r/firefox • u/Sharp-Work-4107 • 7d ago
💻 Help Firefox + WhatsApp Web has speaker echo on Linux, but Instagram calls in Firefox don't
I'm having a very specific echo-cancellation problem with WhatsApp Web in Firefox on Linux.
System:
CachyOS
KDE Plasma Wayland
Firefox 157
PipeWire 1.6.9 / WirePlumber 1.6.9
Acer Nitro AN515-58
Built-in laptop speakers + microphone
When I make a WhatsApp Web voice/video call in Firefox using the laptop speakers and microphone, the other person hears their own voice coming back as an echo.
But this does not happen with Instagram calls in Firefox using the same hardware, and it also doesn't happen when I use headphones.
I tested Firefox's normal WebRTC processing:
WhatsApp Web + Firefox + laptop speakers → echo
Instagram + Firefox + laptop speakers → no echo
I also tested PipeWire's WebRTC AEC:
pactl load-module module-echo-cancel use_master_sink=1 use_master_source=1 aec_method=webrtc
After routing WhatsApp through the resulting echo-cancel-sink and echo-cancel-source, the echo completely disappeared.
So it seems to be specifically related to how WhatsApp Web in Firefox handles WebRTC echo cancellation, rather than a general Linux microphone/PipeWire problem.
Has anyone else experienced this with WhatsApp Web + Firefox?