If you want to know for sure, you can log on to your router and check the wifi settings to see in which mode it is set. 802.11a is quite old, and I’ve rarely come across networks still using it (b/g was always much more popular). If your router is relatively new, then chances are that it is using 802.11n (which can still be at 2.4 Ghz or 5 Ghz), or, if later than, say, 2013, 802.11ac (5 Ghz only). Also, if you get connection speeds higher than 54 Mbit/s, it’s not 802.11a.
As far as I know, all headphones work. Just plug them into the audio jack and you can listen to the radio!
3 Likes
Yep, all headphone should work, signal through the 3.5mm jack!
But I guess there are headphones which work as antenna better and some work not that good.
But here the only chance is to try a specific one!
1 Like
yes, the normal jack.
Probably most headphones work, I use this (in-ear): Sennheiser CX 275s
it has very good sound quality (a sound technician friend recommended it), perfect radio reception (even if you just have one plug in one ear) and also can be used as headset because it has a mike, and also the switch can be used to turn music / radio on / off.
It cost me about 38 €, I have used it a lot since Jan 2014 and it is still flawless.
(sorry, the link is in German, but it is on the official site)
1 Like
I should explain the reason why I asked:
I already own very nice headphones and don’t want to buy different ones just to enjoy radio…
As long as there is a wire… No problems 
1 Like
My router does not support 802.11ac, but 802.11a. Therefore, i need to know if the chip is capable of that protocol.
If 802.11ac only opperates at 5GHz and includes 802.11.a, the FP2 will talk to my router at 5GHz.
According to the Wikipedia page about 802.11ac, the standard only operates at 5GHz. It is backwards compatible with 802.11a. So, i’m fine.
After all, i’m still confused why they do not put 802.11a in that list…
I asked the question about the FM Radio capability because nearly every item in that list has an additional item on the right hand side. 
Don’t worry, the radio technology is a very simple one and it doesn’t need any special headphones. Actually, it doesn’t require any headphones at all. If you want to have a radio antenna, pretty much any piece of wire will do, as long as it’s long enough and connected to the radio device. So using the headphones as antenna is a very simple and brilliant solution, because it’s a long enough wire and its main task (playing music) won’t get affected.
That said, wireless headphones probably won’t work! 
2 Likes
you could of course put an adapter for two jack sockets in the jack socket, put the thing for the wireless headphone in one and a piece of wire in the other 
The wire version should also do the trick when you want to listen to the radio via loudspeaker, right?
I don’t think that will work to be honest. The problem is that, unlike a ‘normal’ radio, a mobile phone doesn’t have a connection for just a radio antenna. Therefore, you’re connecting your wire via the 3.5 headphone jack. I don’t know how it is with the Fairphone 1, but mobiles usually go into headphone mode automatically if you plug something into the headphone jack. Maybe you can still turn your loudspeaker on, but that depends on your mobile OS. Never tried that, though.
Best solution for that would probably be an external loudspeaker connected by cable. The sound quality is usually quite a bit better than the phone speakers. Alas, it’s all about wireless these days 
1 Like
It does automatically go to headphones mode but since my phone refuses to understand about the plugged-in state, I know that there are apps to override the automation.
1 Like
I very much doubt that. Like most other pre-installed apps the FM Radio app on the FP1(U) probably comes from Mediatek and is their proprietary code. The FP2 will definitely not have an app developed by Mediatek.
So will the FM radio work on the FP 2?
Why it wouldn’t work ? The FP2 have a radio receiver, the android app is pre installed on the FP2, you just have to plug your headphones for the antenna, and enjoy 
1 Like
I have receive my FP2 yesterday and I can confirm that FM Radio is working fine.
It automatically detects when the headphone is plugged in.
Before you ask, the app is listed with com.caf.fmradio .
2 Likes
At my home, there is a router which offers both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi. My Fairphone 2 prefers using the 5 GHz one.
Well, FM radio works on the Fairphone 2. I use it with my PC headset. Quality differs by position. The best quality will you get when holding the FP2 with an outstretched arm, when the cable is straight. Sometimes does FM radio complain that the headset is not plugged in. Then plug it out and again in.
I can receive FM stations which are up to 115.3 km away, up to 63.5 km with RDS.
Let’s have a look at the FM radio app:
Unfortunately, the FM radio app is in English while my selected language is German.
Which features do you have?
Button to turn the radio on/off
Record Button, will turn red when recording.
RDS PS (name of the radio station, max. 8 characters)
Mute button
Button to switch between headphones and loudspeaker
Mono/Stereo indicator
RDS PTY (Program type, e. g. “Pop Music”, “News”)
Current frequency
Buttons for tuning down/up
RDS Radiotext (max. 64 characters)
This is a best practice example showing song name and singer. On most radio stations you won’t see the song name and singer in the Radiotext. You have to go to their bloaty webpage and waste your data volume to see the song name and singer.
Other uses of the Radiotext is to spread the slogan and/or telephone number of the radio station.
Other tuning possibility
Seven buttons to fast tune to a radio station. Short press will get you to the saved frequency, long press will save your current radio station to the button.
The menu has the following functions:
- Scan: will delete your channel list and fill the channel list with the channels the app finds
- Start Recording/Stop recording: will record your radio
- Settings: will put you to the settings window
- Sleep: Sleep timer (automatic turn off)
- All Channels: will put you to the channel list
- Show Tags: without function
Let’s have a look at the settings window:
Please set “Regional Band” to your area or the radio won’t find all stations. (Changing this setting will delete your channel list.)
And now the channel list:
The channel list can only be filled with the “Scan” menu command which unfortunately deletes the current channel list. So go to a place with good FM radio reception when filling the channel list with “Scan”. The default names will be numbers (“1”, “2”, “3”, …), the names showed there can be customized (long press on the list element, max. 16 characters).
I don’t know if the number of channels is limited. My channel list has 30 channels.
The recorded audio will be in 3gpp data format. Codec is “MPEG AAC Audio (mp4a)”, sampling rate is 48000 Hz.
The FM radio plays onward even when switching to the home screen or another app. You will have a radio icon in the notification bar (
) and a notice in your pull-down notifications:
5 Likes
Thank you for all your feedback!
I’ve received my phone this weekend. 
Yeah, everything is as you told. 
Cheers,
Alex
The max-volume of the FM-radio is to low - I can hear the radio via loudspeaker only when loudspeaker is near my ear. The FM-signal is good, receiving it in stereo. Is there any way raise the volume?
Spielmops
1 Like
I just saw there is a mistake in the FM radio app icon: It shows “90.9 HMz”, not megahertz (MHz).
1 Like