WiFi QR Code Generator

The WiFi QR code format is a simple text-encoding standard that turns "scan to connect" into a real feature on every modern phone. The format itself is just a text string that starts with the prefix WIFI: followed by semicolon-separated key-value pairs — T: for security type, S: for SSID, P: for password, and an optional H:true for hidden networks. Encoded as a QR code, this string becomes a scannable image that iPhones (since iOS 11, 2017), Android phones (since Android 10, 2019), and most third-party QR scanner apps recognise as a WiFi credential — prompting the user with a one-tap "Connect to NetworkName?" dialog instead of asking them to type the password.

The exact format, with escape rules

The canonical example is WIFI:T:WPA;S:MyHomeWiFi;P:S3cr3t!;; — note the double semicolon at the very end, which acts as the terminator. Special characters inside SSID or password (colon, semicolon, comma, backslash, quote) need to be backslash-escaped: a password containing a literal semicolon (Pa;ssword) is written as P:Pa\;ssword. For open networks (no password), set T:nopass and omit the P: field entirely. For WEP networks (no longer in real use but supported by the spec), use T:WEP. The tool above handles all of this escaping automatically.

Where this is genuinely useful

Cafes, restaurants, AirBnBs, hotels, co-working spaces, doctor's waiting rooms, and event venues — anywhere guests need to connect to WiFi briefly. Printing a tasteful 5cm × 5cm WiFi QR card on the reception desk is now standard practice for SME hospitality across Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The alternative — a hand-written password card you ask the customer to type — is slow, error-prone, and screams "we don't care about your experience." A QR sticker turns the same friction into a one-tap action. For corporate guest WiFi where the password rotates daily, generate a fresh QR every morning; the labor cost is one print job.

What this is not — and the security implications

A WiFi QR code is just a printed copy of your password in QR-encoded form. Anyone who photographs it can decode it. That's not actually a problem for most use cases — your password is already exposed to every device you've granted access to, and the threat model for a printed cafe QR is no worse than a printed-out password card. But it does mean: don't print and post your corporate-LAN QR publicly. Use a dedicated guest network (segregated VLAN, separate SSID, rate-limited, isolated from production resources). Most SME-grade routers (TP-Link Omada, Ubiquiti UniFi, ASUS AiMesh) support guest networks natively — the right setup is a guest SSID with a 30-day-rotating password, distributed via QR, completely separate from your main network where work devices live.

ASEAN-specific notes — Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia

Three quick regional notes. First, Singapore's Wireless@SG public WiFi network does NOT use the standard WiFi QR format — it requires a Singpass / SMS-OTP authentication step after association, so a static QR can't bypass that. Don't try to print a Wireless@SG QR sticker; it won't work. Second, Indonesia and the Philippines have very high mobile-data costs relative to income compared to Singapore, making cafe and mall WiFi materially valuable — venues with smooth QR-WiFi flows see measurable customer-satisfaction lift. Third, many ASEAN SME routers ship with default SSIDs of the form TP-LINK_XXXX or UniFi-XXXX; rename to your brand before generating the QR so customers see something memorable on their phone's network list.