Let guests join your WiFi by pointing a camera at it
Type your network name and password once, and everyone who scans the code connects without you reading out a 20-character password letter by letter. The code is built right here in your browser, so the password never touches our servers.
One detail most generators skip: the encryption type in the code must match your router exactly. If you set WPA but the router runs on the older WEP standard, the scan fails silently and people assume the code is broken.
WPA3 routers and the fallback you need to know
Newer routers ship with WPA3 by default, but a lot of phones released before 2020 still read the WiFi payload as WPA2. When a WPA3-only network is encoded, those older devices scan the code, try to connect, and quietly time out.
If your visitors bring mixed devices, switch the router to WPA2/WPA3 mixed mode and encode the code as WPA. Every phone from the last decade understands WPA, and WPA3 devices still negotiate the stronger handshake on their own.
Passwords with symbols: the escaping trap
The WiFi format uses semicolons and colons as separators. If your password itself contains ; : \ or a comma, those characters have to be escaped with a backslash or the scanner reads the password as ending early.
This tool escapes them for you automatically. If you build a code by hand elsewhere and connections keep failing on a password that looks correct, a raw semicolon is almost always the reason.
Should you put your real password on a poster?
For a café or office lobby, don't encode your main network. Create a guest network on the router with its own SSID and password, then generate the code for that. Guests get internet; your printers, NAS and smart-home devices stay on a separate network they can never reach.
- Main network: devices you own and trust.
- Guest network: the SSID you print on the table tent.
- Rotate the guest password every few months — reprinting one small code is cheap.
Hidden networks
If your SSID is hidden (not broadcast), tick the hidden option. The code then tells the phone to search for the network by name instead of expecting to see it in the list. Leave it off for normal networks — marking a visible network as hidden makes some Android builds refuse the connection.
How to make a WiFi QR code
- Enter the SSID. Type the network name exactly as it appears, including capital letters and spaces. WiFi names are case-sensitive.
- Choose the encryption. Pick WPA for almost every modern router, WEP only for very old hardware, or 'nopass' for an open network with no password.
- Type the password. Paste it rather than retyping to avoid a wrong character. Symbols are escaped automatically.
- Download and print. Save as SVG for a poster that stays sharp at any size, or PNG for a quick sticker.
Technical details
- Maximum characters: 4296
- Recommended error correction: M (medium) — the payload is short, so there is no need to sacrifice data density.
- Payload format: WIFI:T:<auth>;S:<ssid>;P:<password>;H:<hidden>;;
- The QR image itself is never mirrored, even on right-to-left interfaces — scanners read the module grid, not the page direction.
Frequently asked questions
- Does the QR code store my WiFi password in plain text?
- Yes. Anyone who scans the image and inspects it can read the password, exactly as if it were printed as text. Treat the code like the password itself — that is why a guest network is the safer thing to encode.
- Will an iPhone connect automatically?
- Yes. iOS 11 and later read WiFi QR codes with the built-in camera app — point, tap the banner, and it joins. No separate app is needed.
- Why does my Android phone just open a website instead of connecting?
- Older Android versions (before 10) don't handle WiFi codes natively and hand the text to a browser. Those users need a scanner app, or you can upgrade the guest experience by also printing the network name.
- The scan works but the connection fails. What's wrong?
- Ninety percent of the time it's an encryption mismatch (WPA3-only network on an older phone) or an unescaped symbol in the password. Set the router to mixed WPA2/WPA3 mode and let this tool handle escaping.
- Can I change the password without reprinting?
- No. A static QR code contains the exact password. If you change it on the router, the printed code stops working and you generate a new one.
- Is there a length limit?
- The format allows up to 4,296 characters, far more than any WiFi password needs, so length is never the constraint here.