I'm having some frustrating issues with time sync and location services on our Windows 10/11 devices after implementing some Intune policies. We've set up location services and enabled auto time syncing to help frequent travelers, but here are the problems we've encountered:
1. New users are defaulting to Pacific Time, and the only fix we've found is to restart the device. While a restart works, it's not an ideal solution; we expected these settings to work properly out of the box. Attempts to manually change the timezone get overridden by the next automatic time sync, even though the correct location is being detected.
2. There was an occasion when Microsoft Maps failed to show the correct location, but after we manually set a default location, it started to display correctly, and then the clock synced. However, anything we did prior would still be overridden by the auto time sync.
3. We're currently facing an odd issue where Microsoft Maps thinks we're in Africa instead of the USA, and despite checking all relevant settings, including keyboard and language options and IP address resolutions, it keeps reverting back. We've rebooted, toggled location services on and off, and even cleared the location caches, yet the problem persists. We also inquired with Microsoft to ensure there wasn't any bad data related to BSSID addresses affecting this.
Does anyone have insights or documentation on how location detection works in Windows and how to resolve these inconsistencies? It might push us to disable auto time syncing, which is disappointing since this was a feature our users really wanted.
2 Answers
Intune does have some limitations, especially with auto time sync not allowing users to override timezone settings. One workaround I suggested was to educate users on how to manually set the timezone if needed until a more permanent solution is in place. That might alleviate some of the pressure while you troubleshoot the underlining issues.
I feel your pain! Time sync and timezone settings can be such a hassle with Intune. A light touch for administering time sync while giving users control on everything else is tricky. You might want to look into whether your group policies allow for location services to be more flexible. I have seen some setups where they just enforce time sync through policies, and users can manage other settings. Has that worked for you?
Yeah, it's frustrating how many hurdles there are for standard users. You’d think they should be able to change their timezone if the automatic settings go haywire. It's a headache for sure!
Thanks for the suggestion! I might have to go that route for now while I dig deeper into what's going wrong with the automatic settings.