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Forum Discussion
RBR20 Orbi guest network doesn't allow special characters?
I'm on firmware V2.7.4.24. I'm using WPA2-PSK security for the wireless network and have been using a password with special characters since I first set it up. I just tried to enable the guest netwo...
SomebodyInGNV wrote:
I just tried to enable the guest network for use with IoT appliances, to isolate them from the main network. I set the security to WPA2-PSK but it doesn't allow special characters, not even spaces.
Perhaps it would be helpful to explain which special characters have been tried.
Just now, I changed the guest password on my RBR50, with firmware v2.7.4.24 (latest) to PhantomX to Phantom?
After the frustratingly long reset period, I logged onto the guest network. No problem.
I suspect "something else".
My main network password contains spaces and a hyphen. It works fine with WPA2-PSK. I copied and pasted to the guest network, also set to WPA2-PSK. Attempts to apply it fail. A pop-up message says "A passphrase consists of either 8-63 ASCII characters or exactly 64 hex digits. A hex digit is one of these characters: 0, 1, 2, …, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E F." I also tried typing the same password in case copy/paste somehow introduces a problem. That didn't work, either.
SomebodyInGNV wrote:
My main network password contains spaces and a hyphen.
Very puzzling. I have now changed the Guest WiFi password to:
- Phantom-? (hyphen and ?)
- Phantom ? (space and ?)
Both "take" and a tablet can connect to the Guest WiFi network using the current password.
My conclusion is thus that in the case of my Orbi, Netgear has not forbidden "special characters" in the Guest network password.
I could continue experimenting with more spaces, more hyphens, space at the beginning or end, etc. etc. Since it is unlikely that I will stumble across your guest WiFi, would you mind providing the exact password so that I can test it on my Orbi?
- Can the problem be with the name of the guest network (the Guest SSID)?
- I don't think so. The error message clearly refers to the format of the password.
The only thing I think I can get here is for someone to confirm or refute my experience. Do you use a complex password on a guest network?
