Spaces and SSID Names ?

[iFrogMac]

Hey all,
Just a quick question, I've been reading more instances lately where Spaces can cause issues with SSID names. I was curious as to what this specifically applies to in today's standards. For example, my SSIDs are "iFrog Media", and iFrog Media 5GHz" I've never had any kind of connection issues that I've been aware of, and I've used these names several years now. I took a look at the special and reserved characters thread also in the General Wireless discussion area, and the only thing that raised questions for me, was using spaces. I don't use white spaces though, e.g. blank.

Are some of these rules geared more toward older devices over current ones?
Thanks.

 

[ColinTaylor]

It's not about standards or older vs. newer. It's just a general recommendation as some devices have problems with non-alphanumeric characters (e.g. emoji, Arabic, etc). Some devices also don't support long strings in passwords (e.g. > 32 characters) even though the standard says they should. If your devices don't have any problems then that's fine.

 

[iFrogMac]

It's not about standards or older vs. newer. It's just a general recommendation as some devices have problems with non-alphanumeric characters (e.g. emoji, Arabic, etc). Some devices also don't support long strings (e.g. > 32 characters) even though the standard says they should. If your devices don't have any problems then that's fine.

Yes, I haven't noticed any problems. Just thought I would ask though. The names I use today came from my AirPort Extreme days. It added the spaces to the SSIDs, so since it didn't remove the spaces, I never considered it a problem. If I end up having issues, I'll just remove the spaces and add a "-" instead. So based on your post, the naming guidelines are mainly for failsafes e.g. it's not mandatory.

 

[ColinTaylor]

So based on your post, the naming guidelines are mainly for failsafes e.g. it's not mandatory.

Exactly, it's a sort of lowest common denominator approach. Mostly to avoid problems in the future, e.g with cheap IoT devices, etc.

IIRC there was an issue recently with an Asus firmware update where a password field would no longer accept a character that it had in previous releases.

 

[Tech9]

I did test password with spaces on latest AX86U Asuswrt firmware, 49599. No issues, works as expected.

 

[iFrogMac]

Exactly, it's a sort of lowest common denominator approach. Mostly to avoid problems in the future, e.g with cheap IoT devices, etc.

IIRC there was an issue recently with an Asus firmware update where a password field would no longer accept a character that it had in previous releases.

I think I ran into that when I first got the RT-AX82U before returning it for the 86U, it wouldn't accept the randomly generated password I generated for the router login. Now that works fine with the 86U on the latest firmware. as far as ioT, the lowest quality devices I own are the smart bulbs, and they work fine with my current SSIDs, but they don't like the Asus Routers unless I put wireless into legacy for 2.4Ghz. I am now thinking it's because they don't play nice with settings that are present in all other modes except legacy.

 

[sfx2000]

Just a quick question, I've been reading more instances lately where Spaces can cause issues with SSID names. I was curious as to what this specifically applies to in today's standards.

Spaces " " are generally ok for SSID's.

The reason why I added this to the general guidance on reserved characters list is that different platforms handle them - we have to consider Mac, Linux, Windows, Android, and various embedded operating systems, in combination with various services like Samba, NFS, etc...

 

[iFrogMac]

Spaces " " are generally ok for SSID's.

The reason why I added this to the general guidance on reserved characters list is that different platforms handle them - we have to consider Mac, Linux, Windows, Android, and various embedded operating systems, in combination with various services like Samba, NFS, etc...

Right, I follow. Thankfully I don't have to big a diversity here. It's either macOS, iOS, or a form of Line (via firmware.). SMB is LAN only, and doesn't have spaces.