Connect to a Wi-Fi network using Command Prompt

[Satyajit Mishra]

> I have a perfectly working Wi-Fi USB Adapter with latest driver installed. I can connect to any Wi-Fi network using the Windows GUI i.e. clicking on "Network" icon on the "Task Bar" & selecting a Wi-Fi network.

 

> But I want to connect to a Wi-Fi network using the "Command Prompt". I have tried almost all the "netsh wlan" commands while running the Command Prompt with Administrative Privilege.

 

> So here is a scenario, I have 3 available Wi-Fi networks (SSIDs) & i want to connect to only one of them. None of these Wi-Fi networks have never been saved or connected to before my PC before. So my assumption is that there are no Saved Profiles.

 

> FYI; I know the SSID, Password, MAC Address etc of each & every one of these available Wi-Fi networks as they are all my own.

 

>> Please tell me a simple command to connect to a specific Wi-Fi network from a number of available ones.

[zMeul]

netsh wlan connect ssid="YOURSSID" key="YOURPW"

doesn't work?

[Satyajit Mishra]

14 minutes ago, zMeul said:

netsh wlan connect ssid="YOURSSID" key="YOURPW"

doesn't work?

No it doesn't work. And here is an output when using this command;

 

C:\Windows\system32>netsh wlan connect ssid=TestWiFi key=xxxxxxxxxx
'key' is not a valid argument for this command.
One or more parameters for the command are not correct or missing.

Usage: connect [name=]<string> [[ssid=]<string>] [[interface=]<string>]

[zMeul]

1 minute ago, Satyajit Mishra said:

No it doesn't work. And here is an output when using this command;

this is odd ....

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/heyscriptingguy/2015/11/23/get-wireless-network-ssid-and-password-with-powershell/

[Satyajit Mishra]

I just got the solution from Microsoft Community by Frederik Long. So first you have to connect to the Wi-Fi networking using GUI, then simply type "netsh wlan connect TestWiFi" command or "netsh wlan connect ssid=TestWiFi name=TestWiFi" or "netsh wlan connect name=TestWiFi" the next time you want to connect to it via cmd.

 

But can anyone please tell me how to connect to a Wi-Fi network which was never connected to a PC using command prompt. I have the SSID & password, so how can I connect to this network via command prompt?

[zMeul]

7 minutes ago, Satyajit Mishra said:

But can anyone please tell me how to connect to a Wi-Fi network which was never connected to a PC using command prompt. I have the SSID & password, so how can I connect to this network via command prompt?

apparently it's not possible without previously having a profile for that network

 

netsh wlan add profile

 

Edited February 2, 2017 by zMeul

[Satyajit Mishra]

2 minutes ago, zMeul said:

apparently it's not possible without previously having a profile for that network

No work arounds or using powershell?

[zMeul]

Just now, Satyajit Mishra said:

No work arounds or using powershell?

I'm looking at it right now, it's not possible without an existing profile

see my modified previous post

[Satyajit Mishra]

I just found another problem with the "netsh wlan connect Home WiFi" command. If my SSID has any space between them, then I get this output "There is no profile "Home" assigned to the specified interface.". But when I type "netsh wlan show profiles", it show my Wi-Fi network profile name as "Home WiFi". But when I try to connect to a saved Wi-Fi network whose SSID doesn't have any space, it connects successfully.

Can anyone please clarify how to solve this issue?

[zMeul]

1 minute ago, Satyajit Mishra said:

I just found another problem with the "netsh wlan connect Home WiFi" command. If my SSID has any space between them, then I get this output "There is no profile "Home" assigned to the specified interface.". But when I type "netsh wlan show profiles", it show my Wi-Fi network profile name as "Home WiFi". But when I try to connect to a saved Wi-Fi network whose SSID doesn't have any space, it connects successfully.

Can anyone please clarify how to solve this issue?

you need to use quote marks, like:

netsh wlan connect name="Test WiFi"

 

[Satyajit Mishra]

15 minutes ago, zMeul said:

you need to use quote marks, like:

netsh wlan connect name="Test WiFi"

 

netsh wlan connect "Test WiFi" also works!