After latest /e/OS update 3.0.1 of June 2025 the Wifi connection speed of my Fairphone 4 dropped from max. available with Wifi 5 (at home I got 275 Mbps down / 55 Mbps up on my router, from FTTB) down to 25 - max. 90 Mbps, oscillating up and down.
The Wifi connection on the router is settled to 433 Mbps up/down so it should go full speed as I’m used to from before the /e/OS update.
Other devices have no issues, the router is setup the same as before and so working correctly.
my first instinct is checking if the FP4 stays permanently in the 2.4ghz bands and not choosing any 5ghz band
Checked. Not the issue.
Last sentence of my OP: “Other devices have no issues”
It’s about 2 or 3 weeks since the update.
I did a lot of troubleshooting and research before even daring to post - I posted on FP forum a few days ago.
Conclusion after checking whatnot: it’s the phone’s issue.
For cross-reference
Well, thank you for the Übergriffigkeit, I could have decided myself to crosspost if it would have been necessary for some reason.
cross ref useful for Nachwelt, you want help right?
if you went through the works (disabled vpn, AP “hide ip”, compared wifi routers, bands, ipv4-only vs ipv6-only etc)
you can look at what changed in the device / kernel repo. Nothing at device, but Kernel seems substantial between v2.9 v3.0 a14 release tags. It’s not the Lineage kernel of L21, but at least parts of - seemed the dev “dj” went back in kernel versions (to 4.19.197 from 4.19.304). There was a reason elsewhere.
Depending on your device locked state (as in: not) you could flash the v2.9 kernel if it served you better (extract boot.img from ota payload or use Lineages A14 kernel that is available online).
Have backups.
(the e-backlog / L-issues for the FP4 didn’t yield something fitting at time of writing)
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How should that link help me?
→ https://gitlab.e.foundation/e/devices/android_kernel_fairphone_FP4/-/compare/v2.9-a14...v3.0-a14?from_project_id=1134
All those commits say “6 years ago”.
And I’m a user, not a nerd-with-the-tendency-to-brick-the-phone-for-fun.
“You could flash the kernel” could make my phone be a problem. I need it for (access to) online banking (thank you, Nowadays™), to get a ticket for the bus and the subway (thank you, Nowadays™) and whatnot Nowadays™ bs to make the life “more smart”.
in simpler terms, revert to v2.9 (if you’re in the unlocked state). You might even have it still in the other boot slot. Sure there is risk why backups are reassuring.
I think you bought the phone from the shop? then it’s probably locked and you can’t go that route unless you unlock.
You can also file the wifi speed regression in FP4 with the backlog and wait a few releases to resolution. A bandwidth issue doesn’t seem that critical, you could wait it out.
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I’m having the exact same problem.
It really seems to be some kind of low level network protocol issue, as I recognized the following behaviour:
I did a long lasting download by fetching offline maps for the Maps app. The average dl speed was about 4.4 MB/s - which is slightly faster as the average was after the issue started, but still way slower than it was before the issue started. Now I got /e/OS 3.0.4-a14 btw. Perhaps this little update from 3.0.1 to 3.0.4 helped slightly, but did not fix.
As soon as I add a network speed test with the app of the router manufacturer, the total download speed (or downstream, from router to phone) does not balance out at the same speed (4.4 MB/s) or even increases, no, it drops by about 25-30%. It goes back to as before as soon as I stop the network speed test.
This symptom really smells like a network protocol issue. Like some traffic shaping protocol priority thing.
I have the same problem, not sure when it started but still happening with 3.1.4.
Tried to deactivate vpn and advance privacy it doesn’t improve the wi fi speed.
Update 3.2 solved the issue for me
@jayrar - the OPs device is an FP4. What was your previous version - what’s the current version (with android version)?
I also have a fairphone 4, I noticed the issue on version 3.1.4 but I’m not sure that the problem was not here before.
About the android version, I’m on Android 14, not sure what it was before the update, but A14 is available for fp4 since /e/ 2.7 so it shouldn’t have changed.
The internet speed was definitely too slow, but it was not that obvious without a speed check, which I did using LibreSpeed
edit: Added Android version.
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Just a suggestion: If someone is affected by this bug, could they add additional information about their WiFi setup?
My OnePlus 6 (/e/OS 15) has a bandwith problem on my WiFi 5 hotspot where simultaneous WPA2/WPA3 encryption is enabled. This seems to be an upstream bug, and setting the encryption to WPA3 only fixed the problem for me.
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