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Encoding your WiFi access point password into a QR code
- mswehli 7y agoWhy would I want to make it EASIER for people coming over to use my WiFi?
- burundi_coffee 7y agoYou're missing the point. Imagine having a really complex password - would you want to just scan a code or copy it character by character?
- alexchamberlain 7y agoYou don’t give your WiFi password to everyone that visits?
- isatty 7y agoNot OP, but I've a guest network.
- hamhand 7y agoGuest network with no password is the way, some firmware allow you to turn the reset button into this function's switch.
- tialaramex 7y agoBefore WPA3 a network with no password offers less security than a network for which everybody knows the password. In WPA3 finally the no password ("guest") case has randomly chosen keys using RFC 8110 instead of being unencrypted, so it's equivalent security to everybody knowing the password. I agree no password is the best outcome, and WPA3 makes that finally no more dangerous than it needs to be.
- hamhand 7y agoI mean turn if off once guests are gone, yes it's not safe as everything on the network can be sniffed by your nosy neighbors, you can quanrentine this guest network from your ethernet to make it less revealing. It's meant to be a one-off thing to avoid hassle. Good to know they have that in WPA3.
- tialaramex 7y agoIn WPA3 the nosy neighbours can't sniff anything. If there is no password or they know it they can do an active MITM to get between users and your Access Point because it now uses a PAKE, but active attacks can be detected and would be a bit more than "nosy neighbours". If you use anything fancier than a password (including technologies like EduRoam or GovRoam, Active Directory login, whatever) any adversary has to attack that instead.
- Mediterraneo10 7y agoI think the OP is making a joke about the fact that some guests who get the wifi password, may spend all their time looking at their phones instead of socializing. That happens nowadays when one throws a party or movie night.
- mswehli 7y agoI was indeed.
- ldiracdelta 7y agoThis should be as socially unacceptable as picking your nose at a party.
- vbezhenar 7y agoThese days everyone have 4G internet, so there's no point to giving your WiFi password to everyone.
- badatseciruty 7y agoI do have 4G, but at $1 per 100MB. I'd rather have the WiFi password when one's available.
- fwip 7y agoTo be a good host?
- mswehli 7y agoTo the replies, it was a joke >_>
- johnchristopher 7y agoI think it'd have worked better if s/people/friends
- walrus01 7y agoIs it only Android 10 that can do this with scanning a qr code, or also v9?
- iforgotpassword 7y agoWas wondering the same. The author didn't mention the minimum required version for Android compared to IOS, so I assumed Android must have long supported it and I always just missed it. On another note I find it quite awkward that the feature is buried in that dialog on Android. You even need to tap on the network you want to connect to when that information is already in the qr code.
- arthurfm 7y ago> You even need to tap on the network you want to connect to when that information is already in the qr code. On my OnePlus 6T the scan QR code button [1] is next to 'Add network' so you don't have to select the Wi-Fi network first. [1] https://i.imgur.com/qTicNpI.png https://i.imgur.com/qTicNpI.png
- arthurfm 7y agoI believe it's only Android 10 onwards that has the QR Code scanning feature [1][2][3] since it was added by Google in order to support the new Wi-Fi Easy Connect standard [4] (the replacement for WPS). [1] https://9to5google.com/2019/03/13/android-q-wi-fi-sharing-qr/ https://9to5google.com/2019/03/13/android-q-wi-fi-sharing-qr... [2] https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/09/12/every-new-android-10-feature-detailed-changelog/#Entirely_new_Q_features https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/09/12/every-new-android-1... [3] https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/06/10/android-qs-wi-fi-easy-connect-is-a-more-secure-replacement-for-wps-authentication/ https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/06/10/android-qs-wi-fi-ea... [4] https://www.wi-fi.org/discover-wi-fi/wi-fi-easy-connect https://www.wi-fi.org/discover-wi-fi/wi-fi-easy-connect
- notatoad 7y agoi don't see any built-in way to do it on android 9, but the xzing barcode scanner app works perfectly. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.zxing.client.android&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.zxi...
- CaliforniaKarl 7y agoI used this when setting up mesh WiFi for my parents, a few years ago. I set up a guest network and a main network; the guest network had a fairly-long password, and the main network had a very-long password, both WPA2-Personal. I put together a two-page PDF, page size about 4 inches by 6 inches. One side had the info for the main network; the other side had the info for the guest network. "the info" included the SSID, the password, and a large QR code. I then sent the PDF to FedEx, printed on card stock, double-sided, and laminated, with instructions to cut the excess paper away before laminating. The result was a nicely-put-together "quick reference" card that my parents can use for whatever needed. If my parents get a new phone, putting it on WiFi is as simple as a QR-code scan.
