The Crazy Useful Wi-Fi Tip Everyone Should Know

Sharing your Wi-Fi network details with friends and family while visiting your place doesn’t require dictating awkward network IDs or passwords out loud. It also doesn’t require writing down sensitive information anywhere. 

Instead, you can pass someone a printed QR code or show them the code on your phone. 

Once guests scan the code with their phone’s camera app, which many people are now familiar with as a consequence of the pandemic, a pop-up message will ask if they’d like to join your network. After hitting “join,” they’ll be automatically signed on without selecting a network name or typing in a password. The QR code will never expire as long as your network details remain the same. This QR code-based login ability was one of the most significant benefits of the Wi-Fi Easy Connect Standard, launched and announced a few years back. 

There are several ways to generate a QR code for your Wi-Fi network. Below, you’ll find several methods we recommend.

THE EASIEST WAY TO CREATE A WI-FI NETWORK QR CODE

Ben Bowers for Gear Patrol

This free website (and others like it) are the easiest way to generate a QR code for your Wi-Fi network. Visit the link, enter your Wi-Fi network name and password, and hit “generate QR Code.” You can even make the code look nicer by choosing different frame designs. 

The catch is that you share your Wi-Fi network details with a third party. So, if you’re conscious of your network security or are concerned about sharing private information online, the other methods below are better bets.

How to Create a WI-FI NETWORK QR Code on ios

Creating a QR code for your Wi-Fi network on an iOS device is a bit more tedious than on Android, though it’s still generally easy. The best part about this method is that you aren’t sharing your Wi-Fi network details with outside parties, so it’s very secure. Here’s what you need to do

STEP 1:

• Open the shortcuts app on your iPhone or iPad.
• Tap the gallery icon at the bottom of the app screen.
• Tap on “Shortcuts for Accessibility” at the top of the screen.

Ben Bowers for Gear Patrol

STEP 2:

• Tap “See All” to the right of access tools
• Scroll down the list of shortcuts shown on the next screen until you see “QR Your Shortcuts.”
• Tap the small plus sign in the corner of the QR Your Shortcuts colored block. This will add the shortcut to your list of shortcuts.
• Now, go to your list of added shortcuts. To do this, tap on the shortcuts icon at the bottom of the shortcuts app screen on the far left. Then tap the “All Shortcuts” folder at the top.

Ben Bowers for Gear Patrol

STEP 3:

• Tap the small plus sign in the corner of the “QR Your Shortcuts” colored block. This will add the shortcut to your list of shortcuts.
• Now, go to your list of added shortcuts. To do this, tap on the shortcuts icon at the bottom of the shortcuts app screen on the far left. Then tap the “All Shortcuts” folder at the top.

Ben Bowers for Gear Patrol

STEP 4:

• Tap the rounded square icon on your list of added shortcuts labeled “QR Your Wi-Fi”
• This will cause a pop-up to appear asking you first to input your Network name. Type in the name and hit done.
• Next, another pop-up will appear asking you to input your password. Once you’ve added in your password, hit done.

Ben Bowers for Gear Patrol

STEP 5:

• A QR Code should appear after completing step 4.
• Clicking done will complete the process.
• You can then tap the QR Code image to pull up a variety of options like saving the QR code to your photos or files.
• Once the code is saved in your photos or files, you can easily print out a physical copy to have people scan.

Ben Bowers for Gear Patrol

How to Create a WI-FI NETWORK QR Code on AN ANDROID DEVICE

Since the launch of Android 10, creating a Wi-Fi network QR code on Android just takes a few taps. Here are the quick steps to follow.

• First, go to the settings page.
• Select network & internet from the list.
• Select your Wi-Fi network’s name and then tap the small gear to the right. This will reveal your network details.
• Tap the share button shown on the right hand side, towards the top of the screen.
• Depending on your device, you may be asked to verify your identity by inputting your phone’s security code or scanning your fingerprint. Once you’ve done that, a QR code should appear.
• The best way to prevent having to do this over and over again is to take a screenshot of the QR code on your device. Next, crop the screenshot to only show the QR code and save it to your photos or files to pull up later. You can also print out a physical copy.