D
DustyKohan
I having a major problem with my geolocation services. I noticed a ton of forums on here of people with SIMILAR but not quite the same issues, and most of them are from 2017 or earlier without a solution ever figured out, at least on a publicly viewable one. The basics: When I log onto my Wifi at home, after a period of time (sometimes minutes, sometimes days) my device starts reading my location at a very particular spot in Colorado Springs, CO. I live in Pennsylvania, maybe an hour east of Pittsburgh PA. I'd rather not mention my exact address for security reasons, but I'm on the other side of the country from Colorado. I've had Geek Squad look at this, several IT guys I know, and they are all stumped. It has been going on for several months now, and I've done literally dozens of hours of my own research with no resolution. I'm not a computer whiz by any measure, but here are the details of what I've discovered: I have a Lenovo Yoga 910. OS is Windows 10 version 1903, fully updated. Intel 7th gen processor. My network adaptor is Qualcomm Atheros. My ISP at home is Xfinity by Comcast. I also hotspot of my phone often. It is a Samsung Galaxy 10, Android, ATT&T service. So I log onto my Wifi, and like I said, at first all is fine, but over a varying period of time the clock moves to Mountain Time, Weather is wrong, Maps is wrong, News is wrong, Cortana is wrong. My location moves from PA to the exact same spot off Sunset Creek Apartments in Colorado Springs, CO. Microsoft apps are the first to go, but eventually Google Maps and things like that will also show the same. Sometimes after a while, it will correct itself for a time, and I'll be back where I should be, sometimes it sticks for days, sometimes it will "flicker" back and forth. I log onto my Wifi at work, location is fine, Wifi at parents house, all is fine, friends house Wifi, all is fine. Now here's where it gets weird. It almost acts like a virus (although it isn't and I'll explain how I know later). It will "infect" my phone so to speak. Before this occurs (and once it happens, it sticks) if I use my hotspot while I'm out and about it will either give me a reasonably good location, pending other Wifi signals around, or it will at least default to my Default Location. Once this "infection" takes place, I'll also be stuck in Colorado Springs over my hotspot. Yet, if I connect to a friend's hotspot on their phone, the location is fine, or at least defaulted correctly. Also, the location on my phone is correct if I open Google Maps, or a Samsung weather app or something. (I do realize my phone is using GPS and my computer is using IP addresses, just mentioning it) To save time with the basic, canned, troubleshooting stuff: I know ALL about Location Settings>Default Location. I've cleared every cache imaginable, cleared locations, both on the device and on my Microsoft account, clear Google caches of every kind including locations. Not only have I factory reset the modem, the computer, and the phone, but I've have Geek Squad completely remove the pre-installed Windows OS and pull a completely different copy off the self to install. They called it giving my computer a "lobotomy" haha. I also had Xfinity install an entirely NEW modem/router. All these resets have been done at least 7-8 while conducting various "experiments" and always the same result. Sooner or later (always within about 10 days) my computer puts me back on the other side of the country in the exact same spot. Sunset Creek Apartments, Colorado Springs. Not far from Pikes Peak Academy, there's a Trader Joes down the road, lol. Doesn't look like a bad place to live, but unfortunately over a thousand miles from my house. And even if it stops doing that on my home Wifi (for a brief period) if I'm 20 miles away on my hotspot it'll still take me to that spot in Colorado. This occurs even if I've been on a different Wifi with the correct location in between those two events. Like it's a "bug" that locks me there over my home Wifi and my phone hotspot, despite default location. I read that the large September Windows update was causing errors in network adaptors. I uninstalled all updates, and changed a registry key to prevent reinstallation of the updates (or in some cases, factory reset ALL mentioned devices and applied that registry hack BEFORE they even installed). No dice, back in Colorado after awhile. In command prompt, we've tried ip/config ip/renew, a bunch of stuff like that. Pretty much, if you search it on the internet, myself or a paid technician has tried it. Venturing into the more bizarre, while pouring through these forums and videos, I found THIS video:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pydSrUFs2Sk
