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How to make a Wi-Fi QR code for your guests

2 min read

Reading out a long Wi-Fi password, or watching guests type it wrong three times, gets old quickly. A Wi-Fi QR code lets people join your network by pointing their phone camera at it. Here is how to make one and where it tends to trip people up.

What you need

  • The network name (SSID), exactly as your router shows it, including capital letters and spaces.
  • The password, exactly as it is set.
  • The security type. Most home and business networks use WPA, WPA2 or WPA3. Older networks may use WEP. Open networks have no password.

Make the code

  1. Open the Wi-Fi QR code generator.
  2. Enter the network name and password, and choose the security type.
  3. Tick Hidden network if your network doesn’t broadcast its name.
  4. Select Generate QR code, then Download PNG.

The code is generated in your browser and the password is not sent to Bikto.

What is inside the code

A Wi-Fi QR code holds a short piece of text in a standard format that phones recognize, for example:

WIFI:T:WPA;S:Cafe Guest;P:your-password;;

T is the security type, S the network name and P the password. Special characters such as semicolons are escaped automatically, so a password containing ; or : still works.

Tips for guests

  • Use a guest network if your router supports one, so visitors stay separate from your own devices.
  • Print it where people look for it: on the table, by the entrance or next to the menu. A few centimetres wide is usually enough for a table card; make it larger for a wall poster people scan from a distance.
  • Keep the contrast high. Dark code, light background, no glossy laminate catching the light.
  • Add a fallback line with the network name and password in text for older phones.

When you change the password

A Wi-Fi QR code contains the password itself, so it can’t be updated after printing. When you change your Wi-Fi password, generate a new code and replace the printed ones.

Which phones can scan it?

Recent iPhone and Android cameras recognize Wi-Fi QR codes and offer to join the network. Some older devices need a QR scanner app.

Need codes for other things? Bikto also makes free QR codes for contact cards, text, email, phone numbers and SMS.