4 ways to share WiFi with others without giving them the password
Usually when a guest or friend comes to your home, the first thing they might ask for is your Wi-Fi password. Of course, you don't want to disappoint them or deprive them of joining your own network, but at the same time, remember that you did hard work to secure this network from hackers.
So, is there a compromise? Fortunately, there is. If you have friends or co-workers who often share Wi-Fi, you can simply configure that network in a way that allows you to share it without revealing your password.
There are several ways to achieve this. In this article, let's list 4 of the best and most effective of these methods, which you should use when you want to share Wi-Fi with others securely.
First method: Connect directly via WPS
To deal with the hassle of giving your complicated password to guests, most routers have a feature called WPS (WiFi Protected Setup).
It is a feature that was first introduced in 2007, and its aim was to allow the connection of a home router to a specific device that does not have a display interface through which to control the Wi-Fi connection such as printers, WiFi repeaters, and IOT (Internet of Things) devices.
But what you don't know is that most Android and Windows devices also support WPS connectivity. The way to share your Wi-Fi password via WPS is simple.
All you have to do at first is open the phone you want to connect to the Internet, then go to Settings, then Wi-Fi, then click on the "Advanced" option in the upper right corner, and there you will find the "WiFi Push Button" button and click on it.
Now go to the router and press the WPS button (usually located on the back side). Once you press this button, your Android phone will connect to the Wi-Fi network without requiring you to enter a password.
But if the phone is running Android 9 (Pie), you won't find the option to connect via WPS, and iPhones also lack such an option. In such cases, you can avoid this method and continue reading the other methods described below.
The second method: checking the QR code to connect to Wi-Fi
One of the smart ways that allows you to connect to a Wi-Fi network is to enter the registration information into the network by simply reading a simple "QR" code via the phone's camera! Knowing that there are a lot of Android phones that already support this method.
After entering the "Wi-Fi" screen from the settings and clicking on the name of the network to which your phone is connected, you will see a QR code that should be checked through the QR code reader application installed on the phone you want to join the network without a password.
But if your phone doesn't support the feature, there are many apps and websites that do. For example, you can visit the "QR Stuff" website and then select "Wifi Login" from the left side menu. Next, enter your Wi-Fi network name, password, and encryption type.
Once you're done, you'll get a ready-made QR code under the "QR CODE PREVIEW" section, which you can print on a sheet of paper or scan directly from your computer screen using the QR Code Reader app on the other phone.
But if your friend owns an iPhone, they just need to launch the camera app to read the code without installing any third-party apps. Generally, after reading the code, you should see a "Configure WiFi" window to confirm your network connection after pressing OK.
Third Method: Activate Guest Mode on the router
Almost all home routers come with Guest Mode. As the name suggests, it's designed to isolate guest devices from your main Wi-Fi network instead of having your friends and guests as well as your devices connected to just one network.
This way, you can keep the password without giving it to them and set a simple password for their network – or even leave it open.
To do this, enter the router settings screen by typing the router's IP address in the address bar of any internet browser on the device or phone. Usually, this IP is 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1 and then log in to the router by typing your username and password, you can type admin in both fields and press the Login button.
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Once logged in to the router's control panel, look for Guest Mode in the Wireless section and then activate it. Then specify the properties of this network such as the SSID name, password, and encryption type. Then at the end press the Save button for the new network to be visible and guests can connect to it without any problems.
Method Four: Create a Hotspot
Most of you may know that your windows computer can be turned into a router by creating a hotspot and we explained in the article "Unlock Hotspot from Laptop without Software in Windows 10" how to do this. Thus, your Wi-Fi network can be re-shared with a different name and password.
But this doesn't just apply to Windows devices, if you're using an Android phone running 9 Pie version and above, you can create a duplicate hotspot from the Wi-Fi network you're connected to.
To do this, turn on Wi-Fi in your phone and connect to your local network. Then go to Settings and click on the Connections section and then click on "Mobile Hotspot and Tethering" and from the next screen activate the Mobile Hotspot option and then scroll to the bottom to activate the "Wi-Fi sharing" option.
Now a new Wi-Fi network has been created that can be connected to through the registration information shown on the Mobile Hotspot screen. But what if your phone is not running Android 9? In this case, there is a NetShare application that does the same function without the need for rooting, so you can try it.
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These were the ways that allowed you to share the Wi-Fi network with others without giving them the password. Alternatively, if no method works, you can always type the password yourself into their device. On Android, there is no way to see the Wi-Fi password you are connected to. However, on the iPhone, you can see the Wi-Fi password of the network you are connected to if you connect it to the Macbook linked to the same Apple account.