HT203384: iCloud: Troubleshooting the Find My iPhone app

Learn about iCloud: Troubleshooting the Find My iPhone app
dillyew

Q: Why does my Mac appear at the wrong location, yet my iPad appears at the correct addrtess?

I switched on Find my Mac and iPad just to check it worked and the Mac appears at the wrong address and with a totally different postcode, yet the iPad appears over the correct address? (They have the road name incorrect but that is the same on Google maps!)

PowerBook, Mac OS X (10.7.1), OS Lion 1.0.13

Posted on Mar 21, 2014 1:16 PM

Close

Q: Why does my Mac appear at the wrong location, yet my iPad appears at the correct addrtess?

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Mar 21, 2014 1:25 PM in response to dillyew
    Level 9 (53,926 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 21, 2014 1:25 PM in response to dillyew

    How are the two connecting to the Internet?  If one is connecting via a home internet service provider and the other via cellular (and potentially communicating with GPS in your device) then you could get different location information, particularly if the ISP trace is only leading as far as the actual corporate offices of the ISP and not to your home address. 

  • by dillyew,

    dillyew dillyew Mar 23, 2014 8:09 AM in response to Limnos
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 23, 2014 8:09 AM in response to Limnos

    Thanks for your response. They are both connecting via my VirginMedia broadband which is a cable connection. Strangely I know that the (wrong) address that my iMac is supposedly located, I have noticed that the person there has a handmade notice by the gate offering home visits to repair computers which made me suspicious.  My internet connection is passworded and wondered if somehow that person was able to access it and that caused the anomaly. 

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Mar 23, 2014 8:50 AM in response to dillyew
    Level 9 (50,397 points)
    Desktops
    Mar 23, 2014 8:50 AM in response to dillyew

    That's very unlikely, unless you gave your password to the occupier of that house.

  • by dillyew,

    dillyew dillyew Mar 23, 2014 9:10 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 23, 2014 9:10 AM in response to Csound1

    No, password never given to others at all. I am very careful about security, thanks. Just puzzled why the Mac should apparently be at one address and the iPad at another.  The first reply sounds logical but both systems are connected to the same broadband and I switch off roaming on the iPad when I am at home.

  • by Roger Wilmut1,Solvedanswer

    Roger Wilmut1 Roger Wilmut1 Mar 23, 2014 9:24 AM in response to dillyew
    Level 9 (78,198 points)
    iTunes
    Mar 23, 2014 9:24 AM in response to dillyew

    Your Mac can only be located using your and nearby WiFi networks and this is inevitably not very accurate. The iPad is presumably using GPS which is accurate to within a few feet.

  • by dillyew,

    dillyew dillyew Mar 23, 2014 9:44 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 23, 2014 9:44 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

    Thank you Roger.

  • by WilsonLaidlaw,

    WilsonLaidlaw WilsonLaidlaw Apr 18, 2015 7:04 AM in response to dillyew
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 18, 2015 7:04 AM in response to dillyew

    My Retina MBP, my Mac Mini and my iPad have a location that is not just a bit inaccurate but in the wrong country. I have now been at my French house for over a week and locations on all three of these have not updated from my UK address. This shows in Auto Time and Date location, Maps and Find my Mac/iPhone. My two iPhones (UK and France) have updated as expected. I have tried switching location in Time and Date to somewhere odd (Delhi), deleting the com.apple.maps.plist, all to no avail. I have done a reset on the iPad. All to no avail. All three think they are still in the UK. Any way to force a location update.

     

    Wilson