Giving a friend access to your Wi-Fi network is a cinch thanks to one of iOS 11’s sometimes disregarded automated features, which allows it simple to deliver the network password to the connecting device over the air without disclosing your actual wireless credentials.
Sharing Wi-Fi Passwords Was Unsafe Prior to iOS 11.
Imagine you wanted to let your friend access your home’s Wi-Fi when they came over. You may either tell them the password (which is incredibly dangerous) or enter it manually into their iPhone (clunky). It’s a tedious process, especially if you’re one of the many users who don’t bother adjusting factory settings and instead look for their Wi-Fi password on the router’s back.
You can also create a restricted guest network that is walled off from your main network and has its own password if you have a capable router like Apple’s AirPort. Apple has eliminated these problems all at once in iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra with a really neat feature that eliminates the need for you to memorize difficult Wi-Fi passwords.
I was thrilled when Apple released this incredibly time-saving feature because I always get a little nervous when someone requests to connect to my home Wi-Fi network.
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How to Tell Pals Your Wi-Fi Password
The person you’re exchanging passwords with must be saved as a contact in your address book and your iOS 11 or macOS High Sierra device must be connected to your local Wi-Fi for this to function as intended.
Both iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra or later must be installed on all involved devices. Finally, this feature won’t function if your network has MAC address filtering enabled (a choice you might want to rethink considering how readily MAC addresses are spoof).
1) Make sure your device is unlocked and logged onto your home Wi-Fi network.
2) Request that your buddy chooses the name of your network from the Wi-Fi popup menu in their Mac’s menu bar or under Settings Wi-Fi on their iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
3) A typical password entry screen for your protected Wi-Fi network will be displayed to them. Similar to the AirPod pairing prompt, a Wi-Fi sharing card will appear on your smartphone asking you whether you want to give the password to their device. Only when someone is attempting to join your main Wi-Fi network does the prompt show.
4) To grant your buddy access to your Wi-Fi network, tap Send Password. Alternatively, you can tap the small “x” in the top-right corner of the card to close the prompt without granting the request.
Without requiring either of you to input a single letter, your encrypted Wi-Fi password will be transferred securely over the air to the connecting device and automatically filled in.
5) To delete the card, tap Done.
Now your friend can connect to your Wi-Fi network properly.
Read More: 5 Quick And Easy Ways To Share iPhone WiFi Password
They too are now able to accept Wi-Fi requests from their device (if it is in Wi-Fi range) as long as they don’t manually forget the network.
To send the password to the linked device, click Share; to decline, click Decline.
That’s all there is to it, lads and girls!
Giving friends secure access to your Wi-Fi networks has never been simpler: all they need to do is place their device close to any iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac that is connected to your network and has that user in Contacts.
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How Safe Is This Function?
Wi-Fi credentials are first transmitted securely and encrypted over the air (256-bit AES encryption is used for the password handshaking procedure).
What happens, though, if the receiving device has iCloud Keychain enabled, which automatically syncs passwords between devices? That would make it way too simple for your friend to use their Mac’s iCloud Keychain program to access your network password that they have saved, wouldn’t it?
Apple, in all its wisdom, has also considered that possibility!
The password is scrambled; even if you check the Show Password box in the Keychain Access app, it won’t display in clear text even when your Wi-Fi credentials are saved to the receiving device and synced through iCloud Keychain with your friend’s other devices.
People that reuse Wi-Fi passwords, which is a bad security habit, should feel more at ease knowing that. Your Wi-Fi network should be protected with at least WPA2 and a strong password that is never written down or used again.
Better better, use qifi.org to produce a QR Code for your Wi-Fi network, which you can then print off and place about your home so that any iOS 11 visitors can scan it with their device’s camera and instantly connect to the network.
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