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During the weekend, I was able to connect to a secured wireless network via an Android device (Asus Transformer Tablet), but when I tried to connect to the wireless network via my laptop it was requiring the connection key (which I didn't know).

Can anyone explain me how was this possible?

I've tried to see the password of the wireless network on the Android device, but (I guess for security reasons) the current password for a wireless network is not shown in its settings.

(The secured network was not previously saved/configured on the Android device.)

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  • 4
    You did not say if the Android device still had access while you tried to connect using your laptop. How soon after connecting to the network with your Android device did you try to connect using your laptop? It is possible but unlikely that the network was unsecured and then for whatever reason changed to secured. For example, the admin was in the process of adding a password.
    – iglvzx
    Feb 23, 2012 at 22:43

3 Answers 3

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Do you have another Android device (like a phone, maybe) that you'd previously connected to that same Wi-Fi point?

Android 4, Ice Cream Sandwich, (and possibly older versions too, though I don't have any to hand to check) has an option to sync saved Wi-Fi passwords between different Android devices on the same Google account. Here's the option under Settings -> Backup & Reset on my phone:

ICS Backup & Reset settings screen

There are also apps that allow you to sync Wi-Fi passwords between your laptop and your Android devices, though I assume you'd know if you had one of those installed.

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  • Having a 2nd look: that's most probably the right answer. Google knows everything :-) That I don't know the key part confused me and I ruled your answer out. It's rather old , else I had asked the OP if he has another android
    – ce4
    Jul 10, 2012 at 12:25
  • @ce4 I upvoted your answer. Without any other info "someone else already entered it" is as likely. Also, you did come up with the actual local storage option for the passwords.
    – GAThrawn
    Jul 10, 2012 at 12:51
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You can see the password if your device is rooted, it's located in plain text at:

/data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf

Normally your device won't connect to any secured and previously unknown Wi-Fi without your request.

The only possible explanation for me is one of the following:

  • You gave it to a friend who added the Wi-Fi for you;
  • You had another Wi-Fi with the same name/pass-phrase combination set up already.
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At a guess, you're actually connecting automatically to another nearby unsecured network rather than the secure network.

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