Allow Emoji in SSID

[MrT]

Hi there! I tried using emoji in the SSID for a WiFi network. Apparently, that is not allowed. Is there a way to enable/allow this for a Surf SOHO HW MK3 at FW 8.1.2?

[Michael234]

This is just asking for trouble. Even if the router allowed it, it is likely that WiFi software on some device in the future will have a problem with it. From the SSID page on routersecurity.org

The maximum length of an SSID is 32 bytes, rather than 32 characters. The difference can be seen with Unicode characters that consist of more than one byte With some fudging, you can create a network name that consists of emojis. See this October 2014 Ars Technica article for more: Scare your neighbors with a spooky Halloween network name. This is pushing the envelope though as some devices prevent non-latin characters in the SSID.

[MrT]

Hi Michael! Nice to have you weigh in on this. I’m a big fan and adopter of your work. I certainly understand the cautionary tone. Since the Surf SOHO can be set up with multiple SSIDs, I thought it would be fun to experiment with, since as you point out 32 bytes may not be equal to 32 characters.

[Michael234]

Why do you say the emoji was not allowed? Was there an error message?
Still, Wi-Fi is so problematic on its own, that messing with it seems like waking a sleeping bear.

[MrT]

Well now, “problem” solved. Thanks for pushing on this a bit. I tried a different series of emoji and it worked. See the photo below.

[mldowling]

Hello Richard (@MrT),
This is a very old and one of my earliest posts within the forum.

When innovating ideas and a innovative team come together brilliant results happen

Have you ever wondered how innovation happens and where to find support for it? Peplink is a company that inspires innovators. I run a company that aspires to innovate with the solutions and services they supply to customers. Recently we had a challenge and had been looking for a solution with several companies that supply Wireless Access Points (WAPs) and cloud management of those WAPs. We had received a business lead via one of our valued supply chains, though after a persistent & patient n…

In summary, it is about how you can use Emoji Icons within the Wi-Fi for Pepwave devices; these can be programmed from InControl2 or from the WAP device itself.
As to compatibility with Wi-Fi clients, that’s up to the vendor of the Wi-Fi client, though we have not seen any issues.
Happy yo Help,
Marcus

[MrT]

Hi Marcus! Thank you for your thoughtful reply and reference to Peplink’s culture of innovation. I must’ve fat-fingered something the first time, but I figured it out. I now have an SSID up and running with emoji. It is visible and usable with my aging Pixel 3 Android 11 phone, and a Lenovo laptop running the latest public version of Windows 10.