Fairphone 3 loses wifi connection

Discuss The Products
39

Thanks a lot. This did the trick. Actually on the freshly bought FP3 for my mom, this issue only appeared AFTER the android 10 update, so following the “reset WLAN” workaround really helped instantly. Regarding stability, that might still be an issue, so I will keep a watch on that before I hand it over. At least, reconnecting automatically dramatically decreases the required attention

Additional info:
Checked again, working fine.

What happened: after android 10 upgrade, the wifi settings became unstable. Noticeable, after sleep & reboot WiFi did NOT reconnect automatically to the known network.

Adittional symptom:
Under Settings → Network and Internet → Wi-Fi → Wi-Fi preferences → Turn on Wi-Fi automatically
Changing that setting did not work (tested by reboot after changing it off and on again)

FIX:
Set back/reset the network settings ( System → Advanced → Reset options → reset WiFi, Bluetooth and mobile settings). Thanks Paul121, @ontheair and @Simon1 (just changes your arrows and spacing here :wink:

For me WiFi worked directly after fixing, throughout reboots and after sleep.

No additional changes were nessessary on the FP3 to restore stable WiFi access.

Setting up the Wi-Fi connection again, rebooting (several times again) and observing over the day showed no regression, seems to be stable now.

(android build no. 8901.3.A.0107.20210503, current patch levels and updates applied on 2021-05-30)

3 Likes
40

I have this exact issue with my Fairphone 3+. It has happened the entire time I have owned it.

When connected to my home 5GHz network (Ubiquity Unify AC Pro, channel 36), my wifi connection will drop out for a period of 10-30 seconds every few minutes. The wifi symbol in the top bar will show a cross in it, and the phone will use mobile data for a brief period, then the cross will go away and the wifi connection will resume.

This only happens on my 5Ghz wifi (I have named my 5G and 2.4G networks separately so it does not auto-switch).

I cannot solve this problem by forcing the phone to use the 2.4G network, because I also experience this issue, which means I get a painfully slow 1-3Mbit/s connection speed (the wired connection speed is 30Mbit/s and the 5G network depending on signal gets about 25Mbit/s).

I tried resetting network settings via android settings as suggested by others in this thread, but the problem was immediately observed again.

I tried gathering some logs using ADB when the wifi dropped and couldn’t see much that looked relevant, however there was this:

06-30 12:10:03.727  1804  1804 I chatty  : uid=10082(com.android.systemui) identical 1 line
06-30 12:10:03.727  1804  1804 I StatusBarMobileView: lindaguo updateState activityIn =false, activityOut = false, state = MobileIconState(subId=1, strengthId=1283, roaming=false, typeId=2131231203, volteId=0, visible=true)
06-30 12:10:04.248   569  2675 W ServiceManager: Permission failure: android.permission.NETWORK_STACK from uid=1073 pid=1920
06-30 12:10:04.249   569  2675 I netd    : setProcSysNet(4, 2, "wlan0", "retrans_time_ms", "750") <1.43ms>
06-30 12:10:04.250   569  2675 W ServiceManager: Permission failure: android.permission.NETWORK_STACK from uid=1073 pid=1920
06-30 12:10:04.251   569  2675 I netd    : setProcSysNet(4, 2, "wlan0", "ucast_solicit", "5") <1.17ms>
06-30 12:10:04.252   569  2675 W ServiceManager: Permission failure: android.permission.NETWORK_STACK from uid=1073 pid=1920
06-30 12:10:04.253   569  2675 I netd    : setProcSysNet(6, 2, "wlan0", "retrans_time_ms", "750") <0.95ms>
06-30 12:10:04.254   569   569 W ServiceManager: Permission failure: android.permission.NETWORK_STACK from uid=1073 pid=1920
06-30 12:10:04.255   569   569 I netd    : setProcSysNet(6, 2, "wlan0", "ucast_solicit", "5") <1.29ms>
41

Hi @bengourley

I have only noticed this since the 0107 update ?? which came out 28th May.

A bit annoying as I use wifi calling on EE via FritzBox! 7530 on 5Ghz

Further if I try to connect manually it takes 24seconds, regularly other than the 3 seconds when wifi is initially enabled.

42

my ripoff-fairphone-3 still regularly looses wifi despite all the fixes offered.
I’ll never buy such a rubbish piece of hardware again. And I find this whole forum to be reminicent of Microsoft support: let the company rake in the money and ignore it’s users who can try to help each other out.

when this phone dies, it’s going in a landfill as ripoff-fairphone won’t even recycle from my country.

Do yourself a favour, do not ever buy products from this rubbish company again.

43

Hi @fracgeol Looks like you’re not having an easy time with your Fairphone, mind you who said being rich enough to buy a Fairphone is going the easy way.

Me disappointed, maybe with my expectations.
Rip-off Hmm! I bet the miners and factory workers are not being treated so badly, hopefull.

Support for some can be a never ending story and for some it’s never an issue. No-one can provide for exactly what I want so I learn to be tolerant of other people’s promises that turn out to be poorly understood.

Surely the country where you reside has some alternative recycling arrangement.

Well take care as I’m sure you do.

All the best

44

Yeah, unfortunately since owning one (Sept 2020), I’ve become pretty disillusioned by the Fairphone project. I’ve faced a number of issues which in isolation would be bearable, but for me it’s more a case of death by a thousand cuts. As well as the wifi issue… the fingerprint sensor rarely works, the camera is awful, the screen is not sensitive enough to register touches, and that is all on top of it being a “slow” phone performance-wise (understandably).

