Of course we read these topics. And offer advice and solutions, if we know that there is one. But we are just normal users like you, not employees of Fairphone. Sometimes somebody finds a workaround and then we spread the good news, but in this case, I just have no idea what could help. Besides contacting Support.
Well, @Alfie666 opened his phone and fixed the antenna (see above) and in his case, the problem seems to be solved…
Update: Unfortunately I have no objective measurements, but I have the strong feeling that the signal level has improved a lot after this change. I now have a usable signal in the back of my appartment where the FP2 was totally offline before I fiddled with the RF connector.
This however:
is still happening. So there seem to be more issues.
Same problem at my end.
I have the feeling it’s connected to the respective network the call takes place - in my case 4g calls often are really bad and the phone keeps changing networks. Even at places with very good network Cover.
If I receive calls at my second sim card, which is limited to 2g , I don’t have any problems at all.
Any experience at your side?
Update: after switching to 3g or 2g I don’t have problems anymore.
Maybe the build in modem can’t handle “volte” (Voice over LTE ) in the best way.
But having Set the network mode to 3g all the time is not really an atractive option due to lower Speed at surfing etc.
I also got a problem with getting calls en calling people. On my second SIM (limitid to 2G) less problems.
I put the settings of the mobile network of the nr. 1 SIM-card to 2G only and this SIM-card now has full reception as the second SIM. Hoping that the problems will be gone now but this is still not normal.
The problems haven’t become less since I started this thread. Sometimes when I’m on the street (not even in a building or subway station) I can’t call people, even though it shows that I have a good network connection. It doesn’t make the “ring” sound and just aborts the call attempt with a standard no network error message. A restart of the phone usually solves the problem, but as you can imagine this is very annoying. Since I am connected to 4G 99% of the time, I will try @SiVi’s idea and revert back to 3G for a few days to see if the problems disappear.
The behavior descibed here is still unchanged in my case. Working around it by making sure to turn off the screen before every incoming or outgoing call is not really convenient. When waking the screen to operate the keypad during a call, the phone gets scared and freezes, so I have to hold down power for 10 seconds to force reboot.
Looks like I have a similar problem. I got 2 brand new FP2’s, one is working as expected but the second one has always only 50% of signal-strength compared to the first one. That leads to permanent disonnections (or downgrades from 4G to 3G to GRPS/EDGE and finally to offline). Both dualsim-slots are affected at the same time. And to compare better, I took the same provider-simcards for both phones and placed them in any combination. I even tried a roaming-enabled card just to verify its not related to the mobile provider. Same effect: FP2 #2 has serious issues with the connectivity - and for me it looks like an antenna-problem (again?). As the phone is in the 14 days return period, I asked the support for a return and refund. Lets see …
Hmm, as I read in multiple treads, there are connection and reboot problems, maybe caused by the 4G connection? Hopefully the Fairphone crew will find the problems.
I had also a call drop while talking with my sister who owns a FP2. First we had good sound quality (I guess HD voice or VoLTE, then we got disconnected. During the following talk we had bad sound quality (I don’t no why) and no call drop.
Dosc
I have the same problems. Sometimes I have a weak signal, might be weather related. Three weeks ago I have contacted the customer support but I do not have received any answer, yet. I have tried other SIM-cards, an older Android version, no success…
I’m having similar problems as the ones described here. In many - most - of my phone calls, the recipient has trouble hearing me, or the connection is lost, or I’m not able to connect when calling at all. I also have troubles with sending SMS messages, sometimes I cannot send because there is no connection. I might have problems with a weak mobile network at home, others also experience a weak signal here - but no one are having as much troubles as I have with my Fairphone. Hope this is fixable!! Otherwise I LOVE my Fairphone!
Exactly the same issues. Call drops after a few seconds. Fully understand that this is not a very accurate error report but unfortunately it is not possible to be more clear and give evident documentation about the failures. Would really be good if someone from Fairphone support could cluster the comments.
I have tested the phone using only 2G and 3G for a while now and it feels like I have less connection issues. I can’t say for sure, because it’s not a test under controlled conditions and I rarely call or send SMS in this digital age, but it might be worth a try for you all. I will continue testing to be certain. Just set your cell network to 2G and 3G only in settings.
I have the same problems. FP2 cannot find network --since I got it in May. I cannot make/receive calls or send/receive text messages. I’ve contacted my provider (CBB, in Denmark), they adviced me to adjust the preferred network from 4G to 3G (force it to use 3G/2G - since it’s eager search for 4G can block other signals as 3G/2G). They also told me to activate the dataroaming as this could strengthen the signal in general.
It hasn’t improved anything in my case. I still have no connection. Not in my apartment. Not in the street. It seems that the phone is able to find network on a few certain spots e.g. on one specific parking lot (where I now go to make my most important calls/txt). When I have managed to call people, they are complaining about my voice being blurry, scattered, or very low. Or the call drops.
But in general it doesn’t find network outside. And never inside.
I only use one SIM card slot. My SIM-card has fine signal on other phones. Other phones have strong signal where my FP2 has none.
It is immensely frustrating. I’ve been following this thread, hoping for a solution (while waiting for a reply from support).
Did you already try your SIM in the other slot? Did you already try other SIM cards in your FP2?
I tried my partners SIM card in the phone a few times, but it didn’t find signal. For how long should I leave it in? I can try again.
I tried both SIM slots, none of them works. I normally use SIM 1.
(The phone/sim card is able to connect to internet via wi-fi).
Thanks for quick reply!
If it works sometimes, it might be that the antenna cable is sitting loose, like @Alfi1966 describes in his post above:
I am about to check it (I do care about my warranty though), I just realised I only have flat precision screw drivers --I am not an engineer as Alfi1966.
Is the described antenna cable connecter the small white plate with two screws in the very left lower corner? (A small black cable seems to be attached there).
Or is there a technical sheet/manual somewhere?
I’ve followed this https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Fairphone+2+Teardown/52523
I can remove all the ‘blue’ screws e.g. the microphone module, but the ‘small’ screws need a torx screwdriver it seems.
Should I remove the antenna plate next to the microphone module, to see if it is in place? It doesn’t click from a gentle pressure.
I’m sorry, I can’t help you with that, since my FP2 works perfectly, there’s been no need for me to dig deeper in its internals. Maybe @Alfi1966 can help you.
OK. Thank you for now