Is it possible for someone to write some code for FP Open (or Android) to make the Fairphone 2 work with a USB to Ethernet adaptor such as the two examples below? I don’t know anything about the process of adapting Open Source operating systems. I want to access the internet via the Ethernet cable instead of wifi.
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Do these adapters not already work?
Support for them is built-in into the kernel, which adapters work depends on whether the applicable modules are enabled in the kernel configuration.
EDIT: turns out the kernel module is present but there is an issue with DHCP. See Ethernet via OTG cable.
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This totally depends on what level the problem lies. If there is no support the Linux kernel, it will be a very different matter than if you just need to write a user interface to configure the device. This case seems to be somewhere in-between, in the system tools that run on top of Linux (which are not entirely Android-specific.)
Also confirming that this should work already, if no other software failures stop it from working …
Targus USB Docking Stations get accessed by the OS as usb0 devices, for which DHCP will not be started, even if they offer an Ethernet connection … as opposed to other USB OTG Ethernet adapters the OS sees as eth0 devices and should treat just fine (but in our case here just doesn’t).
https://targusblog.com/2016/08/08/i-want-my-mtv-er-usbethernet-on-android/
Note: I own such a Targus device because of the DisplayLink feature, and I just checked … Ethernet still doesn’t seem to work with Android 8.1 (Fairphone 2 running LineageOS 15.1 for microG).
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There is no technical difference between a normal USB and a USB OTG device, just a different connector. Looks like this is just a matter of different chips driven by different kernel drivers, which for some reason are handled differently by NetworkManager. Those chips can be used with any connector as the electrical specifications are equal, so ‘OTG’ usually only means that the chip inside is one which has been tested with Android. But OTG devices targeting non-Android systems also exist, like the second one linked in the top post. I’d say it’s just a matter of luck, whichever connector you have, unless you can find a device that explicitly supports Android.
Thank you for all your detailed suggestions! It is very important to me to connect the Fairphone 2 to Ethernet. If this is not possible then I would claim a refund on the Fairphone I recently bought cause I can access Ethernet with an iPhone 7. I would prefer to use Fairphone but if Ethernet is not possible then I have no choice.
Good luck with this one. 
If within 14 days of delivery, no reason required.
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