WiFi, Reseting, and Settings issues on iPhone 6s Plus (no wifi bars)

This started as a small issue but is getting bigger all the time as I try different solutions that seem to work for everyone but me.

iPhone 6s Plus on iOs 14.7..1 (just updated, so that's not part of the solution).

I connect to WiFi (my home network, which works perfectly for 3 other Apple devices, and streams video/Zoom on multiple devices at the same time) and the phone shows it it is connected, but there is no "WiFi bars" at the top showing the signal strength. Using Safari is slow, but sometimes loads a page if I give it something like 2-5 minutes. VERY SLOW. Sometimes it times out and shows a "failed to load" page.

Apps often say "please connect to internet", "Cannot connect", or other messages indicating I am not connected. Some apps will work (mostly those that use very little or no data).

I have Cellular settings set to off for everything, because I don't have a data plan, only minutes and text via Tracfone Wireless (because it's only about $100/year and I usually have WiFi almost everywhere.)

I searched the internet, including here where many people have had this problem and solved it with a reset, reboot, or other solution. Solutions I have tried (without success):

Toggle WiFi on and off. Reboot Router (even though it works fine for all other devices). Tried on other WiFi networks, like at work where I verified multiple other devices work fine. Switched from LTE to 3G. Turned Cellular Data On and Off and messed with Cellular Data settings. Restarting/rebooting. Updating software. Hard reboot (with home and sleep buttons). "Reset Network Settings" under Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings , and also "Reset ALL settings" in the same area. I created a Backup and then selected the option to Restore iPhone in iTunes. "Erase all Content and Settings" (under Settings>General>Reset).

Still having the same issue. Is there anything else I can try? Has anyone else had this issue?

Additional details: The only two things I can think of I've done differently last week was I flew a drone which utilizes an app on my iPhone, and I logged onto a (public) WiFi at a local Starbucks. I always use a VPN, which is set to "Always On".

When I "reset network settings", I had to re-enter the password for the wifi network. When I did that, the "WiFi Bars" I'm trying to get showed up for one second, then disappeared again. So it was showing it was connected, then it went away and was replaced by "LTE"

Please Help.