. This is basically a video showing some features and stuff of Windows Maps, but the location you see on his screen is almost EXACTLY where this thing is putting me. He looks to be just a hair farther north. The particular location it locks me is just a little south of what is shown on his screen, just below the "Pulpits Rock" area. Now that can't be a coincidence, of all the places in the USA. Up until recently, this issue only appeared on the Lenovo device I described above, but again getting even weirder, it recently started doing in on my work computer was well. It is an HP, also with same specs of Windows 10, and all other symptomns are the same. The "bug" comes and goes on my Wifi and locks in over my phone hotspot, but just MY phone. Also, my work computer is totally different Microsoft account. Again, when I'm using this hotspot, I'm MILES from my Wifi. Also, I've shut off my modem at times once this "bug" takes hold, and in the vicinity of my home, just picking up my neighbor's Wifi it'll still throw me in Colorado. Like I said, acts almost like a virus, but these devices are WIPED, as if they were straight out of the box when this is occuring, my modem included. Sorry to write a novel in here, but I figured I'd save everyone the time of the "have you tried shutting it off and turning it back on?" type of responses. Yeah, we tried that, haha. It there a MASTER location default or something like that buried deep in Windows and for some reason it's going to that instead of the Default Location I set? It there an upgrade for the Wifi hardware? Surely TWO separate computers wouldn't BOTH need it? I understand the limitations of geolocation based on signal, and I don't need turn by turn directions over my tablet, but the right time zone is a fairly reasonable request. I use Cortana for a ton of stuff, so aside from basic internet surfing, it makes portions of my computer useless. I also recently tried a little third party app someone had mentioned in one of these forums called "FixMyLocation". No dice. If anyone has a clue what is going on I would be GREATLY GREATLY appreciated. I've getting desparate. I'm even mulling around just buying a new computer, but I re-thought that when it started happening on my work laptop. All signs point to a brand new computer just doing the same thing. I would look into a different internet company, but if I shut off my Wifi once the problem seats, it happens just off the faint signal of neighbor's. I can't make them change internet providers, plus why does it stick on my phone?. Very desparate. Any help is appreciated. Thank you.
Continue reading...
. This is basically a video showing some features and stuff of Windows Maps, but the location you see on his screen is almost EXACTLY where this thing is putting me. He looks to be just a hair farther north. The particular location it locks me is just a little south of what is shown on his screen, just below the "Pulpits Rock" area. Now that can't be a coincidence, of all the places in the USA. Up until recently, this issue only appeared on the Lenovo device I described above, but again getting even weirder, it recently started doing in on my work computer was well. It is an HP, also with same specs of Windows 10, and all other symptomns are the same. The "bug" comes and goes on my Wifi and locks in over my phone hotspot, but just MY phone. Also, my work computer is totally different Microsoft account. Again, when I'm using this hotspot, I'm MILES from my Wifi. Also, I've shut off my modem at times once this "bug" takes hold, and in the vicinity of my home, just picking up my neighbor's Wifi it'll still throw me in Colorado. Like I said, acts almost like a virus, but these devices are WIPED, as if they were straight out of the box when this is occuring, my modem included. Sorry to write a novel in here, but I figured I'd save everyone the time of the "have you tried shutting it off and turning it back on?" type of responses. Yeah, we tried that, haha. It there a MASTER location default or something like that buried deep in Windows and for some reason it's going to that instead of the Default Location I set? It there an upgrade for the Wifi hardware? Surely TWO separate computers wouldn't BOTH need it? I understand the limitations of geolocation based on signal, and I don't need turn by turn directions over my tablet, but the right time zone is a fairly reasonable request. I use Cortana for a ton of stuff, so aside from basic internet surfing, it makes portions of my computer useless. I also recently tried a little third party app someone had mentioned in one of these forums called "FixMyLocation". No dice. If anyone has a clue what is going on I would be GREATLY GREATLY appreciated. I've getting desparate. I'm even mulling around just buying a new computer, but I re-thought that when it started happening on my work laptop. All signs point to a brand new computer just doing the same thing. I would look into a different internet company, but if I shut off my Wifi once the problem seats, it happens just off the faint signal of neighbor's. I can't make them change internet providers, plus why does it stick on my phone?. Very desparate. Any help is appreciated. Thank you.
Continue reading...