Wi-Fi password generator

Lowercase words and hyphens: easy to read off a card and tap into a phone or smart TV, strong enough for offline attacks, and checked against the WPA 8–63 character limit.

Why Wi-Fi passwords need more strength than you'd think

A website can lock you out after a few wrong guesses. A WPA2 network can't. Someone parked outside can record the four-way handshake when any device joins, then try passwords against it offline, at whatever speed their hardware allows, without your router ever noticing. That makes a Wi-Fi password closer to an encryption key than a login. Five random EFF words give 64.6 bits; six give 77.5.

WPA3-Personal uses a handshake called SAE that stops this offline guessing: each guess requires talking to your router. It's worth switching on if all your devices support it. Many routers run a WPA2/WPA3 transition mode, though, and older devices connect using WPA2, so the passphrase still carries the load.

Setting it on your router

  1. Open your router's admin page (often printed on its label) or its phone app.
  2. Find Wireless / Wi-Fi security. Choose WPA3-Personal, or WPA2/WPA3 if you have older devices; avoid WEP and WPA (TKIP).
  3. Paste the passphrase, save, and reconnect your devices. Write it on a card for guests; that's a reasonable trade-off for a home network.

Hyphens are the safest separator: some TV and printer keyboards make spaces or symbols fiddly, and some routers reject spaces at the start or end.

Questions

How long can a Wi-Fi password be?

A WPA2 or WPA3 personal passphrase must be 8 to 63 printable ASCII characters. This generator checks the length for you and warns if a setting pushes it outside that range.

How strong should a Wi-Fi password be?

With WPA2, anyone within radio range can capture the connection handshake and try guesses offline, as fast as their hardware allows. Aim for five or more random words (65+ bits). WPA3 protects against that offline guessing, but many networks run in mixed WPA2/WPA3 mode, so a strong passphrase still matters.

Why words and not random characters?

Guests type Wi-Fi passwords on phones and TVs, often read from a card on the fridge. Lowercase words separated by hyphens are quick to type on any on-screen keyboard and hard to mistype, and five of them are stronger than a typical random 10-character password.

Should the guest network use a different password?

Yes. Put visitors and smart-home gadgets on a guest network with its own passphrase, so you can change it without reconnecting all your own devices.