I used to get a new phone once every ~3 years. Now I think I will replace my Fairphone after 1 year.

45

Can you send it back under warranty, it sounds dreadful?

Have you tried the trick with the fingerprint sensor, of covering it with a piece of sellotape.

But if the screen is unresponsive it ought to be looked at by Fairphone.

Your issues are not what is generally expected, so I wouldn’t lay that as general Fairphone quality, mind you support can be unresponsive and laggy too :slight_smile:

Have you tested the modules etc. by dialling *#*#66#*#*

Service tests > Test single > . . .

1 Like
46

With another Fairphone?

48

I’m sorry that so many people are having wifi issues with this rubbish phone (terrible camera and no wifi, in 2021??)

anyway as you say:

I know that this mobile device is the first and last from this company,

49

@fracgeol @dau etc.

Have you contacted support [@] fairphone [.] com as clearly the majority of users don’t seem to have such issues and unless you have taken the phone for a swim etc. you are covered by a two year warranty from the date of purchase. If your phone is so bad why keep it, send it back.

Yes I have had a few problems and the camera output is not as good as I would like, but not much in the world is as good as I’d like. This is an investment in Fairtrade and at this end of the line there is a trade off. So whereas it’s nowhere near a good phone in terms of specs etc. it’s better than I expected from such a small company trying to set the world to rights.

2 Likes
50

It would be fair to inform customers about such trade offs before they are going to buy that product. Honestly it is a waste of resources in regard to users who rely on stability and therefore cannot live with an unreliable device. I suggest changing the name Fairphone to Trade-Off-Phone, because, as you said:

Yeah, they keep on trying… and trying… and trying… And the Fairphone users are parts of this world, too…

You have forgotten to give an advice which phone to buy afterwards…

BTW, sorry for getting off-topic here, I am just a small guy trying not to blame the Fairphone company… trying… and trying… and trying…

1 Like
51

Hello, sorry for the delay in replying to you, I was going through the rounds with fairphone support.
After a few run-of-the-mill questions: did you reboot your modem, have you tried other networks, did you reboot your phone, etc etc etc, they finally acknowledeged what I said all along: the issue lies with the phone (either the hardware, OS or software).

The only solution they can offer is for me to send it back for repairs, then wait up to 10 days with no phone and no guarantee that it’ll be fixed. Given that I bought the phone on the advertised premise that the end-user can swap out modules and fix the phone, and it is even engraved on the side that it’s “designed to open”, this is simply not acceptable as it is exactly the same solution as Apple, Google, Samsung, >insert large smart phone brand name< would offer. So in this context I bid all you kind fairphone users well, for my part this is the end of my FP adventure.

Best wishes to one and all.

52

Yes that’s a pain.

However regarding your remarks … this is not acceptable a) as you put it it’s the same as Samsung et all but b) How would anyone discover what the problem is without testing.

I’m sure if Fairphone could have identified the problem without you returning it they would have sent you a new module.

And most importantly the phone is under a two year warranty until end August 2021) so it will be fixed at no cost to you, unless they see there has been water damage. Now will Samsung give you two years?

Finally if you are to keep the phone there is still the option of a resolution maybe via a fairphoneangel

And if you are ever tempted to bin it please let me or a fairphoneangel know as it may be possible to pass it on and recoup some cash.

1 Like
53

Well, you can open the phone and swap modules.
Whether that fixes the phone of course depends on whether the fault actually lies with a module.
And the offer by the manufacturer to check for that is deemed unacceptable?
May your future phones just work for you, I don’t envy any manufacturer of those.

4 Likes
54

Two years are standard in the EU:

1 Like
55

OFF TOPIC
The two year guarantee via EU legislation gives the consumer the right to a repair after 6 months if the consumer can show the fault is not of thier doing.

After 6 months, you can still hold the seller responsible for any defects up to the end of the two-year guarantee period. However, the seller can ask you to prove that the defect existed when your goods were delivered. This is often difficult, and you will may have to involve a technical expert.
FAQs|Guarantees, cancelling and returning your purchases - Your Europe

In the UK a consumer has six years to claim.

What is different is that unlike Samsung, Fairphone offer a 2 year warranty that is not EU legislation dependent.

4 Likes
56

There is no standard for a manufacturer warranty in the EU.

Only the seller has to stand in for defects. But after six months, it’s up to the buyer to proof, that the failure has been in the device at the time it was sold. That’s nearly impossible. So you only can hope, that the seller is generous.

Ups, too late :slight_smile:

4 Likes
57

It depends. In case of a software failure, the chance almost anyone else has experienced the fault is quite high, so the buyer can proof easily.

58

I had the same problem with my Fairphone 3 connecting with my TP-Link Archer AX50. I’m pretty sure it’s a combination of Fairphone & certain access points. I had no disconnects with 5 GHz Wifi at my workplace, only at home.
I’ve managed to finally solve it by disabling 5 Ghz as some people also mentioned here. The phone now only connect on 2.4 GHz and stays connected. I don’t need the 5 GHz speed on my phone anyway. The setting was hidden pretty well on Android:
Settings → Network & internet → WiFi → scroll to bottom → WiFi preferences → WiFi frequency → Set it from automatic to 2.4 GHz only.

1 Like
59

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