Wi-Fi QR code for a café or guest house

Anyone running a café, guest house or short-term rental knows the routine: a guest asks for the Wi-Fi, staff dictate a password like Cafe2024!wifi, the guest mistypes it three times and tries again. A Wi-Fi QR code ends that loop — the guest points a camera at a sticker and the phone connects by itself.

How the code actually works

A Wi-Fi QR code is not a link to a website. It is a short piece of text in a specific format that operating systems understand. It holds three things: the network name, the security type and the password. When a phone recognises such a code, it offers to join the network with a single tap.

Importantly, all of this is stored inside the pattern itself. Nothing is downloaded, and the code needs no internet connection and no service that has to stay online. A code created today will still work in five years — unless you change the network password.

What you need before you start

• The exact network name (SSID) — exactly as it appears in the list of networks, including capitalisation. Cafe_WiFi and cafe_wifi are two different networks.
• The security type — these days almost always WPA or WPA2. The older WEP is rare and should be avoided for security reasons. If the network has no password, choose the open option.
• The password — again exactly, character for character. Watch out for capital I, lowercase l and the digit 1, or zero and capital O.

The most reliable source is the router's settings screen or the label on its underside — not a scrap of paper that has been circulating around the premises.

Creating the code

In the generator, switch to the Wi-Fi tab, fill in the network name, password and security type, then download the finished image. Everything is generated inside your own browser — the network password is never sent anywhere or stored, which matters a great deal for this type of code.

Test it before you print it

This is the step most often skipped and the one that costs the most. Before sending fifty copies to print:

• Scan it with a phone that is not already on that network, otherwise you cannot tell whether connecting actually works.
• Try it on both Android and iPhone if you can. Both support Wi-Fi codes, but they behave slightly differently.
• Test from the distance a seated guest would realistically scan it.

Where to put it

Placement decides whether guests use it at all:

• On tables — a small stand or a sticker under glass. The most common choice, because it sits right in front of the guest.
• On the menu — works well if every guest receives one.
• At reception or the entrance — suited to guest houses, where guests connect once on arrival.
• Somewhere visible in the room — for rentals, a card by the television or on the bedside table works well.

Avoid glass with strong glare and spots where something covers the code. The camera needs to see the whole pattern.

Security: separate the guest network

This is worth considering regardless of QR codes. If you hand guests the password to your main network, they land on the same network as your till, printer or cameras. Most modern routers can create a separate guest network with its own password, isolated from your own devices.

If you set one up, create the QR code for that network. You get both convenience for guests and separation from your business equipment.

What happens when the password changes

Because the password lives inside the code, changing it stops the old code from working. That is both a drawback and a protection. In practice:

• Changing the password means creating and printing a new code.
• Old stickers have to come down, or guests will keep trying to connect in vain.
• If you expect to change the password often, print replaceable cards rather than sticking codes directly onto tables.

The most common mistakes

• A typo in the network name or password — the code generates fine and looks correct, but does not work. Hence the testing.
• The wrong security type — if the network uses WPA2 and the code says WEP, connecting fails.
• Printing it too small — on a table card it should be at least 2 × 2 cm, ideally more.
• No white border — scanners need clear space around the code. More on that in Preparing QR codes for print.