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This is super cool and would be awesome for situations where your guests are familiar with QR codes. But from my experience the process would go something like
by josefresco 4y ago
This is super cool and would be awesome for situations where your guests are familiar with QR codes. But from my experience the process would go something like this:
Visitor: What's your wifi password?
Me: No password needed! We have a cool QR code you can scan that will auto-join you!
Visitor: Oh cool, how do I use a QR code? Do I need an app?
Me: Nope, just point your camera at it.
Visitor: Like .. .take a picture of it? And then what, do I...
Me: No just point your camera at it.
Visitor: Ok let me try it ... oh cool it's prompting me to join your wifi network? what do I do now
Me: Yes Yes, just proceed, that's what it's for.
Visitor: That's soo cool, thanks.
Vs
Visitor: What's your wifi password?
Me: ShinyTortoise78
- brewdad 4y agoI agree with scenario one but also think you went too simplistic on the second scenario. Even with a simple wifi password like you suggested, you still need to specify the uppercase letters and plenty of people might have trouble spelling tortoise correctly on the first try. Nevermind the fact that my friends group tends to be about 50% passwords of the type you used and the other 50% of them use a randomly generated one from a pw generator or add enough random capitalization of things like family member names to make it awkward. More often than not, I end up handing them my device to type it themselves. The QR code seems a much simpler solution once people know how to use them. Thanks to things like electronic menus at restaurants due to Covid more folks than you might realize actually do know what to do. If grandma can learn how to use a QR code to access the high school band concert program online (true story), then anyone can. Teach a man to fish.
- citizenkeen 4y agoIt's fourwordsalluppercase, one word, all lower case. Obviously.
- scatters 4y agohttps://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/e-mail-addresses-it-would-be-really-annoying-to-give-out-over-the-phone https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/e-mail-addresses-it-woul...
- kayodelycaon 4y agoI solve this by having a framed piece of paper on my wall: GUEST WIFI SSID: AAA Guest Password: squirrels2
- rootusrootus 4y agoI have a paper like that. With the QR code right below it. The guest decides which they want to use.
- oynqr 4y agoWhen the password is 63 characters long, the QR code becomes a viable alternative to most.
- dr_orpheus 4y agoBut you could also just put the password in that same frame and then you don't need to specify it. Just like every small coffee shop does with their guest wifi (assuming they don't have a captive portal)
- josefresco 4y ago> Teach a man to fish. I keep teaching my family members to fish, and they keep asking me for fish.
- sigg3 4y agoAnd a boat. And a little island, with a cabin.
- system16 4y agoThat might have been the case a few years ago (at least here in BC, Canada) but these days virtually every sit-down restaurant I go to has their menu available - often exclusively - via QR code.
- Fatnino 4y agoVisitor: what's your wifi password? Me: it's the entire alphabet in order. Visitor: I don't want to type 20+ obnoxious letters. Me: can I interest you in a QR code?
- LeifCarrotson 4y agoIt's remarkable how something as trivial as typing 26 characters is onerous on our glassy slabs, but image processing to resolve a high-resolution two-dimensional barcode in a video stream is easy.
- yakshaving_jgt 4y agoComputers are fast and they usually don't complain when you make them do work.
- account42 4y agoOn the contrary, I've known some that get quite loud.
- BadOakOx 4y agoIt might be only my bubble (of non-tech-savvy people), but recently I started to use QR code to share my WiFi and there was never such friction you described. I don't do it with a printed out image, but my phone has an option to share the WiFi via QR code. Also, modern phones have a direct button from the WiFi connection screen to directly scan a QR and connect to WiFi... This is a thing... and it's easier to use it as typing `ShinyTortoise78`...
- dr_orpheus 4y ago> Also, modern phones have a direct button from the WiFi connection screen to directly scan a QR and connect to WiFi I recently did this with a few (some more tech-savvy, some less tech-savvy) people and it seemed to blow their mind. I don't know if this is a commonly known feature.
- PebblesRox 4y agoMy phone has this feature and now I know about it! :) Never would have noticed the little icon on the wifi settings page without knowing to look for it.
- aaaaaaaaaaab 4y agoI just use the automagical p20 Apple WiFi password sharing.
- fmajid 4y agoIf you run an AirBNB you might not be there when the guest arrives.
- acchow 4y ago"ShinyTortoise78, no spaces, capitalization on the first letter of each word. Seventy Eight is the numbers 7 then 8, not spelt out as a word" "Uhh English is my 3rd language and I don't know how to spell tortus. is there a QR code I can scan?"
- na85 4y agoThe optimal solution is thus: "What's your wifi password?" "It's written right there on the fridge"
- denysvitali 4y agoIs that an O or a 0?
- na85 4y agoI would never write something so ambiguous.
- noSyncCloud 4y agoReturn to monke: password123
- ant6n 4y agoThe password is “1234”?! That’s the kind password an idiot would have on their suitcase!
- randomhodler84 4y agoThat's amazing. I've got the same combination on my luggage.
- justnotworthit 4y agoIs that a 0 or a Ø?
- beastman82 4y agovs Whats's your Wifi password? A: I don't know it's written on the back of the modem. <finds modem after 10 minutes on top of a dusty cabinet> <dictates code which is in hexadecimal to someone typing>
- jjkaczor 4y agoAha... apparently you have met ALL of my relatives who have absolutely no understanding that they could login to the device and change the password to something better.
