Stayput Tools

How to share your Wi-Fi with a QR code

Every guest asks for the Wi-Fi password, and then mistypes it twice. A QR code with the network name and password in it lets them join by pointing their phone camera at it. Here is how to make one, and how to use it well.

Updated 2 min read

Make the QR code

  1. Open Wi-Fi QR Code.
  2. Type the network name exactly as it appears on your phone, with the right capital letters.
  3. Type the password. Choose WPA unless you know your router uses something else.
  4. Scan the code that appears with a phone, to check that it offers to join your network.
  5. Download the PNG and print it.

How guests use it

  • On an iPhone: open the Camera app and point it at the code. Tap the banner that says Join network.
  • On an Android phone: open the camera or Google Lens, point it at the code and tap the Wi-Fi prompt.
  • On an older phone: a free QR reader app does the same.

If the phone does not offer to join

  • Check that the network name and password are exactly right, with the same capital letters. Wi-Fi is case-sensitive.
  • Check the security type. If the router uses WPA, choose WPA; for an open network choose No password.
  • Make the code bigger or print it sharper, and hold the phone steady about 20 cm from it.
  • Scan it in good light, and make sure there is no glare on the printed paper.

Keep it safe

Anyone who can see the code can join, just as anyone who reads the password can. Display it where only your guests will see it. For a shop, a PG or an office, think about a separate guest network, so a visitor is never on the same network as your computers, and so you can change the guest password without changing your own.

If you change the password, make a new code. A printed code keeps the old password for ever.

Try the tools