Monday 13 January 2014

Your guests will love you for doing this. Or how to set up your wifi and get good karma.

What do you do first when you arrive at someone's place?

"Hello" ?
hmm, old school.

"Where are the beers?" ?
hmm, a bit rude in most cultures.

"Dude, what's your f****** wifi password?" ?
You're a geek, I like you!

And 52.4% of the time, you are set to find a 10+ characters string to connect to the local wifi. Then to type it - lowercase, uppercase, weird characters - in your iPhone, Android, laptop and other connected devices.

(Then you say "hello" to your friend, their partner, their dog, their cat and their fish, and you open a beer).

There should be a better way you think. The good news is... There is (for Android):


Yes, a QR code can automatically connect to the wifi network.
Anyone living in a place with a wifi network and friends sometimes crashing in their sofa would make better friends by printing their QR code right now. Once scanned, the QR code is automatically recognised by Android which proposes to connect to the network.



How to get the QR Code for my wifi network?

Go to http://zxing.appspot.com/generator. You will get your QR code in 1 minute; you just need to type your network name (SSID), password and network type (WEP/WPA?).

Is it safe?

As safe as giving your wifi password to someone. Only people who see your QR code and are within reach of your network will connect to your wifi.
Tip: Using your email or bank password for your wifi network is not a good idea.

What if my friends have no QR code scanner installed on their phone?

Get new friends.
Or give them a beer and enjoy your time with them.

Is that all I should do for my wifi?

This trick only works with Android, so you could please iOS fans and laptop-holder friends by choosing a password which is easy to remember and to spell.

(Update: following readers' feedback, this Q&A was added)