topic Re: Not receiving amber alerts in Get Support

Not receiving amber alerts

Edison53 — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 11:40:23 GMT

Hi. My daughter is wondering why she is not receiving alerts? I thought everyone got these?

Re: Not receiving amber alerts

denis2 — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 17:30:01 GMT

e ans my wife did not receive it and we are from different providers

Re: Not receiving amber alerts

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 17:34:42 GMT

@Edison53 wrote:
Hi. My daughter is wondering why she is not receiving alerts? I thought everyone got these?

As I mentioned in the other thread about this tragic event...not everyone is where you are. I didn't get it either but it would be quite irrelevant to me and my geographic region as I am way out west.

Re: Not receiving amber alerts

mh1983 — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 17:35:54 GMT

Which phone are you on? They need to be on 4G/LTE, I believe, and I don't think non-Android BlackBerries are supported.

Re: Not receiving amber alerts

denis2 — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 17:36:46 GMT

A lot of people here in Ottawa/Gatineau received it

Re: Not receiving amber alerts

Psygineer — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 18:06:55 GMT

I got the ending signal, but the alert itself. I was not anywhere near the region it was issued for. I don't believe they should use the Claxon when it ends, or at least use a less harsh tone especially in the middle of the night like it was for this one.

Re: Not receiving amber alerts

Edison53 — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 17:38:58 GMT

She is on IPhone 7 on 3G data plan. Her friends (also in Ottawa) received it. She didn’t

Re: Not receiving amber alerts

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 17:50:03 GMT

@mh1983 wrote:
Which phone are you on? They need to be on 4G/LTE, I believe, and I don't think non-Android BlackBerries are supported.

I got the bomb alert in Hawaii last year on my BB OS10 on a US SIM.

Re: Not receiving amber alerts

denis2 — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 17:52:35 GMT

I turned the LTE off, is that why I am not receiving Amber Alerts and if so GOOD cause I think they are intrusive and loud

Re: Not receiving amber alerts

Roxana_L — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 18:00:32 GMT

Hi,

@Edison53, That's a Great question, let us help you with that.

Will all wireless devices receive emergency alerts?

No, In order for emergency alerts to be received on wireless devices three conditions must be met: the wireless device must be an LTE device like a smartphone, It must be WPA-compatible, and it must be able to access LTE cellular network at the time of the emergency alert is issued

Why are some devices non-compatible?

The CRTC has mandated that the 50% of devices available for sale must be WPA compatible as of April 2018 and 100% of devices available for sale must be WPA compatible by 2019. Some devices sold prior to those dates may not be compatible.
Device manufacturers provide the software updates that contain the WPA feature. As more devices become compatible the list of compatible devices will be updated on alertready.ca.
Alerting authorities also communicate these emergency alerts via other media (i.e.: radio, tv, social media, etc.) where customers with incompatible devices can receive those alerts. See alertready.ca for details.

You can get more details about it on Alert Ready

I really hope you find this information useful. I wish you a great day ahead!

Roxana
Public Mobile Community Specialist

Re: Not receiving amber alerts

Psygineer — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 18:08:16 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@mh1983 wrote:
Which phone are you on? They need to be on 4G/LTE, I believe, and I don't think non-Android BlackBerries are supported.
I got the bomb alert in Hawaii last year on my BB OS10 on a US SIM.

That might have been a nation wide issued one though. Amber Alerts are usually regional now. Last year when there was one issued for Thunder Bay, people in southern Ontario took to reddit and other forums to complain that it interupted their meetings and such and were quite put out by it. I can honestly say I wish they would not have pushed the alert end claxon message to my region (especially after not issuing the alert to my region) mostly due to selfish reasons and for concern for the effectiveness of the future alerts. For the selfish one: There was nothing I could do about it (due to it being over already) and due to being in a ton of pain from my non-elective day surgery, finally able to sleep, then startled awake.
For the serious concern one: The only reason why I mention that is because someone at work put out an email saying she can help people block those signals due to so many employees today either calling in that they can't make it because they are too tired due to be woken up by it or complaining about it at work today. If they had not pushed the end claxon in the middle of the night, those people that are having it blocked would likely have left it on and then when there is a new one issued, they would be informed of it and be able to potentially do something. Seems to be defeating the purpose of the system.

