How to Create a QR Code for Your Wi-Fi

1. Open the QR Code Generator and choose Wi-Fi.
2. Type the network name exactly as it appears on your phone, including capitals and spaces.
3. Choose the security type and type the password. Almost all home networks use WPA.
4. Download the code as PNG, or as SVG if you want to print it large.

Not sure about the network name or security type? They are usually on a sticker on the router, and in the Wi-Fi settings of a device that is already connected.

On an iPhone or a recent Android phone, open the normal camera app and point it at the code. A message appears asking whether to join the network. Tap it and the phone connects. No app is needed.

On older Android phones the camera may not react. In that case, go to the Wi-Fi settings, tap the option to add a network, and look for the small QR icon there.

The code contains your network name and password in a form any phone can read. Anyone who can scan it, or photograph it, can join your network. Treat a printed Wi-Fi code like a note with the password written on it.

• Hang it inside, where only guests see it. Not in a window or a public photo.
• If your router has a guest network, make the code for that one. Guests get internet, but cannot reach your own devices.
• Changing the Wi-Fi password makes the old code useless. Make a new one afterwards.

With Toolpuffin the code is made in your browser. Your network name and password are not sent to a server.

• Print it at least 3 by 3 centimetres. Larger if people scan it from across a room.
• Keep the white border around the code. Scanners need it to find the edges.
• Use dark on light. Black on white scans best.
• Avoid glossy lamination where light reflects on the code.
• Test the print with your own phone before you hang it up.

A rough rule: the code should be about one tenth as wide as the distance people scan it from. For scanning from one metre away, make it around 10 centimetres wide.

• The network name has a typing error or different capitals. It must match exactly.
• The wrong security type was chosen. Try WPA.
• The network is hidden. Tick the hidden network option and make the code again.
• The password was changed after the code was made.