Software Update: Android 11 for Fairphone 3 and 3+

The AVM router I use is a FritzBox 7530 and is fine.

As mentioned: before this update of Android 11 I had set each band to a different SSID and never had a problem since, with A10 or A11

Yes we all understood I guess and the difference is that some dont want to split SSIDs and I dont have split SSIDs and still never had any issues also not with Android 11 what I use already since a longer time on the FP2. I neither never told the FP3 to only use one Band in the FP settings. So the issue itself that FPs are often unstable when used with AVM Router has nothing todo with A11 and google remoevd a setting to easily deal with this issue

There is an issue about interference and power usage.

The interference on 2.4Ghz is well known as it can be impacted by Bluetooth etc. which is why I separated the 2.4G and 5G

I can then switch off the 2.4GHz transmitter in the router and save electricity, which in my off grid situation can be critical sometimes.

This hopefully can apply to the phone, though I don’t know if it does.

By switching off 2.4Ghz I would hopefully save some battery energy, and reduce heat, something I don’t imaging Google really care or think about.

I don’t have the update yet, but I have a question about the WiFi discussion going on here: Do I understand it right, that the complaints are about the fact that the phone is toggling between 2.4GHz and 5GHz?

If this is the case: This is usually intended behaviour between modern phones and modern routers.
The FP3+ supports IEEE 802.11k, which enables phone and router to talk about the best possible connection; especially important if you have “repeaters” (nowadays: intelligent mesh networks). This standard is called Radio Resource Measurement.
Also the FP3+ supports IEEE 802.11v, which allows the router to tell the FP3 how to behave (which frequency bands to use, switching to another band, going to energy save mode, switching to another AP, etc.)

For example: if there is a PC doing a big download, the router will tell the PC to switch to 5GHz if SNR is ok to do that. And it will tell the FP3+ to switch to 2.4GHz to keep the band as free as possible for the PC.
And even if there is no other device demanding traffic, the router will often tell the phone to switch to 2.4GHz, especially if there is a bit of distance. The router knows that the FP3 is a battery powered device, it knows that there is (let’s assume) not much traffic going on, it knows that SNR is maybe not that good on 5GHz, so it tells the FP3+ to switch to 2.4GHz.
On the other hand: With traffic that needs low delay and high bandwith, the router will tell the FP3+ to switch to 5GHz - if this band and channel has enough ressources and it sees an advantage to use this band.

All these logics are especially important when using a mesh network (as supported by all modern routers). In this case there is not just connections between AP and devices, but also between APs, which need a wireless backbone channel which is dynamically controlled by the overall bandwidth in respective channels and bands in the whole network.

Unlike 10 years before, these standards are much more complex nowadays. By simply separating the bands (eg. naming the SSIDs different), most of these advantages are not working anymore.
Of course, you can do whatever you want with your router, but from a technical point of view, it makes all these logics impossible, which are needed nowadays in crowded (mesh) wireless networks.

So maybe I get the discussion wrong (please correct me!) but if it is about the FP3 switching WiFi bands without any obvious reason: That’s how these IEEE standards work.

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Yes you are correct and your details may help ‘comfort’ some with the issues.

The two points are

  • In Android 10 it was possible to select a band (2.4 or 5) so giving extra control, that is removed in Android 11

  • Even so using A10 I went without the auto switching as
    a) I was at home and could control the routers SSID and
    b) It was necessary so as not to interfere with other and older systems that could only use 2.4Ghz
    c) Further separating 2.4 from 5 now has to be done on an SSID basic, so clearlt isn’t available often when out and about. Before it was a simple choice 2.4 o5 or both. Now it’s a fussy SSID game to play, not really any improvement, and clearly not appreciated by some.

There is a problem in that it isn’t happening seemlessly for some, so being able to select either 2.4 or 5 resloves that.

Thanks for your input.

The problem for me and others with WiFi is the following:

  • The FP3 has major problems with higher 5 GHz WiFi channels (106 and above I think) when connected to AVM routers, with basically unusable connections. Many examples for this here. These routers are very common in Germany, a lot of people have one at home and you will encounter them all the time when travelling. I have found no reports of other devices that have this problem with AVM routers, which are generally very reliable and receive frequent updates (even models more than 10 years old).
  • The only viable workaround on an FP3 with Android 10 is to completely disable 5GHz WiFi connections. Other approaches like disabling automatic channel selection or using different SSIDs for 2.4Ghz and 5GHz are a nuisance when you control the router and impossible when you don’t.
  • The option of disabling 5GHz WiFi on the FP3 is no longer available with Android 11. So, unless you manage to completely avoid AVM routers, WiFi is more or less broken.
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The problem is the channel range on 5 GHz and implementation obviously being a mess in general.

If you search the internet you should be able to find that there are other devices out there having problems with channels 116 and upwards, and there are even devices out there only able to use channels up to 48 or something.

Any of these devices will potentially run into the same problem when connected at 5 GHz Wi-Fi to an AVM box as soon as the AVM box decides to use a troublesome channel, either because the box is allowed to choose automatically (= default setting), or because it evades a manually fixed troublefree channel and goes to a troublesome channel (because of supposed interference on the manually fixed channel) without timely returning to the fixed setting.

Wi-Fi Alliance :man_shrugging: Fairphone :man_shrugging: AVM :man_shrugging: … brilliant 21st century tech.

