QR code types

Wi-Fi QR codes

A Wi-Fi code carries the network name, the security type and the password, and the phone offers to join when it scans. Because the credentials sit inside the matrix, anyone who photographs the code has the password.

Reviewed August 20, 2026

Steps

1. Create a Wi-Fi code and enter the network name exactly as it is broadcast, including capitalisation.
2. Pick the right security type. A WPA network encoded as open will fail to join.
3. Enter the password. If the network is hidden, mark it as such — some phones will not find it otherwise.
4. Print it where guests are, and treat it as a printed password: a guest network, not the one your point of sale is on.

How to check it worked

Scan with a phone that has never joined the network, and let it connect. Then forget the network on that phone and do it once more.

What usually goes wrong

• A space or a capital letter wrong in the network name.
• Putting the staff network on a public wall.
• Rotating the password and leaving the old codes in place.