VPN off causes Wi-Fi to disconnect on my iPhone 16e

For clarity, if you have a VPN App or profiles installed, or a security/AV/firewall App, these may be interfering with your network connection even if seemingly disabled. The resolution is usually simple; if installed, you may need to temporarily remove the Security/VPN App - and possibly force-restart your iPhone:

Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

Should you choose to do so, if the problem is resolved, you may then try reinstalling the VPN App.

That is a "feature" of your VPN. Remove your VPN and your problem will be solved. It is not needed and actually just adds another layer for your data to be leaked or breached.

• https://gist.github.com/joepie91/5a9909939e6ce7d09e29
• https://overengineer.dev/blog/2019/04/08/very-precarious-narrative/