The public "xfinitywifi" network doesn't appear on some devices

Starting about January 2021, the wifi network "xfinitywifi" no longer is listed on my phone or my older laptop. It is still there on the iPhone and the Nexus tablet. This means I have to set up a hotspot on my desktop. Which is fine when it's on , but it is not always on.
What did Xfinity do to the equipment? Is there a fix?

I am thinking of buying a cable modem-router combination and leaving that on.
But I still would like to know, What did Xfinity do to their local equipment?