Re: Not receiving amber alerts

Edison53 — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 18:04:22 GMT

She is on an iPhone 7, so that’s a pretty recent product and I am sure meets the requirements. And it can receive 4G.

she has chosen a 3G data plan. Is *that* why she is not getting alerts?

Re: Not receiving amber alerts

stonechucker — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 18:07:59 GMT

@denis2, just so you know, by doing that, if there's ever a tornado warning issued, you will not be notified of that, as you've disabled the LTE ability of your phone.

I received the message this morning, AFTER turning off my forced 3G connection.

Re: Not receiving amber alerts

Psygineer — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 18:09:11 GMT

@Edison53 wrote:
She is on an iPhone 7, so that’s a pretty recent product and I am sure meets the requirements. And it can receive 4G.

she has chosen a 3G data plan. Is *that* why she is not getting alerts?

I'm on a 3G data plan (my data is disabled) and I still got it at somewhere around 1am.

Re: Not receiving amber alerts

Psygineer — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 18:11:48 GMT

@stonechucker wrote:
@denis2, just so you know, by doing that, if there's ever a tornado warning issued, you will not be notified of that, as you've disabled the LTE ability of your phone.

I received the message this morning, AFTER turning off my forced 3G connection.

For phones like the S8, you can selectively disable only certain alerts. Environmental can be left on while Test and Ambers can be turned off. I honestly don't think Samsung should make it that easy as it encourages people to turn it off. Even though I wish I would have had it turned off last night (as all I got was the ending message not the actual alert), I have left it on because I do get that it is an important communication tool for lost children..

Re: Not receiving amber alerts

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 18:12:34 GMT

@Roxana_L, @CS_Agent

That was a terrific post. Would you be able to elaborate on geographic choices used, if any?

Re: Not receiving amber alerts

will13am — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 18:17:45 GMT

@Roxana_L wrote:
Hi,

@Edison53, That's a Great question, let us help you with that.

Will all wireless devices receive emergency alerts?
No, In order for emergency alerts to be received on wireless devices three conditions must be met: the wireless device must be an LTE device like a smartphone, It must be WPA-compatible, and it must be able to access LTE cellular network at the time of the emergency alert is issued

Why are some devices non-compatible?
The CRTC has mandated that the 50% of devices available for sale must be WPA compatible as of April 2018 and 100% of devices available for sale must be WPA compatible by 2019. Some devices sold prior to those dates may not be compatible.
Device manufacturers provide the software updates that contain the WPA feature. As more devices become compatible the list of compatible devices will be updated on alertready.ca.
Alerting authorities also communicate these emergency alerts via other media (i.e.: radio, tv, social media, etc.) where customers with incompatible devices can receive those alerts. See alertready.ca for details.
You can get more details about it on Alert Ready

I really hope you find this information useful. I wish you a great day ahead!

Roxana
Public Mobile Community Specialist

Thanks for the clarification! Going off topic a bit, is Public Mobile Community Specialist the new title for moderator team member?

Re: Not receiving amber alerts

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 18:18:48 GMT

@Psygineer wrote:

That might have been a nation wide issued one though.

I would be about certain that it was state of Hawaii only. The head of the guy who triggered it rolled (not literally 🙂 ).

Re: Not receiving amber alerts

Roxana_L — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 18:31:19 GMT

Hi @will13am

Good Observation!

We are the same Public Mobile Moderator Team

Kind Regards!

Re: Not receiving amber alerts

sheytoon — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 18:34:53 GMT

@Psygineer, I think Canadian operators override the user selections for choosing WPAS messages. As far as I know, in Canada, all WPAS messages will be sent to all eligible LTE devices. No way to opt out.