Guest Wi-Fi QR — Troubleshooting

Worked example

No prompt means an unsupported reader, a wrong name means the other SSID or hidden flag, and a password error means a typo in the data.

When a Wi-Fi code fails, separate three situations: nothing happens on scan, the join prompt shows the wrong name, or the phone says the password is incorrect. Each has a different cause and a quick check, and none of them is solved by simply enlarging the code.

If the camera reads the code but no join prompt appears, the phone or the scanner app may not support Wi-Fi codes. Older phones and some third-party scanners show the raw WIFI: text instead of offering to connect; try the built-in camera of a recent phone. If the export buttons never become active, a red message is explaining why: the network name is empty, a password is missing for a WPA or WEP network, or the color contrast is below 4.5:1.

Take a hotel desk that scans its card and gets an incorrect-password message. Compare the password character by character: case, a zero against a capital O, a trailing space copied from a document. Because the tool escapes characters such as semicolons and colons for you, never add backslashes by hand. If the password contains unusual symbols, try a plainer one for the guest network and regenerate.

A wrong network name usually means the router has two SSIDs (for example one for each band) and you encoded a different one, or a hidden network was ticked without need. A phone that cannot find the network at all may be out of range, or the hidden setting is the opposite of the router. Match Hidden network to the router and test again.

If the code works at your desk but not when taped to a counter, check the printed size, the border, glare and folds. A 37-module code needs at least about 3 cm; a crease through the middle can break the pattern, so laminate flat or print a spare.

Guest network; example-only password

WIFI:T:WPA;S:Guest;P:example-only;;

A scanner that only shows text is a reader limitation; a wrong password or type is a data problem that needs a corrected export.