Programmably connect to a WiFi network using a password

Connecting to a wireless network using a password is harder than what you might think, as you need to create a WiFi ‘profile’.

The below PowerShell code can do exactly what you need, it creates the WiFi profile, and connects you to the WiFi network automatically.

	# Fill in mandatory details for the WiFi network
	$WirelessNetworkSSID = '<WiFi_SSID>'
	$WirelessNetworkPassword = '<WiFi_password>'
	$Authentication = 'WPA2PSK' # Could be WPA2
	$Encryption = 'AES'

	# Create the WiFi profile, set the profile to auto connect
	$WirelessProfile = @'
	<WLANProfile xmlns="http://www.microsoft.com/networking/WLAN/profile/v1">
	<name>{0}</name>
	<SSIDConfig>
	<SSID>
	<name>{0}</name>
	</SSID>
	</SSIDConfig>
	<connectionType>ESS</connectionType>
	<connectionMode>auto</connectionMode>
	<MSM>
	<security>
	<authEncryption>
	<authentication>{2}</authentication>
	<encryption>{3}</encryption>
	<useOneX>false</useOneX>
	</authEncryption>
	<sharedKey>
	<keyType>passPhrase</keyType>
	<protected>false</protected>
	<keyMaterial>{1}</keyMaterial>
	</sharedKey>
	</security>
	</MSM>
	</WLANProfile>
	'@ -f $WirelessNetworkSSID, $WirelessNetworkPassword, $Authentication, $Encryption

	# Create the XML file locally
	$random = Get-Random –Minimum 1111 –Maximum 99999999
	$tempProfileXML = "$env:TEMP\tempProfile$random.xml"
	$WirelessProfile \| Out-File $tempProfileXML

	# Add the WiFi profile and connect
	Start-Process netsh ('wlan add profile filename={0}' -f $tempProfileXML)

	# Connect to the WiFi network – only if you need to
	Start-Process netsh ('wlan connect name="{0}"' -f $WirelessNetworkSSID)

Marc Kean