Geolocation Doesn't Work on LAN (desktop)

Where (which apps) do you need the geolocation?

System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Location Services >

that sets the enable/disable setting, as well as a list of apps the are allowed access to it (checkmark), if enabled.

Even if e.g. Safari is allowed to access to Location Services, there are still settings in Safari to limit that to only certain websites (domains). Safari Preferences > Websites > General > Location > {website} Ask/Deny/Allow

Location Services uses detectable Wi-Fi networks to make a better prediction on the location. It works best if your desktop has activated Wi-Fi, even if it is connected with wired ethernet.

Without macOS Location Services, the only other clue is your IP address. Several organizations try to map IPs to coordinates, with varying degrees of success, and web-services can do a look-up there. It could be 2 miles off, or 80 miles off.

Your ISP address lookup will get you into the right part of the country, based on information from your ISP, but not necessarily stable, consistent, or town-accurate information. My location based on that is usually 20 miles away, sometimes 25 miles in a different direction.

Mac 'Location Services' uses your Wi-Fi Router's "well-known" location to provide your geographical location. That is, the location verified by more than one other device and stored in Apple's database of known locations for Routers.

My story: I have three Routers, but we live in the woods, and do not have iPhones or any other GPS devices. For many months, our location was essentially "unknown".

Then we had a party, and invited our iPhone-carrying friends over for a few hours. Now all of our Routers are know, and their Lat and *** locations are slightly different from each other.

Applications on your Mac can potentially use MANY different methods of determining your location.

As you have observed, some work pretty good, others show you in Ottawa (i have no idea if Ottawa is anywhere near you).

Only one of these is particularly reliable -- "Location Services". If you do not have a reliable Wi-Fi connection to your Router, Location Services is dead to you.

Here is another article about Location Services, which you are NOT using if you only have an Ethernet connection to your Router. (NB> this does not have to be a Good Wi-Fi connection,and it does not have to be the TopMost connection -- the one that carries your traffic bound for the Internet).

http://www.idownloadblog.com/2016/01/30/mac-location-services/

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I have a Mac Pro connected into my Network using gigabit Ethernet. If I turn Wi-Fi OFF, nothing knows here I am worth a d@mn. If I turn Wi-Fi ON, Everything knows exactly where I am. Wi-Fi is second on the list, so Wi-Fi is not being used for actual data transport.

NOT using VPN are you?

If yes, that could be the location of the other end of the tunnel.

Google Chrome has its own Location Services equivalent, so that is why it doesn’t have to ask permission from the OS, why it doesn’t get listed in System Preferences. Not sure how they do it.

Google Chrome has an advanced Preference to allow (Ask) location services. Settings > Advanced > Privacy and security > Content settings > Location > Ask before accessing. Sites that you allow, will be added to the list of allowed sites mentioned there (with an option to remove from that list).

To see it in action, go to google.com/maps. The default view is probably IP based. Click the My Location icon at bottom right. You should see the request for access to LS in the upper left corner [Block] or [Allow]. After allowing, the icon will be pulsating for a few seconds, and put the blue marker of your best-guessed location on the map, or show the error that it failed to do so. In my situation, with Wi-Fi off, it was reasonable improvement over the default view, but with Wi-Fi on, it was spot on (a few yards).

Apple does not allow its Location services to be used AT ALL unless you opt IN

System preferences > Security& Privacy > Privacy ...

... and choose "Location Services" off the list in the left pane.

[√] Enable location Services.

Then allow some Applications and/or System Services to use it. Otherwise your it will not tell you anything, it will let you stay in Ottawa.

The whole LAN … 3 Macs.

Something happened outside of the usual culprits.

If you can temporarily hook up a non-Mac computer/notebook to the network, then that could perhaps rule out anything macOS related, if the same applies to that other computer? Then it has to be ISP-related or Access Point (whatever connects your LAN to the internet)-related, wouldn’t it?

I have given you my observations and some background. You are the scientist, and you are interested in learning more. Runs some experiments and share what you find out.

In particular, i would like to know if your MacBook connected with Wi-Fi is actually better than you have said (provided you have opted IN to allowing access to "Location Services" on that computer).

It has always struck me as odd that talking through the same Router to the Internet, whose [Router] location is known, I get no Location Services info over Ethernet, plenty over Wi-Fi.

I would also like to know if you opt In to location services on that no-WiFi computer, whether anything improves at all.