How to enable 4G on Xiaomi: A complete guide to solving typical problems

Have you bought a new Xiaomi smartphone or upgraded your firmware, but mobile internet is slower than expected? 4G? This problem is familiar to many users of the brand - from budget Redmi to flagship Mi and the Redmi. POCO. Most often, faulty network settings, conflict SIM-Firmware cards or operator restrictions. In this article, we'll look at all the ways to include 4G on any Xiaomi model, including hidden settings for power users.

It's important to understand that even if the 4G icon is displayed on the screen, it doesn't guarantee maximum speed. Sometimes the smartphone connects to the Cat.4 LTE network instead of Cat.6/12, which reduces the speed by 2-3 times. We will show you how to check the real type of connection and make the phone use all the capabilities of the communication module. And if standard methods do not work, we will talk about hidden engineering codes for forced switching to 4G (relevant for MIUI 12-14 firmware).

Why Xiaomi may not be running 4G?

Before you turn on 4G, you need to understand the causes of the problem, and you can divide them into three categories:

• 📱 Hardware Restrictions: Your Smartphone Model Does Not Physically Support Ranges 4G Your operator (relevant to the old Redmi) 4A/5A or imported versions).
• ⚙️ Program settings: in MIUI The default may be priority 3G Automatic mode that selects a slow network.
• 📡 Operator's Problems: Your tariff does not include 4G, or the base station is overloaded (often in the subway or in suburban areas).

The most common reason is the second point: even on new Xiaomi 13T or POCO F5 smartphones, after the MIUI update, the network can reset to 3G. This is due to the energy saving policy: the system believes that 3G consumes less battery, in practice, the difference is minimal, and the speed drops by 5-10 times.

How do you check if your Xiaomi supports 4G? Go to Kimovil or GSMArena, type in your phone model and look at the Network section. If it specifies the LTE band 1/3/7/20/38 (for Russia), then the hardware is fine.

The standard way to enable 4G through MIUI settings

Start with the simplest method, which works on 90% of Xiaomi devices regardless of the MIUI version. The instructions are relevant for firmware from MIUI 10 to MIUI 14 (including HyperOS for new models).

Open the Settings app (cog icon) and follow the steps:

1. Go to section. SIM-Maps and mobile networks (or Mobile Network on older versions).
2. Choose yours. SIM-card (if two of them).
3. Click on Network Type or Preferred Network Type.
4. Set the 4G (preferably) or LTE value.
5. Activate the switches Enable 4G and Volte (VoLTE) if any.

On some models (Redmi Note 10 Pro, POCO X3 Pro) after choosing 4G will appear additional menu with options:

• 🔄 Automobile (3G/4G) — The phone will choose the network (often wrong).
• 📶 Only 4G — Compulsory regime (recommended).
• ⚡ 4G+ (LTE-A) — Frequency aggregation (if supported by the operator).

Select 4G Only and restart your phone. If the internet doesn't work after that, check if the notification curtain is on, and sometimes MIUI resets this option after changing the network type.

Advanced settings: engineering menu and AT-team

If the standard method doesn't work, you'll have to use hidden functions, which is a method that's suitable for power users and requires caution, because wrong actions can disrupt the network.

First, check the current network mode through the engineering menu:

1. Open the phone app and enter the combination: ##4636##
2. In the menu that opens, select Phone Information.
3. See the Set preferred network type bar, where the current mode is displayed.

If it says WCDMA preferred (3G) or GSM only (2G), it means that your settings are ignored by the system.

Method 1: Manual modification through the engineering menu

In the same menu (#4636##) click on Set preferred network type and select LTE only. After that, restart your phone. If this option is missing, use method 2.

Method 2: AT-commands (requires root or ADB)

This method requires a computer with installed Xiaomi drivers and the program ADB. Connect the phone over USB, enable debugging over USB in the developer settings and execute the command:

adb shell


su




setprop persist.radio.lte_on 1




setprop persist.radio.force_lte 1




reboot

These commands are forced to turn on LTE at the system level. Be careful: on some firmware, this may lead to loss of communication before resetting.