- netsharc 7y agoThat's such a better solution for guests too, I've visited many friends where I had to crawl under their desk to see the SSID and password printed on the back of the router... because they haven't changed the factory settings.
- ubergesundheit 7y agoCombine this with some automatism which changes the password of your guest WiFi and putting it on a cheap e-ink display.
- BiteCode_dev 7y agoMost ISP put this kind of QR code on the provided "modem" in France with the default Wifi password of the device. I love QR code. I think it should be everywhere. All legal documents and forms should have one. All supermarket bills should have one. It's a fantastic way to transition from paper to bits. Unfortunately most users have no idea what it is. They don't know what a URL is, so a QR code is out of the question. Plus they don't necessarily have a QR code scanner on their devices: not all phones have one by default, most laptops definitely don't. Not to mention some QRcode readers are sometimes just the regular camera app (E.G: modern iOS), which is very confusing. And even if all that is not a problem, your QRcode scanner may not be able to understand a particular format or will read the Wifi code but just display it while it's supposed to save it as a new access point. It's definitely not a solved problem.
- matt-attack 7y agoAre you not concerned that QR code’s are just completely opaque URLs asking to be clicked? Do you confidently click on URLs in spam emails? Of course not since we all know URLs can point to malicious payloads. So why should we love QR code’s that could just as easily do the same. If I’m a spammer trying to get people to click on my bogus links in my email messages, why wouldn’t I also print those same URLs as QR codes and paste them around my city with creatively enticing titles.
- BiteCode_dev 7y agoNo more than regular url written in a paper. People write them blindly anyway, they don't know what it means nor how to read it. But QR code are not just for URL, they can contain up to 7k, which is a lot for text and numbers. And you can have several of them, use compression, etc.
- ryder9 7y agoBecause urls have letters & words in english that I can read and determine if the website is authentic or not as opposed to QR code that no human can read? Have you never come across phishing scams that looked eerily authentic only to be clued in by the fake url? I can read the URL before going to the website, and unless QR codes have a step where you have to manually confirm going to the url provided by the code (most don't) then that's a security risk
- laurynas-s 7y agoThis is super helpful for mobile devices. But it makes rather confusing on how to connect it on an e.g. laptop without having to scan the QR code with the mobile device first. If the password is 63-char length, typing it wouldn't be 'quick'.
- minusf 7y agoexactly. although an iPhone can share the credentials with a macbook I think.
- qwerty456127 7y agoThere should be a laptop app which can import a QR code picture from a file. Most of the laptops also have a webcam nowadays, perhaps it could be used too.
- zeeZ 7y agoI have an NFC card that contains the connection information with the QR code and plain text credentials taped to it. Even less devices support that, but when they do you don't even have to open an app. Just tap and you're in.
- fulldecent2 7y agoWhich devices support this?
- lashkari 7y agoPretty much any Android device from the past 4-5 years should support connecting to WiFi via NFC (assuming the device actually supports NFC).
- cpach 7y agoVery neat! However, IMHO 63 characters is a bit much for the password. ”If you use lower-case, upper-case, and digits, and if you generate it truly randomly, then a 16-character password has 95 bits of entropy. That is more than sufficient.” Source: https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/15653/recommend-length-for-wi-fi-psk https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/15653/recommend...
- mikeyouse 7y agoA friend has a ~32 character camel case phrase as his WiFi password.. just a nightmare for people to type on their phones. iOS’s “share pass with contact” helps but every once in awhile someone has to spend 10 minutes trying to get a password to work. So silly.
- prepend 7y agoYour friend needs a guest wifi with “fun friends” as the password that they turn on and off as necessary. It’s funny that friend goes to the effort of a super long password, but then lets people connect to it.
- oefrha 7y agoA 63 character password with ten dictionary words is on average much easier to type than a 16 character random ASCII printable string, especially on phone keyboards.
- zk68420 7y agoencoding your wifi access point password into QR code below is most easiest way check Details Here: http://bit.ly/367ssqC http://bit.ly/367ssqC
- pksadiq 7y agoThere is a Merge Request to support QR code for hotspot created in GNOME control center: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-control-center/merge_requests/644 https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-control-center/merge_re... Hopefully, shall be available in next release
- jraph 7y agoPlasma (KDE) now has a button in its network widget that does just that - show the QR code for this wifi network.
- jamsinclair 7y agoFor those concerned about entering your network info into an online qr tool, some time ago I attempted a minimal JS and transparent site for generating these codes (https://github.com/jamsinclair/wifiqr https://github.com/jamsinclair/wifiqr). Or I suppose just use the cli tools, as mentioned, for extra safety...
