Begone Damned Hostspot!

Please riddle me this...
As you might know, Xfinity’s wifi gateways also broadcast an open hotspot for any nearby Xfinity customers. I see them all the time on my phone, on the list of available wifi networks. I never use them. My phone ignores them.

My wife’s iPhone though seems to love the Xfinity hotspots. It will often jump on one of those instead of the wifi network it’s supposed to get on (i.e. networks she’s previously logged into) even though she’s never ever connected to any Xfinity hotspot. Ever.

This has even happened at home, where her phone has jumped onto some neighbor’s nearby Xfinity hotspot instead of our home network (we’re on xfinity, but use our own modem and router.)

My iPhone (6s) has never done this. Ever. I’m baffled as to why her iPhone (second-gen SE) acts like this. Any ideas?

Do you have Xfinity as a mobile provider? If not I’m stumped too.

Check your WiFi settings. In macOS, there's a checkbox [x] Ask to join Personal Hotspots. If checked, your device has to ask you before joining a new hotspot. Compare the WiFi settings between the two phones, see what options differ.

Connect to Xfinity network. Then, in Settings, click "info" and "Ignore this network".

I had this with a free public wifi hotspot service all around the city that I'd connected to once, for testing purposes, a decade ago.

Hi everyone! I encountered a similar issue with my iPhone automatically connecting to Xfinity hotspots. What worked for me was going to Settings > Wi-Fi, tapping the 'i' icon next to the Xfinity network, and selecting 'Forget This Network.' This stopped my iPhone from automatically connecting to these hotspots. Hope this helps!