VoLTE problems and their solution

Many Xiaomi users are faced with a situation where 4G is turned on, but calls do not pass - the phone switches to 3G during a conversation. This is due to VoLTE turned off. Without this feature, the smartphone cannot simultaneously keep communication and Internet on the 4G network.

To enable VoLTE:

1. Go to Settings → SIM-cards and mobile networks.
2. Choose yours. SIM-map.
3. Activate the VoLTE switch (or Voice over LTE).
4. If the switch is not available, check if your carrier supports VoLTE (MTS, Beeline and Tele2 have lists of supported devices).

On some models (Redmi Note 9 Pro, POCO X3 NFC), VoLTE may not work due to regional firmware, for example, if you bought a phone for India and use it in Russia, in which case it will help:

• 🔧 Reflashing to the global version MIUI (Risky, may cancel the guarantee).
• 📱 Installation of Magisk and VoLTE enabler (requires root).
• 🔄 Update IMS-profiles through the application IMS Settings.

If VoLTE calls are interrupted or the sound is gone, try disabling this feature and using 3G for voice communication. Some carriers (e.g. Yota) still don't support VoLTE consistently.

💡

Before buying Xiaomi, check your carrier’s VoLTE compatibility on the 4PDA site. For example, Redmi 9A does not support VoLTE on Tele2, although 4G works.

Compatibility of Xiaomi models with 4G networks in Russia

Not all Xiaomi smartphones work equally well with Russian carriers: Below is a table supporting key 4G bands for popular models, the data is up to 2026 and may differ for imported versions (for example, Indian or Chinese).

If your model doesn’t support the Band 20 (800 MHz), then in remote areas (e.g., in a village), 4G may not catch at all, even if the operator promises coverage, in which case only 3G or buying a signal repeater remains.

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For a maximum 4G speed in the city, your smartphone should support Band 3 + Band 7 (frequency aggregation), without which the speed will not exceed 50-70 Mbps even with a good signal.

What if 4G is turned on but the internet is not working?

The situation when the 4G icon is on, but the pages do not open, is common.

• 📵 Infidels APN-settings, especially after the change of operator.
• 🔒 Lockdown IMEI — If the phone is imported from abroad.
• 🛡️ Active. VPN Firewall – interferes with the connection.
• 📦 Traffic limit: the operator could turn off the Internet.

Check the APN first:

1. Go to Settings. → SIM-maps and mobile networks → [yours SIM] → Access points (APN).
2. If there are several profiles, choose the one that corresponds to your operator (for example, Internet.mts.ru for MTS).
3. If there is no profile, create a new one manually (you can find the settings on the operator’s website).

If the APNs are correct, the internet is still not working:

⚠️ Attention: On some firmware MIUI There is a bug that does not save the smartphone APN Solution: Turn off automatic determination APN mobile network settings.

Another common problem is blocking. IMEI Imported phones. Check the status. IMEI team:

*#06#

If you display zeros or Invalid instead of a 15-digit number, then the IMEI is reset, which can happen after a failed update or reset, and you can restore it through an engineering menu or specialized services (for example, ChimeraTool).

Optimizing 4G Speeds on Xiaomi

Even if 4G is turned on, the speed can be slow, and here are some ways to increase it.

• 📶 Turn off traffic savings in Settings → Battery → Saving traffic.
• 🔄 Enable frequency aggregation (LTE-A) In the engineering menu (#4636## → LTE CA).
• 📵 Install Network Signal Guru to analyze the signal and select the best base station.
• 🔋 Turn off Dual. SIM, If you don't use the second SIM — It can slow down.

If you live in a densely populated area, try manually selecting the operator network:

1. Go to Settings → Mobile Network → Network Operators.
2. Turn off Automatic Selection.
3. Manually select your operator (e.g. MTS-RU instead of MTS).

This will help avoid connecting to congested stations, and it is also worth turning off automatic switching to the station. 3G customized SIM-cards - sometimes MIUI Save battery too aggressively by sacrificing speed.

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If 4G speeds drop sharply in the evening, it's not a phone problem - carriers throttle traffic during peak hours.Try using a VPN (like Cloudflare's Warp) to get around restrictions.

FAQ: Frequent questions about 4G on Xiaomi