iPhone SE (2016) how to enter wifi passwords WITHOUT being at that wifi site?

[Doug Lass]

So I'm going to a site, and I have the wifi password and name for that site. I'd like to prep my iPhone to connect with that before I go there. How do I do that? As far as I can see, I can only have my iPhone remember the name, security mode, and password for a wifi "Other Network" if and when I join it. If I enter all that stuff in, in Settings->Wifi, the only option I'm given is "Join", which of course I can't do if I'm not there!

Now on the MacOS, it's pretty trivial to do that wifi setup in Keychain without actually trying to log into the network.

 

[now i see it]

If it’s not possible on iOS ( I don’t know, I never tried) just have the log in info on a note. Copying & pasting it will take less than 15 seconds once the Wi-Fi network is visible.

 

[Doug Lass]

If it’s not possible on iOS ( I don’t know, I never tried) just have the log in info on a note. Copying & pasting it will take less than 15 seconds once the Wi-Fi network is visible.

Yes, obviously that's the default. But I just figured that since it was so easy to do on a Mac, there would be some way to do it on an iPhone. Of course, just wifi password sharing over Bluetooth from someone elses iPhone is even easier.

 

[BigBlur]

You can't do this from your iPhone or iPad. You would have to do this from your Mac like you discovered, and it should sync to your phone (assuming you have iCloud Keychain enabled on both devices).

Also, it sounds like maybe you did this directly in Keychain? You can get it added through Network in System Preferences, which will put it into your local/system and iCloud keychains.

1. Go to System Preferences
2. Network
3. Wi-Fi
4. Advanced...
5. Click the + button to add a new network
6. Fill in the info and save
7. It should now be in your iCloud Keychain and sync to your phone

 

[Doug Lass]

Yes, I understand that you can add via Network in System Preferences. Fair point.

As to using iCloud Keychain to sync a Mac wifi login to an iPhone, it appears you can only do it if those wifi networks are actually available. If not, I don't believe anything about those networks whose logins you've documented on your Mac will be shared. Am I correct about that? That is, my Mac at home has a slew of wifi logins from hotels I've stayed in, and those logins don't end up getting ported automatically to my phone. As I said, you can also share a wifi password over Bluetooth with another iPhone that is already logged into the network.

 

[BigBlur]

Yes, they will be shared via iCloud Keychain. Just for giggles, this got me curious and I played around with it some more. If I manually add my network like I described above, my Mac did not automatically join it. I still had to select my Wi-Fi in the list of available networks, but it connected without needing to enter in my password. Subsequent connections were then automatic.

The same thing happened on my iPhone. It did not connect automatically, but it did connect without me needing to enter my password once I tapped my network in the list. Subsequent connections were also automatic. So while it does share the password since I didn't need to enter it in, it does not auto-join until you tap to connect to it.

Now if I connected to my Wi-Fi normally on my Mac, then my Mac joined right away as well as my phone. So it seems to be syncing some 'auto-join' setting that is only set if the initial device can connect right away.

As for hotels, they can be a tricky situation. Most hotels require you to connect manually and then direct to to a page to accept their terms and conditions. This typically whitelists your MAC address temporarily. Since every device has a unique MAC address, it needs to be done for each individual device.

 

[Doug Lass]

Well, on my MacBook Pro I have listed one private wifi account that is of an office extenal to my home. I have Bluetooth turned on on both Mac and iPhone, they are both connected to the same home wifi, and I have iCloud Keychain enabled on both. That private wifi account is listed as one of my Mac networks, but not as one of my iPhone networks. That network has NOT been shared. How do I get it to share? Do you mean that WHEN ENTERED it will be shared? I entered that network account on my Mac well before I got my iPhone. Do I have to erase it from my Mac and enter it again??