For the second time in a week, I have hit the problem of being unable to connect to a WiFi network because the required password is shorter than eight characters. This is clearly a common problem because cyberspace seems to be littered with discussions on this precise topic. Often in the forums there's a contributor pontificating that the password cannot be less than eight characters because it's the "standard".
I'm sorry, standard or not, there are institutions out there happily running WiFi networks using short passwords with impunity. I have come across two different ones in a week. It therefore strikes me as extraordinarily arrogant of Android not to even let me try to log on with a short password.
OK. Rant over. How best to overcome the problem? At enormous expense, I have bought my son an Android tablet so I can keep in touch with him while my wife and I are on holiday. I checked first that he would be allowed to access the WiFi network in the home where he lives, and was assured there would be no problem. I took the tablet over to him today only to find that we cannot connect because the password is only seven characters long. I very much doubt that I will be able to persuade the owners of what are, essentially, business premises to change their password just to accommodate us so I guess we are stuck with it.
On another group, someone suggested using a WiFi manager app(?). Would someone care to suggest one that is known to work with short passwords? Alternatively, I hear it may be possible to set up the connection manually if I know the SID and encryption type. How do I, or the house manager (who may or may not be very technically minded) ascertain the SID (what is that?) and encryption type?
I urgently need a solution to this problem because I only have next week to get it working.
I'm sorry, standard or not, there are institutions out there happily running WiFi networks using short passwords with impunity. I have come across two different ones in a week. It therefore strikes me as extraordinarily arrogant of Android not to even let me try to log on with a short password.
OK. Rant over. How best to overcome the problem? At enormous expense, I have bought my son an Android tablet so I can keep in touch with him while my wife and I are on holiday. I checked first that he would be allowed to access the WiFi network in the home where he lives, and was assured there would be no problem. I took the tablet over to him today only to find that we cannot connect because the password is only seven characters long. I very much doubt that I will be able to persuade the owners of what are, essentially, business premises to change their password just to accommodate us so I guess we are stuck with it.
On another group, someone suggested using a WiFi manager app(?). Would someone care to suggest one that is known to work with short passwords? Alternatively, I hear it may be possible to set up the connection manually if I know the SID and encryption type. How do I, or the house manager (who may or may not be very technically minded) ascertain the SID (what is that?) and encryption type?
I urgently need a solution to this problem because I only have next week to get it working.