What does this web page say about your location? http://whatismyipaddress.com/

If it is wrong, use Update your IP location at the bottom of the map.

See how that works for you.

Tried the page. It changed the location for my IP just fine, but my Mozilla searches still show my location as Green Bay, WI, about 4 hrs east of where I live.

xTeighernach said

... but my Mozilla searches still show my location as Green Bay, WI, about 4 hrs east of where I live.

Internet service providers (ISP) supply "location" information to "services" that sell that information to end users, like search engines and advertiser networks, but it's not pinpoint accurate. The further that you are from a major city (like Milwaukee or Madison ~248,000 people and ton of UW-Madison internet connections) the less pinpoint it becomes. My guess is that your internet service comes out of Green Bay (~104,000 people) and that's as close as your ISP is reporting for rural connections, especially if you are on cable broadband service.

I'm not sure what the Update your IP location button does exactly, correct it in that website's database alone or send that "update" to the "location service" that they use or spread it to all "location services".

It may take a few days for that corrected information to get propagated; only "time will tell".

But with dynamic IP addresses that are "leased" for 72 hour periods, if you don't use a computer for over 3 days from your modem, you might end up with a new / different IP address when you go back online. Few broadband services provide static IP addresses without charging extra for that "service"; usually only needed for companies that have field reps with devices that need to "phone home" or businesses that need a connection to corporate headquarters .

Bottom line is, your ISP might be able to help you, but I don't think that anyone at the lower levels of support will even have any idea of how the IP address system works as far as determining a users location based upon their IP address, and how to "fix" the location data that they are reporting to the "services" that pay them for that information.

BTW, Washington state near the Canadian border - I have had WA users getting a CA "location" reported - and that has happened a few times here. Cheaper for a US based ISP to connect those customers to the nearest CA ISP, rather than string cable over "hill and dale in the boonies" and maybe around federal land to provide service to a small number of customers. Universal service doesn't apply to internet connections. Communications Act of 1934 for telephone service and Telecommunications Act of 1996 which added "cable services".

Which search site gives you your results? For example Yahoo, Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo. Different search sites use different methods for determining your location, and have different features for changing your settings.

I use Google and I log on at least once a day. Been through the Google hoops with no success. Should I switch search engines? Would it help if I contacted my provider? It's ATT and I'm not hep on them, but do you think that might be worth a try? Madison, WI has a larger population and is closer than Green Bay, so this seems rather silly to me.

Google's explanation of how it determines your location and how you can modify it can be found in this article: https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/179386

When I click the precise location link, Firefox asks permission to share my location with Google. If I allow this, Firefox likely will share the names (SSIDs) of nearby wi-fi hotspots so that Google can compare those with its deep database of hotspot information. Is that what you've been using?

I don't know how precise location is stored after it is determined, but many settings are stored in cookies. If you expire or clear your Google cookies on a regular basis, that could explain why it keeps getting lost.

Are you using a WiFi connection from your computer to the internet modem?

jscher200 mentions WiFi "hotspots - are you using a wireless connection to a WiFi router? And if so how far is it from a public road that Google Street View mapping cars can traverse? And far are you located from that public road? Consumer WiFi devices have a typical range of 150' indoors to 300' outdoors; commercial devices or "booster devices" can provide greater range. Any further away and Google can't 'read' and 'map' the WiFi "name" and relate it to a physical location'.

Teighernach said

... Would it help if I contacted my provider? It's ATT and I'm not hep on them, but do you think that might be worth a try? Madison, WI has a larger population and is closer than Green Bay, so this seems rather silly to me.

Yes, it can seem silly based upon geographic relativity.

Where a person gets the final connection to the internet and where IP addresses are assigned depends more upon how the original telephone system was built out like 70 years ago, and how cable TV and/or cable internet services were built out in the 1970's, 80's, and 90's than geography and the proximity of the user to the "home office".