunes in the wrong location under the “help” icon on the left side of iTunes. Once I tried it like the above poster it worked great and I now have TFW 15.6 with 4G showing on the phone screen. I haven’t had a chance to check speeds yet but I will get back with you.
Thanks again Bob for your help…and thanks Makay for your post!
Hi chad,
I had iTunes 10 on windows. The other reader said he had iTunes 11.1.3 on windows 64 bit and he was able to do it. Are you familiar with the command prompt? Do you thing you typed the commands is correctly? Were there error messages?
I did read that you might not be able to install the carrier update with versions of windows greater than 11, but both the other reader and I were able to.
If you want to work on this further. Let me know. If you want to wait, that is ok too.
Regards
Bob
Yay I got it. Followed the advice of the above poster Makay and now I have TFW 15.6 with 4G on the phone screen. I haven’t tested the download and upload speeds yet but I will keep you posted.
Thanks again Mr. Bob and also thanks Makay for your helpful post!