- madsbuch 7y agoOr is it extra safety to use the CLI? Arguably it is easier to verify that a webapp is not sending the data to a 3rd party, than it is to verify that the CLI tool doesn't (easy network inspection from the developer tools).
- Normal_gaussian 7y agoIts also very easy to put a webapp into offline mode
- m45t3r 7y agoI don't think it is that problematic to put your WiFi credentials to a random website, since the possibility of the creator is a scammer AND lives near enough to you so it can exploits that fact is really small. However sure, having the piece of mind that this will not happen may still make it more worth it do it yourself.
- nemetroid 7y agoIt’s easier to verify the CLI tool, since it wouldn’t be available in my distribution’s repositories if it contained phone-home code.
- jopsen 7y agoI painted my wifi password as a QR code on 40x40cm canvas.. Painted as in with a brush and paint, it was a bit of work, but now it's both pragmatic and pretty :)
- jensneuse 7y agoPics or it didn't happen.
- StavrosK 7y agoI mean, it's not that hard to believe...
- katnegermis 7y agoI think it is a joke-attempt at getting him to reveal his wifi password :)
- StavrosK 7y agoI have hereby been whooshed, though in my defense I have a guest-only, throttled and isolated wifi network so the potential for misuse didn't occur to me.
- Fnoord 7y agoI have exactly the same. I don't want the entire world to use it though, as it still uses my broadband connection, which contains my external IPv4 address. I guess I should tunnel it over a VPN instead.
- fastball 7y agoPretty sure only people who know where you live can use your wifi network, and only then when they are in range - not the entire world.
- 7y ago
- speleding 7y agoInstead of installing a package to generate a QR code, you can simply use this free Google service: https://chart.googleapis.com/chart?chs=120x120&cht=qr&chl=WIFI:T:WPA;S:SSID;P:PASSWORD;; https://chart.googleapis.com/chart?chs=120x120&cht=qr&chl=WI... Remember to URL encode the SSID en PASSWORD if you have any characters that can't go into a URL. (Also, you have to trust Google to not store that URL anywhere)
- james_s_tayler 7y ago>you have to trust Google to not store that URL anywhere You also have to trust Google to still be operating the service by the time you come to use it.
- nemetroid 7y agoInstead of using a Google service to generate a QR code and hope they don’t store that URL anywhere, you can simply install a package.
- input_sh 7y agoI'd trust a Debian package over Google's service any day.
- nabla9 7y agopure JS WiFi QR Code Generator https://qifi.org/ https://qifi.org/
- toyg 7y agoYes, let’s give all passwords for wifi networks to the company that notoriously maps all wifi networks they can find. What could possibly go wrong...?
- tjoff 7y agoThey already have all passwords... They are conveniently backed up on android devices. They have the cleartext. (as do apple btw.)
- m45t3r 7y agoThis is interesting, however my main problem with really long Wi-Fi password are devices that have bad ways to input text. Things like media box using a remote controller or a video game console using it's controller. WPS was born to fix this, however the specification is so broken that it is literally useless from a secure standpoint.
- jimueller 7y agoIndeed, or dialing in 63 chars on a Nest thermostat would take about 10 minutes.
- cm2187 7y agoOr when you setup a new apple computer, you have to enter the wifi password without being able to see what you type, without being sure it is the right casing, and if you are not in the US without being sure you are using the right keyboard layout in the first place (the is no opportunity to type something else in a clear text box before that step).
- zeeZ 7y agoWhen a friend tried to connect to a new network on their MacBook, a second friend with an iPad got a pop-up that such-and-such was attempting to connect to their network, and if they wanted to share connection details. One click and they were in. Creepy, but convenient.
- notwhereyouare 7y agoThere is a very specific set of requirements that have to be met for that window to pop up You have to be shared contacts, have Bluetooth and wireless on. There might be others that I don’t remember
- dwaite 7y agoNot sure if it is really that creepy - IIRC there is an encrypted advertisement over bluetooth that your contacts have the key to recognize/decrypt.
- dombili 7y agoI can attest to the usefulness of this. I have a similar thing set up on my iPhone via the Shortcuts app and it's been quite nice to share my long password without worrying about the hassle of spelling it out. Here's the Shortcut, in case anyone wants to try it out: https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/681b4f7b030543b79ab7de6afa3996c2 https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/681b4f7b030543b79ab7de6afa3...
- DavidMankin 7y agoMy (default) “shortcuts security settings do not allow untrusted shortcuts”. Well that’s surprising and nice.
