Vodafone broadband connection keeps dropping, and then won't recognise password.

Start with basic WiFi troubleshooting - as detailed here:

If your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch won’t connect to a Wi-Fi network - Apple Support

Recommended settings for Wi-Fi routers and access points - Apple Support

Consider that your Router, to which you are attempting to connect, may be configured to require support for security features that are not supported by older versions of iOS. If you have an older iPad and your router is configured for WPA3 or WPA3/WPA2 mixed authentication, you will need to change this to WPA2 PSK(AES). Newer models of iPad support WPA3.

Some Mesh WiFi Routers are known to be troublesome in some circumstances.

If your WiFi has been set-up according to Apple’s recommended settings, WiFi and Internet connection difficulties are usually an indication that your device does not have a routable IP Address - your IP Address usually being assigned by DHCP. When this occurs, your iPad may only have a self-assigned link-local IP address that begins 169.254.x.x.

You can verify your DHCP-assigned IP Address from settings:

Settings > WiFi > [Your WiFi Network / SSID] - tap the blue “i” icon - [IPv4 Address] IP Address

Clearly, this only needs to be verified when the fault is evident.

If you have a VPN App or profiles installed, or a security App such as Norton, these may be interfering with DHCP - and preventing your device from obtaining a valid IP Address for the WiFi network/hotspot to which you are attempting to connect. The resolution is usually simple; if installed, you may only need to temporarily disable or remove the Security App and/or VPN.

Your IP Address (192.168.1.70) is a private IP Address. Unless you have deliberately/manually configured your iPad to use a fixed IP Address, your iPad is being assigned its IP Address via DHCP (as perhaps should be expected).

The Norton VPN may have difficulties with DHCP - and may, if set for a persistent connection, interfere with DHCP (this most likely being due to bad coding).

Be aware that using a VPN via a commercial provider (such as Norton) has limited privacy benefit - in that the only real benefit is protecting network traffic over the “least trust” element of the network path - namely the WiFi network.

When using a “public” WiFi network, Information Security Professionals would advocate using a reputable VPN provider (e.g., Norton) as the public WiFi network is untrusted; your in-clear (i.e., unencrypted) network traffic (such as DNS queries) can be intercepted/monitored/manipulated.

Using VPN with your “domestic” WiFi, assuming that you are using WPA2/WPA3 encryption for your WiFi, the VPN offers little tangible privacy benefit. Your domestic WiFi network is trusted; the VPN client adds unnecessary complication, may experience issues - and can cause loss of functionality (e.g., AirPrint and AirPlay may not work)

When at home, turn-off VPN. Some VPN client Apps can be configured to ignore trusted networks - and will then only become active when connecting with undefined (and therefore untrusted) WiFi networks.

Postscript

Don’t use WPS to connect devices to your WiFi network unless it is totally unavoidable. While active WPS leaves your WiFi network vulnerable to unauthorised access, by threat actors, that are within range of your network.

Assuming that your iPad is running iPadOS16 or later, you can easily find your WiFi Passwords from iPad settings:

Settings > WiFi

At top-right of the WiFi settings page, tap the Edit button to expose a list of all the WiFi networks that your devices have stored in your Keychain. Tap the associated blue “i” icon to see the WiFi connection properties; tap the Password field to reveal the WiFi network Password.

Additional information can be found here:

Find your saved Wi-Fi passwords on iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

For iOS/iPadOS15 or earlier, you cannot see/retreive stored WiFi Passwords - unless you have manually stored them elsewhere.

Removing the WiFi network from your iPad will effectively remove the associated WiFi password from your keychain:

Settings > WiFi > [Your WiFi Network / SSID] > Forget This Network

When you next join the network, you will again be prompted for the WiFi Password.