Your password stays on this device
The QR is built by your own browser. The network name and password are never uploaded, logged, or stored, and there is no account to create. Load the page, disconnect from the internet, and it still works. That is worth checking before you type a password into any website.
Which security type to choose
- WPA or WPA2 covers almost every router made in the last fifteen years, including WPA3 networks. Choose this unless you know otherwise.
- WEP is only for genuinely old equipment. If your network still uses WEP, it is worth changing for reasons well beyond QR codes.
- Open is for networks with no password at all.
The network name is case sensitive and must match exactly, including spaces. Copy it from your router settings or from the WiFi list on a device that is already connected.
Which phones can scan it
iPhones running iOS 11 and later read WiFi QR codes with the built in Camera app. Android has supported them since Android 10, through the camera or Google Lens. Older Android phones may need a QR scanner app.
Some Android phones can also show a QR for a network they are already on, under the WiFi settings for that network. If you only need to share with one person standing next to you, that is quicker than this page.
A note on guest networks
Anyone who photographs the printed code has your password permanently, and a QR cannot be revoked. For a cafe, a shop, or a clinic waiting room, put the QR on your guest network rather than the one your card machine and back office computer use. Most routers can run a guest network in a couple of taps, and it keeps visitors off the same network as your business equipment.
If you change the password, the printed QR stops working. Print a fresh one at the same time.
Printing it for a table or a counter
- Around 4 cm across works well for a table card. Bigger for a wall.
- Keep white space around the pattern and avoid printing it over a photograph.
- Add the network name in readable text underneath, so someone whose camera will not cooperate can still connect by hand.
- Use the SVG download when sending it to a printer.