This work presents a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) based on a wide-band 4-bit phase shifter using two back-to-back single-pole-four-throw (SP4T) switches and four different distributed MEMS transmission line (DMTL) structures that are implemented on 635 μm alumina substrate using surface micromachining process. An SP4T switch is designed with a series-shunt configuration and it demonstrates an average return loss of >17 dB, an insertion loss of <1.97 dB and maximum isolation of >28 dB up to 60 GHz. A maximum area of the SP4T switch is ∼0.76 mm2. Single-pole-single-throw and SP4T switches are capable of handling 1 W of radio frequency (RF) power up to >100 million cycles at 25° C; they can even sustained up to >70 million cycles with 1 W at 85 °C. The proposed wide-band phase shifter works at 17 GHz (Ku-band), 25 GHz (K-band), 35 GHz (Ka-band) and 60 GHz (V-band) frequencies. Finally,a 4-bit phase shifter demonstrates an average insertion loss of <6 dB, return loss of >10 dB and maximum phase error of ∼3.8° at 60 GHz frequency over 500 MHz bandwidth. Total area of the fabricated device is ∼11 mm2. In addition, the proposed device works well up to >107 cycles with 1 W of RF power. To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the best reported wide-band MEMS 4-bit phase shifter in the literature that works with a constant resolution. © 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd.