Hi Ana, is this a case number for Mozilla Support, or a different site?

Hi jscher2000,

Thanks for answering.

This case is from Mozilla Support. If you can give me any more help on this I would appreciate it. The case describes a question: whenever I do a search in the browser (Firefox) the zip code for my location is never correct, even after updating it. Should I be worried about this (this only happens in Firefox)?

Best regards,

Ana

Hi Ana, here is my understanding:

When you visit Google, it will first guess your location based on your IP address. Your IP address is assigned by your Internet service provider, or if you are at the office, your company's service provider, or if you are somewhere else, their service provider. The latitude/longitude coordinates associated with an IP address often are based on the location of an office or IT facility in your town or a nearby town rather than your own address.

You also can give Google permission to ask Firefox for your precise location. In that case, Firefox sends Google's location service a list of Wi-Fi hotspots provided by Windows, and the location service will calculate your lat/lon based on data from Street View or Android devices. If you are in a busy area, this usually is quite accurate, but if you live far from the road, it can be wildly incorrect.

You mentioned updating the zip code for your location -- which I think means you told Google your zip code so it doesn't need to use either of the above methods of guessing your location. If you are providing that to Google, it should be retained either in your account settings or in a cookie. Is it not being retained?

Hello jscher2000,

Thank you for the explanation.

From what I checked in Firefox, permission for Google to perform localization is active. But only in Firefox I have this problem (if you use the Google browser, the location/zip code is correct). What seemed even stranger to me is that today, not only was the zip code wrong but also the country (today I was in "Dublin City, Dublin" Ireland - this is strange to say the least). I renew the information, this only happened to me in Firefox. Is there somewhere else where this situation can be checked/investigated? I appreciate any suggestions.

Best regards,

Ana

Hello,

Here is some more information about this problem:

Can anyone explain to me why a Firefox user in Portugal has her geolocation (Google browser) in Ireland? And why is the geolocation in Portugal never in the correct postal code? It is necessary to refresh the page so that the geolocation is in the correct country. Even in Portugal, and with the page refresh, the geolocation is not exact (it can be a few blocks away or it can be kilometers away).

Thank you.

You can use websites like these to check how your location is reported via a reverse DNS lookup of your IP:

• https://www.iplocation.net/
• https://whatismyipaddress.com/
• https://ipleak.net/

More:

• https://www.google.com/search?sa=N&num=100&q=ip geolocation

You can check the connection settings and check for possible issues with a Proxy or VPN service.

• Settings -> General -> Network: Connection -> Settings

If you do not need to use a Proxy to connect to internet, select "No Proxy" if "Use the system proxy settings" or one of the others do not work properly.

See also:

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/connection-settings-firefox
• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/websites-dont-load-troubleshoot-and-fix-errors

It doesn't seem to me that the problem goes through the internet IP but rather through the browser itself (Firefox) since this problem doesn't happen in the browser (Google). The "Use system proxy settings" option only doesn't work in FireFox. Apart from the geolocation issue, Firefox works normally (loads websites, etc.).