How to Push Wi-Fi Settings to Company Android Phones

To push Wi-Fi to Android devices, you add the network name and password to the security policy in your device management tool and publish it. Every company phone or tablet with that policy joins the network on its own, and nobody needs to know the password. You can also stop employees adding other networks, which keeps work devices off the café Wi-Fi.

Here is why it matters. A small physiotherapy practice has eight tablets and a Wi-Fi password written on a sticky note behind the front desk. Patients have seen it. A former receptionist still has it on her personal phone. Changing it means walking round every tablet, typing a 16-character password eight times, and inevitably missing the one in the back room.

Pushing Wi-Fi fixes both problems. Staff never see the password, and changing it is one edit.

What does pushing Wi-Fi actually do?

When a network is part of the policy, Android saves it on the device as if someone had typed it in. The difference is that the employee did not need the password, and the employee cannot see it.

In NounDesk, each pushed network has:

• Network name (SSID): exactly as it appears on a phone.
• Security: WPA/WPA2 with a password, or Open.
• Password: 8 to 63 characters, masked in the editor.
• Auto-connect: on by default, so the device joins when in range.
• Hidden network: for networks that do not broadcast their name.

You can push up to 20 networks per policy. That covers an office, a warehouse, a couple of job sites and a backup hotspot.

How to push a Wi-Fi network, step by step

1. Open the security policy your devices use, under Security policies. If you have not set one up yet, start with Android security policies.
2. Find the Network card and select Add Wi-Fi network.
3. Type the network name exactly, including capitals and spaces. “Office-WiFi” and “office wifi” are different networks to a phone.
4. Choose the security type and enter the password. Use the eye icon to check it before you save. A typo here means every phone fails to connect.
5. Leave Auto-connect ticked unless you have a reason not to.
6. Save draft, then Publish. The publish preview tells you exactly what changes and how many devices it affects.

Phones pick up the change the next time they check in. Most will be on the network within minutes if they are in range.

The network settings guide has every option with screenshots.

Different sites, different networks

If your phones work in different places, you have two choices.

One policy with every network. Put the office, the warehouse and the depot all in the same policy. Phones join whichever one is in range. This is simplest for up to a handful of locations.

One policy per site. If sites should not share passwords, make a policy for each and use groups by team or site to keep the phones sorted. When a phone moves to another site, move it to that site’s group.

The construction and field service pages have examples: crews moving between job sites often need a new site network every few months.

Should employees be able to add their own Wi-Fi?

NounDesk has a setting called Employees can add or change Wi-Fi networks. It has two options.

• Allowed: employees can join any network, including home Wi-Fi or a hotel. Your pushed networks are still there.
• Blocked: employees cannot add, change or forget networks. The device only uses what you pushed.

Blocking is right for tablets that never leave the building, such as front-desk or order tablets. It is usually wrong for field staff, who need home or customer Wi-Fi to save mobile data. If you block it, push every network the device will ever need first.

Two related settings sit next to it:

• Hotspot / tethering: stop a phone sharing its mobile data with other devices.
• Bluetooth file sharing: stop files being sent over Bluetooth while headsets and car kits still connect.

The Maximum Security template blocks both.

How do I change the Wi-Fi password without losing every phone?

This is where most small businesses get caught. You change the router password, and every tablet drops off Wi-Fi. Phones with mobile data recover, because they can still reach NounDesk and get the new password. Wi-Fi-only tablets cannot. They are now offline and cannot receive the fix.

Do it in this order:

1. Add the new network to the policy first, ideally as a second network name if your router supports one. Publish.
2. Wait until devices have checked in. The Android device dashboard shows which devices have been seen recently.
3. Switch the router over.
4. Remove the old network from the policy and publish. The preview warns that it will be removed from devices.

If your router can only have one network name, change the policy and the router within the same few minutes, and check the dashboard for any tablet marked offline afterwards.

The honest limits

Password networks and open networks only. NounDesk pushes WPA/WPA2 password networks and open networks. Networks that need a username and password per person, or a certificate, are not covered by this setting.

Company-owned devices only. Pushed Wi-Fi works on company-owned, fully managed devices. NounDesk does not manage personal phones.

The password is in the policy. It is masked on screen but stored in the policy and sent to devices. Treat it like any shared password, and change it when someone with console access leaves.

Guest Wi-Fi sign-in pages still need a tap. If a network shows a web page to accept terms, someone still has to accept it on the device.

A phone that saved the same network earlier may ask the employee to forget the old one. The device’s Security tab says so.

What to do this week

1. List every network your company devices should use. Office, warehouse, sites, backup hotspot.
2. Add them to your policy and publish to one test device first. If a batch of new phones is on the way, do this before you roll out the phones so they join Wi-Fi during setup.
3. Decide on employee Wi-Fi changes. Block it for fixed tablets, allow it for field phones.
4. Write down the password-change order above and tape it next to the router.
5. Change the Wi-Fi password if it has ever been written on a sticky note.

FAQ

How do I push Wi-Fi to Android devices?

Add the network name, security type and password to the security policy in your device management tool and publish it. Every device with that policy saves the network and joins it automatically when in range.

Can employees see a pushed Wi-Fi password?

No. The network is saved on the device without the employee typing or seeing the password. Admins see it masked in the policy editor.

How many Wi-Fi networks can I push?

NounDesk pushes up to 20 networks per security policy, which covers most small businesses with several sites.

Can I stop staff joining other Wi-Fi networks?

Yes. Set “Employees can add or change Wi-Fi networks” to Blocked, and the device only uses the networks you pushed.

Does pushed Wi-Fi work on personal phones?

No. It works on company-owned, fully managed Android devices. NounDesk does not manage personal phones.

Want Wi-Fi to just work on every company phone? Try NounDesk and push your first network in five minutes.