Login via QR code … quite simple, isn’t it?
The IACBOX has supported logging into the network via QR code for many years. A special link is generated as a QR code that contains the login data. In the past, anyone who first connected to the WiFi and then photographed the QR code was able to log in without having to enter any user data. Pandemic management has made QR codes socially acceptable and even senior citizens no longer think they are misprints.
However, for some time now, or more precisely several OS updates later, this no longer works with some smartphones. We would therefore like to explain the problem in more detail here.
What the guest/customer thinks vs. what iOS and Android do
The guest sees a QR code on an Internet ticket/voucher and logically believes that opening the QR code link will automatically log him or her in. This is not the case, but why?
The end device only forwards network traffic via data connections that are recognised as functional at the very moment. However, the end device cannot know at this point that this link in the QR code is to be accessed via a specific WiFi network, as it is not yet connected to it. In most cases, however, a functioning mobile phone connection is available (thanks to EU roaming), so an attempt is made to access the link via this connection.
However, the link is intended for the IACBOX and can only be recognised by it if the data traffic runs via the IACBOX.
At the next attempt, the tech-savvy visitor may first connect to the WiFi and then photograph the QR code. Now the operating system recognises that it is behind a captive portal and that this has not yet activated access, so it will not call up the link via the WiFi this time either. This problem exists for at least some of the current smartphones, especially iOS devices.
An additional problem is that some operating systems also do not use the WiFi connection to the IACBOX when the captive browser is closed again, which is unavoidable on smartphones as soon as you want to open the camera/QR code app.
Photograph QR in the browser
We can hear software developers out going like, wait, we could simply integrate the camera in the browser using Javascript and read the QR code. Well that’s right … it also works wonderfully in normal browsers and would be the ideal solution. For security reasons, however, the captive browsers of iOS and Android prohibit access to the camera.
WiFi QR codes
Fortunately, there is also a simple, non-standardised but nevertheless widely used text format for QR codes containing WiFi data such as name (SSID), encryption etc.
`WIFI:S:HotelSunshine;T:WPA;P:VERYSECRET`
Formatted as a QR code, this text causes a smartphone to connect to the respective WiFi, but such a QR code will only take a user to the login page. Up to this date, it is not possible to enter device-specific login data for the captive portal. However, this is not necessarily a disadvantage.
Using the lesser of two evils to your advantage
Generating a QR code that only contains the WiFi connection data and takes the guest or customer to the login page does not necessarily have to be the lesser of two evils. It works and irritates the guest far less than a timeout or error message. AND it requires interaction.
Many, if not most IACBOX operators explicitly want to use the login page as a touch point to communicate with their guest or customer. When do you ever have the undivided attention of a guest or customer, who is also willing to interact in the form of entering data or giving consent? That’s right, a moment like this should be utilised, and this way it is possible again.
The IACBOX has been able to generate such WiFi QR codes since the update 21.0-p21510 (Dec. 2023).
In the WebAdmin under User/Tickets -> Ticket basic settings -> Tab: QR code, the QR code type can now be changed to WiFi SSID. A WiFi QR code is then generated and appears in the printing layout. Give it a try – here are the >>detailed instructions in our manuals.
We will of course not rest and continue working on this topic for you, so that we can offer user-friendly options as soon as they are available from the major manufacturers.
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