Various types of buttons are present on the Xfinity router, and all of them has different types of roles to perform. The WPS button on Xfinity router is most important, and it helps you to connect any wireless device to the internet. People have various types of queries about the role of the WPS button – Is it safe to use? How does it work? Is it WiFi protected?
You will get all the detailed answers regarding every query you have. In addition to that, you will also come to know the exact location of the WPS button for your convenience.
What is WPS?
WiFi Protected Setup or WPS is a feature in the form of a button in most advanced digital devices, such as DSLR cameras, printers, routers, extenders and many more. You may call it the shortest path towards connecting an electronic device to the router. This process of creating a connection doesn’t involve the application of the router password. One main thing you have to note is that the WPS button will only work when the wireless network is set to WPA personal or WPA2 personal Encryption.
What are WPA and WPA2?
To understand the WPS concept, getting along with the WPA and WPA2 is important. WPA and WPA2 were launched in 2003 and 2004, respectively. The encryption method of WPA is TKIP, which is a temporal key integrity protocol. Whereas, the WPA2 uses the AES, advanced standard encryption.
The WPA offers basic security towards its desired router, and the WPA2 offers high-end security compared to the latter. Old devices are compatible with the WPA, but all the new software and firmware versions are compatible with WPA2.
WPA will work with short and easy passwords, but the WPA needs a long and mixed character password. No enterprise solutions are available with the WPA towards small, medium and large scale businesses. However, the WPA2 has a lot of business enterprise options. Overall, both WPA and WPA2 is interrelated with the WPS button on Xfinity router.
How does the WPS Button on Xfinity Router Work?
The WPS button work in two ways – For the devices with a UI and without a UI. The processes are different from each other. Let’s discuss the working process for the device with a UI. Press the WPS button on the router that turns on the Discovery mode. Now, pick up the smartphone, tablet or laptop and try to connect to the network without a password.
Regarding the devices, press the WPS button without the UI and wait for the automatic connection. The passphrase and SSID will automatically get synced with the connected device.
What about Security?
There is no involvement in setting the router password. In addition to that, you cannot select the network name. So, using the WPS button is convenient within the home network. Never allow any outsider to use this concept, as there may be a chance of stealing data via the router.
Location of the WPS Button
The location of the WPS button on the Xfinity router depends on various models. In the xFi gateway 3rd generation, you can find it at the backside of the device. And, for the advanced gateway model, the button is located at the top. The same thing applies to the wireless gateway model too.
The function of the WPS Button on Different Models
If you use the advanced gateway model, then the blue light will blink when you press the WPS button on the Xfinity router. When the network device enters operational mode, the white light will blink. Regarding the wireless gateway, the WPS led light will blink regarding the wireless gateway, no matter what colour it is. When the wireless connection is successful, the light’s blinking will stop. If the connection is unsuccessful, wait for 5 minutes and try again.
WPS Button Unresponsive, What Now?
You are continuously pressing the button, but it is not working – what should you do now? If this goes on, you won’t be able to connect your mobile devices and laptops to the router via the WPS button on Xfinity router.
Here are some tips for you:
- Make sure that the internet connection is stable.
- Open the WPS utility setup and make some necessary changes in the pin method.
- If necessary, you need to generate another PIN from the Xfinity support page and apply it in the PIN method.
- You can navigate to the WiFi dashboard and add another WPS client. Manually restart the router to save the changes, and hopefully, the WPS will work just fine.
