diff --git a/libbbfdm/dmtree/tr181/wifi.dataelements.c b/libbbfdm/dmtree/tr181/wifi.dataelements.c
index d473772b..7448ceb8 100644
--- a/libbbfdm/dmtree/tr181/wifi.dataelements.c
+++ b/libbbfdm/dmtree/tr181/wifi.dataelements.c
@@ -3375,6 +3375,8 @@ static int operate_WiFiDataElementsNetwork_SetSSID(char *refparam, struct dmctx
 				dmuci_rename_section_by_section(s, sec_name);
 				dmuci_set_value_by_section(s, "ssid", ssid);
 				dmuci_set_value_by_section(s, "key", key);
+				// TR181-2.16 does not have option to configure encryption mode, so use the sae as default encryption
+				dmuci_set_value_by_section(s, "encryption", "sae");
 				dmuci_set_value_by_section(s, "type", "fronthaul");
 				dmuci_set_value_by_section(s, "band", (*pch == '2') ? "2" : pch);
 				dmuci_set_value_by_section(s, "enabled", "1");