- WorldMaker 4y agoSome of the rental hardware no longer allow users to login as admin. Some of the ones that do the ISP landlords make a lot claims that leases/monthly fees go up if they think to try. There's a growing disparity between modem/router hardware owners and "this lease seemed like the best deal from the cable/phone company" average users.
- jjkaczor 4y agoI have "business class" service from a provider (Canada - Rogers), which came with a "Clearnet" router/wifi combo that has, LTE failover. (Cradlepoint) And - of course it was locked for admin - well - not for long, the technican who installed it gave me the password after we chatted for awhile. Admitedly, I cannot change the PW he gave me, and at some point if they remotely update it, it will stop working.
- mike22 4y agoNow they make you manage the very limited subset of router options (essentially SSID and WPA passphrase) from their web portals. Then they push the updated configs to your router via remote management protocols. How many vulnerabilities do those open?
- theandrewbailey 4y agoVistor: Ok, I took a picture of it. Now what? Do I send it to you? Me: Is it doing anything? What did you do? Vistor: No. I pointed my phone at it like you said. Then I took a picture. Me: What app are you using? Visitor: The photo app I always use. Me: Can you be more specific? Visitor (showing where the icon is): That one. I always use it. Me: That one sucks. Do you have any others? Visitor: I don't know. There's photos in the Facebook app. Should I try that? Me (grabs a piece of paper from the fridge, exasperated): Here. This is my wifi info. Use the 5ghz one. If that doesn't work, try the other one. Vistor: Oh, ok, whatever. Thanks.
- dubswithus 4y agoI'm in an Airbnb and the access point has the same name for 5ghz and 2.4ghz. Apple doesn't let you manually switch. The only way I've found to switch when one is not working is to toggle the wifi on/off fifty times. I think there must be some sort of crazy interference going on because I can literally be sitting right next to the router and 5ghz has about 5k of bandwidth available.
- meatmanek 4y agoIn my experience, Apple devices tend to connect to whichever seems stronger at the time of connection, and then only ever change to a different AP when the connection gets extremely weak. Or randomly, just to mess with you.
- dubswithus 4y agoThat's unfortunate. I've tried to reset the router but it still loads the old settings. Next time I go back to the US I'm going to bring back mesh routers.
- otherme123 4y agoHas this really happened to you? I got the WiFi QR printed and hanged in my living room, and to this day nobody has ever had a problem. QR might seem too techie, but they are so pervasive that everyone knows how to use them.
- dmtroyer 4y agomy recommendation would be to also just print out the password below the QR code and people can select the one they recognize.
- woevdbz 4y agoThank COVID for teaching more people how to use the dang camera on their phones as a barcode scanner (by way of many restaurants moving to QR menus)
- mikestew 4y agoI take it your visitors either cook all of their own food at home, or with their inability to use what passes for a restaurant menu these days, they have starved to death by now.
- bombcar 4y agoAround here by the time restaurants opened again the menus were back out in force. In fact, most of the QR codes even at the places that had hem are gone now.
- hapticmonkey 4y agoIf you’re both using Apple devices it works like this: Guest: “What’s your wifi network?” Me: “It’s XXXX” Guest: selects network Me: Prompt on my device “Would you like to share your wifi password with Guest” . Selects Yes Guest: “oh wow I’m connected. Thanks!” Now that only works if I am present. But it works wonderfully. It should be standardised across platforms.
- rootusrootus 4y agoIt does take sharing out of your control, however, at least to an extent.
- BoorishBears 4y agoHow is being prompted taking sharing "out of your control"? You also need to be physically close to each other and mutual contacts.
- oynqr 4y agoOkay, now tell me how to prevent Apple from compromising my network security.
- aaaaaaaaata 4y agoTurn off iCloud everything.
- Consultant32452 4y agoIf you're not tech savvy enough to scan a QR code, do you really NEED to be on my home wifi?
- robbitt 4y agoHad very similar experiences. Setup QR readers for a convention where users could scan for our website and a text bot... Absolute disaster, on both accounts.
- SteveDR 4y agoIn the suburban/rural southeast US I see lots of QR codes and lots of old people using them. Especially since 2020
- notatoad 4y agobefore covid, that's completely true. since covid it's flipped the opposite - when every restaurant has a QR code instead of a printed menu, people get used to it quickly. in the last few months, i've had visitors at events ask why we didn't have a QR code posted because they'd prefer that to typing in the name of our website.
- geraneum 4y agoI think there’s no need to optimize every single human interaction like we do with the machines :) I don’t mind the little back and forth sometimes. Consequently, in this scenario the knowledge of how to use a QR code will come in handy for your guest.
- yjftsjthsd-h 4y agoSo support both? Just post a paper on the wall with the name/password spelled out, and also a QR code. If people know how to scan then it's fast, if not then they can read+type the old way.
- remram 4y agoYou can always put the password on the same piece of paper as the QR code. So if they don't know how to scan the code, they can type it in, no need for your to spell it either.
- tinus_hn 4y agoIt’s not like you’re going to have to answer these questions forever, people won’t be surprised the camera can scan QR codes the fifteenth time they use it.
- fmajid 4y agoPeople in Asia took to QR codes like ducks to water a long time ago, and Covid accelerated adoption in Europe and North America.