- knorker 7y agoI have a picture frame in my house with a QR code for the wifi, and also an NFC badge so you can just lift your phone to it to connect. NFC stickers cost approximately nothing, and you can program them using an app on your phone.
- petepete 7y agoThe ability to write your connection settings to a NFC sticker is also built right into Android.
- dghughes 7y agoI have an old Kindle it would be fun to put the QR code on that. And maybe somehow a script that rotates the password updating the Kindle.
- ajphdiv 7y agoI setup a raspberry pi with a small display showing the weather forecast, next 5 calendar events and a QR code for the WIFI using this: https://github.com/TeraTech/MMM-WiFiPassword https://github.com/TeraTech/MMM-WiFiPassword weather: https://github.com/jclarke0000/MMM-DarkSkyForecast https://github.com/jclarke0000/MMM-DarkSkyForecast Sits on the kitchen counter. Guest password is rotated and the display is auto-updated. The raspberrypi is running MagicMirror, but I just have it outputting to a small display (7"). Looks great. I use a Ubiquiti wifi AP and it has an API to change the guest password.
- asaph 7y agoIf you choose to put a WiFi password up on a sign as a QR code, do not post it in view of a window. Passers-by should not be able to connect to your network from outside your home or office. This advice also applies to plain text passwords posted on signs.
- hwc 7y agoI taped the qrcode to the top of my access point so I don't forget where it is.
- wil421 7y agoThe Owlet baby monitor does this. When you need to connect it to WiFi you give the app the creds and then it generates a QR code. Then you hold it in front of the camera to scan.
- Reason077 7y agoA secure random WiFi password in a QR code is great for Android and iOS, and the laptops/desktops that can sync their password database with them over Bluetooth. But what about all those other random WiFi devices? I don’t relish the thought of entering 63 characters into my printer’s goofy interface, a games console, my car, etc...
- abjKT26nO8 7y agoYour car connects to WiFi? Oh boy, the security implications...
- MrStonedOne 7y agoEvery tesla car has a sim card and data connection that is used to connect to a vpn that high enough level engineers can use to run ssh commands directly on every tesla car at once or even target certain ones. You know nothing john snow.
- kevin_thibedeau 7y agoCalifornia is thankfully neutering that sort of backdoor access.
- Reason077 7y agoReally? Neutering it how? Tesla already has a “Allow remote access” toggle, which defaults to OFF, that prevents you from connecting to it via the app etc. (Whether this fully prevents Tesla connecting to it remotely, I’m not so sure...)
- pps43 7y agoExtra points for assembling it from Lego.
- munkiefish 7y agoOnce I noticed Android supported QR scanning to connect to WiFi natively, I started implementing this at my hotels - I wish all businesses did the same.
- mus1cfl0w 7y agoShameless plug but I wrote https://github.com/elsesiy/qrgo https://github.com/elsesiy/qrgo which you don’t even need to install locally, check it out if you’re interested!
- sirsuki 7y agoI do this in our house and it works great. I discovered one flaw though. When I say scan the QRCode I am immediately told “i don’t knows how” Or asked “the what?” Or disapproved of with “I hate those things.” Fun fact no one has ever actually scanned the code... ever! Maybe if I was a cafe but not for house guests.
- smacktoward 7y agoIf nobody will use it, does it really work great?
- gundmc 7y agoSolutions that work technically but lack adoption is the default state of software engineering!
- debt 7y agoOkay so you don’t live in China then I take it
- wlesieutre 7y agoInstead of "scan" have you tried telling people to point their phone's camera at it? "Scan" sounds to them like some separate action that they would need to know how to do. But at least on iOS all it takes is opening the camera and pointing it at the code - you get a pop up notification asking you to join the network. I bet people know how to point the camera at something even if they don't think they know how to scan it.
- sm4rk0 7y agoAnd if you're using DuckDuckGo (and are not concerned about transferring your WiFi, or whatever data) you can try this query: qr some text https://duckduckgo.com/?q=qr+hi+there&ia=answer https://duckduckgo.com/?q=qr+hi+there&ia=answer
- badatseciruty 7y agoI use DDG as my daily search engine and didn't know about this. I'm frequently impressed by all the "extras" that they include. I think I'll start using this a lot!
- MrStonedOne 7y agoIf you are going to write an article about this on a website with geek in the domain name, and post it to hacker news, you are going to have to get more technical than that. Explaining the "WIFI:T:WPA" bit would have been nice to see. At the bare minimum a link to an article that explains it would be necessary to meet the bar. In the current state this article is a users level how to document, and fails to met the bar for an article targeted at "hackers".