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Ok, I see. I have an AVM router, too (7590), but everythings works very fine.

We all know about the problems with some channels in the 5GHz band because of weather radar, or to be more precise: Because of DFS.
Most affected are the three bands 120 and up. Wikipedia is wrong by saying these are the only bands affected by DFS, I suggest the official documentation instead (document by German authority, in German language).

So when living nearby a weather station, airport, etc. it could be helpful to limit the AP to channels not affected by DFS.

I don’t see that the FP3 is more irritatet by these mechanisms than other phones. Maybe I am just lucky, maybe Fairphone is not to blame and AVM is not to blame.
In general it was a baleful decision by European authorities to open frequency bands for WiFi which are already used by other services.

Very true! Interferences and trouble guaranteed.

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I have a crash in the camera app as well, but no warning about memory. Both drives have plenty of available space.

Edit: Quick check on clearing app cache and contents does not fix the issues.

Hi. Are you referring to the default camera?

How much memory do you have as given the default camera can only use the internal memory I imagine that’s the only one that matters, assuming the SD card is formatted as External.

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I have 48 of 64 GB internal space occupied and 84 of 256 external memory.

Previously, my SD card was formatted as external (I think? the option that did not cause issues. I cannot see any option to change this or check it in the current settings) and indeed was the save location for my pictures. There was no issue with saving there before.

I can give further information about the problem. It seems to be related to my rear camera. I hear an audible click as it tries to focus the camera. Shortly after the click the app crashes. This does not happen with, say butchercam.

Edit: The camera focusing was a false alarm. After clearing settings of the app again and managing to briefly switch to the front camera, the issue persists and the camera app crashes shortly after starting.

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So far only those have issue that had SD card selected as storing location before the upgrade. As this feature is no longer available that might be the root cause, so I would advise everyone to change the storage location to internal before upgrading. And if not done, this need to be reported to Fairphone

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fairphone 3+, camera, Your SD card is running out of space
when I open the camera App, I always get “Your SD card is running out of space. Change the quality setting or delete some images or other files”. However, when I look in the settings, I find Storage set to “Phone”.
I can set Storage to “SD card”, but am still unable to take photos/videos. When closing/opening the app again, Storage is set back to “Phone”.
Storage on Internal is 4,5 GB free
Storage on SD card is 48GB free (of a 128GB SD card)
SD card is mounted as Portable Storage
Power off/on: does not help
Restart: does not help
Clearing the cache of the camera app: does not help
Ejecting/mounting the SD card: does not help
It all started with the last FP update some days ago.
So at the moment I have a phone with a camera and can not take pictures/videos :frowning:
Any other suggestions/help?

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That was discussed here already, for example:

Try to free more space on the internal memory, as the stock app can’t write to unencrypted cards anymore.

You can find the first report of the same problem in @Leonie’s post in this topic from a couple of days ago, see above.

Your post helped me troubleshoot a bit more. Physically removing the SD card, clearing app info and cache did allow me to open the camera app. However, once I inserted the card again, the app crashed. Therefore I can say that I have an issue with the SD storage and the camera.

Edit: However, ejecting the SD card in software does not allow one to use the camera. The app first mounts the SD card, gives a dialog about it and then crashes. Are you experiencing this as well? Edit 1.5: Removing the SD card, resetting app settings to standard, re-inserting the card, did not initially resolve the issue. However, a few restarts after doing so, it seems to have resolved the issue.

Edit 2: (re: suggestions) I have a couple of camera alternatives that I’ve used. The two below are my go-to’s when the normal camera won’t suffice.

  • Butchercam has good picture quality but it’s a gcam app so can be sometimes unstable
  • OpenCamera is a simple open source camera that is no-frills but is not as snappy as the in-built app.

Edit: As I’ve mentioned in a later comment, I can use the camera app for the moment to take pictures. I removed the SD card, opened the camera app (works just fine without an sd card), and reverted to default settings. After putting the card back in, the issue went away after a few restarts.

Im pretty sure the error is not reffering to the SD card but internal storage (which is named SD card in such cases)

I think that the system somwhoe keeps the storage location (SD card) set in A10 and as this is not longer possible to use in A11 it causes issues.

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Great job, it worked without incident for me to upgrade, and my phone, that was starting to feel a bit slower, seems to be working better after the upgrade to Android 11.

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Hum, yes, I can imagine how the Camera app could be confused. I myself have seen this sort of thing before when feature removal is inadvertently incomplete.

:arrow_forward: Whilst it presumably depends on the app, would it make sense to ensure ALL apps are set to use Internal Storage (not externalSD) before upgrading?

:arrow_forward: Presumably, deleting and then reinstalling the default (Google) Camera app would also unbrick the app?

With both methods, a comprehensive backup before would be very highly recommended!

As an aside, I just noticed several hours ago (after a manual check (no push message yet)) there was an update to Android 11 for my FP3. First thing I did was visit this Forum to check and see what “gotchas” people had noticed… something with the WiFi and this Camera-externalSD are perhaps the two top ones. Thanks for the forewarnings!

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Yes that’s not enough.

The SD card can be selected in Open camera but not in the default, so try and move data manually to the SD card to free space on the internal memory.

Just to note I had mine set to SD which was set as Poratable/External at the time of upgrade and I have no problem with Default Camera, Gcam-Nikit8 or Open Camera, other than in the Default Camera setting to SD card reverts to Phone(internal)