No redirect
A Wi-Fi QR code that still works after you print it
The squares hold the network name and password. A guest's phone offers to join. HonestQR does not see the password, and the sticker does not call anyone's server.
Encoded content
How to make one
- Step 1. Use a guest network. Put the cafe or shop name in the network, not the password for the till, cameras, or office files. Anyone who can see the code can join.
- Step 2. Fill in the generator. Network name, WPA/WPA2 password, and whether the router hides the name. The preview updates in this browser.
- Step 3. Check the contrast. If the warning appears, darken the foreground or lighten the background before you print. A logo is optional and switches the code to the strongest error correction.
- Step 4. Download PNG or SVG. PNG is at least 1024 pixels on a side, which is enough for a counter card. SVG stays sharp if a designer places it in a larger layout.
- Step 5. Scan a sample. Print one at the real size, at least about 3 cm across, and scan it with a phone you do not use every day. Then stick the rest up.
What the code actually contains
A Wi-Fi QR code is not a website. The pattern is a short text record that starts with WIFI: and then names the network, the security type, the password, and whether the network is hidden. When a phone camera reads that record, the operating system recognizes it and offers to join. There is no page to load and no app to install. HonestQR builds that record on this page, in your browser, and draws the squares from it. The password is not uploaded. A guest who later scans a printed card is not sent to this site, or to a short-link company, or to an analytics host.
That record is an old, plain convention. iPhone and Android both understand it. You can read it yourself: the line under the preview is the exact text that will be stored in the squares. If you change the password in the form, that line changes before you download anything. Nothing is saved on a server between those two moments, because there is no account and no project to save.
Why a free Wi-Fi code is often a rental
A lot of generator sites do not put your password in the code. They put their own address in the code. The phone opens their server, and their server is what tells the phone the network details, or shows a landing page that does. That works only while they keep the server running and while your trial, seat, or card payment is in good standing. Several of those products turn the code off when the trial ends. The sticker on the counter does not know. Guests see an error, and the shop looks careless. The code you download here still scans if this website is closed for maintenance, sold, or simply abandoned. The information it needs is already in the ink.
There is a trade. A static code cannot be edited after it is printed. If you want to change the password without reprinting, you do need a service in the middle, and that service can expire. We do not sell that service. If you need it, the email box on this page is how we count demand before building anything that can go dark. Until then, choose a guest password you can live with for the life of the print run, and write the same password in small type under the code for people whose cameras fail.
Use a guest network, and say so
The password is visible to anyone who can photograph the code. That is true of every honest Wi-Fi QR, not a quirk of this page. Do not encode the password for the network that holds card machines, cameras, or staff files. Create a guest network with a name people will recognize, such as the shop name plus Guest, and a password you are willing to hand to the room. WPA2 or WPA3 is what you want; both use the WPA type in the QR record. WEP still joins on some phones and should not be used. Choose no password only for a network that is already open. Hiding the network name is not security. It just makes the network harder to pick from a list, which is the opposite of what a guest code is for. Tick the hidden box only if the router is actually set to hide the name, because a mismatch makes some phones fail the join.
Tell people what they are joining. A line of ordinary type next to the code — Harbor Guest, ask at the counter if the camera fails — prevents the awkward moment where someone thinks the code is the menu, the loyalty program, or a payment. If the guest network is isolated from the point of sale, say that to yourself when you set the router up, not on the card. The card only needs the name and a way in.
Print for the light you actually have
Phones read contrast, not decoration. Black or near-black squares on a light background are the reliable choice. A dark green or navy on warm paper also works, which is why the color controls are here. If the two colors get too close, the page warns you. The warning does not block the download: it is there so you do not discover the problem after fifty stickers. Leave the quiet margin around the squares. Do not crop into the finder patterns in the corners. A small logo in the center is fine. Adding one switches the code to error correction level H, the highest setting, so the phone can rebuild the modules the logo covers. A huge logo still fails. Keep it inside the pale plate the preview shows.
Glossy laminate throws ceiling lights back into the lens. Matte paper or a matte pouch is easier across a counter. Put the code where a person can hold a phone still: eye level by the till, on a table tent, on the inside of the door. A code on the floor, on a curved cup, or behind a reflective fridge door fails more often than a code on a flat card. Print one sample at the size you will really use, about three centimeters across or larger, and scan it before you order a stack. Test with a phone you do not own if you can. A cracked lens and an old Android camera are part of the audience.
When the password has to change
Rotating the guest password makes the stickers wrong. That is the limit of a code that tells the truth. Reprint. If you change passwords every week because of a security policy, a printed QR is the wrong tool and a staff member should read the current password aloud or point at a screen you control. If you change it twice a year, reprinting a card is cheaper and more predictable than renting a redirect that can lapse in between. Keep the artwork. SVG downloads sit cleanly in a print file, so the next run is a password change and a new export, not a redesign.
If a code in the wild already goes through someone else's short link, do not guess. The check-up on this site reads a photo of the code in your browser, and if the content is a web address our checker follows the redirects and names known dynamic-QR hosts. A Wi-Fi code will not have any redirects to follow. The result should say it is not a web link and show the WIFI: line. If a code you thought was Wi-Fi comes back as a Bitly or QR Code Generator address, it is not the kind of code this page makes, and it can be switched off by the company in the middle.
Questions
Does the guest's phone open a website?
No. A code from this page contains the Wi-Fi record itself. The phone offers to join the network. It does not load HonestQR or any other site.
Can I hide the password from people who scan?
No. The password has to be in the code or the phone cannot join. Use a guest network, and assume anyone in the room can read it.
Which security type should I pick?
WPA/WPA2 for almost every guest network, including WPA3 routers. WEP is obsolete. No password is only for a network that is already open.
Will this code expire?
The code does not depend on our servers after you download it. It stops matching the router only if you change the network name, password, security type, or hidden setting and do not reprint.
What if I add a logo?
The generator switches to the highest error-correction level. Keep the logo on the center plate. If a phone cannot read the sample, export again without the logo.
Do I need an account?
No. Nothing you type is stored. If you want a future product that can change a code after printing, leave an email in the box below. That list is separate from making this code.