- jlgaddis 7y agoIf you are going to comment on threads on a website, how do you know where the "bar" is? By reading the "Guidelines" [0], of course! In fact, the very first item on that page is titled "What to Submit" and explains exactly where that bar is: > On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity. Apparently enough of us found it "interesting" for it to show up on the front page. (The time you spent writing your comment would have been better spent banging your head against the wall -- at least you might have something (a bruise) to show for it!) [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- MrStonedOne 7y agoYour comment breaks hacker news guidelines.
- semireg 7y agoAnother great barcoding library is BWIP-JS at https://github.com/metafloor/bwip-js/ https://github.com/metafloor/bwip-js/ You can immediately generate QR codes from it using this link: http://bwip-js.metafloor.com/demo/demo.html http://bwip-js.metafloor.com/demo/demo.html I use BWIP-JS in my electron app. Love it. Super easy and reliable way to print barcodes on a label printer using nice UI: https://label.live https://label.live
- zcw100 7y agoI really think manufacturers have really missed out on an opportunity with QR codes by handing them over to marketing. Most of the early QR codes in the US were just links to advertising. I'm not going out of my way to scan a QR code just to be advertised to. On the other hand it could have been a great way to develop much better relationships with your customers. As a trivial example, I own a snowblower. It would be nice if there had been a QR code on the machine that identified that specific machine. I could have scanned it and immediately registered it with the manufacturer. Scanning the code could take you to a manufacturer page for your specific machine, where you could record routine maintenance like oil changes, get a copy of the manual, and order replacement parts. They could send you periodic reminders like, "it looks like it's been a while since an oil change", or "it's getting cold outside. Now's a good time to make sure everything is in shape". There is a ton of stuff around the house that I need to record information about but have to have my own system. If the manufacturer provided a way to do that they could offer their expertise with the product and a convenient way for you to record that information. I'd love to have a QR code on the side of my HVAC system, water heater, filtration system, etc.
- Y-Bopinator 7y agoRegular people know how to read make/model numbers and use google. Things get dirty. QR codes are not a good solution. It’s a URL it’s not as magically useful as you think.
- pimlottc 7y agoI so wanted to use this for work, where there is a rotating password scheme, but unfortunately it doesn’t work on iOS if the hotspot has a captive portal :/
- arkanciscan 7y agoBut what if you want to connect something other than a phone to your network? I have a lot of laptop's that don't run iOS or Android. I guess I'm old fashioned like that.
- mendelmaleh 7y agoAlso, NFC is awesome.
- t34543 7y agoFun fact: TicketMaster scanners can perform admin functions via QR code, including “testing” the tone that tells the agent your ticket is valid.
- mentat 7y agoThe DDG based encoding for the format: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=qr+%22WIFI%3AT%3AWPA%3BS%3A%3CSSID%3E%3BP%3A%3CPASSWORD%3E%3B%3B%22 https://duckduckgo.com/?q=qr+%22WIFI%3AT%3AWPA%3BS%3A%3CSSID... And Google charts: https://chart.googleapis.com/chart?chs=150x150&cht=qr&chl=WIFI%3AT%3AWPA%3BS%3A%3CSSID%3E%3BP%3A%3CPASSWORD%3E%3B%3B https://chart.googleapis.com/chart?chs=150x150&cht=qr&chl=WI...
- qwerty456127 7y agoHow do I read it then? My Android camera app only lets me copy the encoded text to the clipboard or share it with another app. What app should I use to use it to actually connect to the wireless network?
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- marv3lls 7y agoRobot barf? http://peterromich.com/qr-code-robot-barf/ http://peterromich.com/qr-code-robot-barf/
- luma 7y agoThis can be helpful on devices which have a display device but no keyboard to help users connect during first-time setup. Example: https://github.com/aderusha/HASwitchPlate/blob/master/Documentation/01_Arduino_Sketch.md#first-time-setup https://github.com/aderusha/HASwitchPlate/blob/master/Docume... For this project, on first boot the device creates an AP, then displays a QR code containing SSID and key (along with text version of the same) that the user can connect to. Upon connection a captive portal will redirect the user to the configuration page, allowing the user to select the desired SSD and configure other essential values. If you have a phone handy, just scan the display, accept the prompt to connect, and the next thing you see if the configuration page popping up as Apple and Android detect it as a login page.
- fulldecent2 7y agoWhen I see it spelled wrong (like in the title of the OP here) my mind pronounces it "whiffy"
- Huycfhct 7y agoHttps://Qr-edit.com This editor supports wifi qr codes
- ChrisFil 7y agoWifi easyconnect is a very helpful feature that lets you connect to a wifi network by scanning a QR Code. Create your Home wifi QR code https://modemly.com/qrcode https://modemly.com/qrcode