Alert Ready Test on November 27, 2019

[Alan_K]

Hey Community,

On November 27, 2019, provincial and territorial governments will be conducting another test of the Alert Ready system. Alert Ready is designed to deliver critical and potentially life-saving alerts to Canadians. Test alerts educate Canadians on what an emergency alert will look and sound like in the event of a life-threatening situation.

The test alert will be distributed on TV, Radio and wireless. However, not all Canadians will receive the test alert on their mobile device. This may occur for a variety of reasons; device compatibility, connection to an LTE network, cell tower coverage and device software and settings.

To learn more about the Alert Ready service, what devices are supported, and the test schedule for your province or territory, visit alertready.ca.

-Public Mobile Community Team

[computergeek541]

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@moegagner wrote:

I understand that turning off LTE and allowing the phone to roam on the 3g network dissables the phone form receiving the alerts. Am I right? Soooo, which network is the phone connected to? PM, Telus, Bell?? Is it on LTE or 3g.

Please elaborate because I find your response lacking in a few details.

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That's not what roaming is. Public Mobile customers have access to both an LTE and a 3g network.  The 3g network is used for all phone calls. If a customer disables the LTE network in the phone's settings, these alerts will not be received.

[jimbobs]

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@moegagner wrote:

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@jimbobs wrote:

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@moegagner wrote:

A little late to the party here.

I removed my PM sim card the day before the test and put it in my other phone. The phone with no sim card was connected to my home wifi network. The phone with the PM sim card received the 'Alert' at the proper time and to my surprise the 'no sim' phone also received the alert at the same time. 

Question...

Is a phone with no sim card and connected to a wifi network able to receive an Alert Ready Test?

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Obviously, the answer is YES!  And, I suspect, it had nothing to do with being connected to a wi-fi network.  If the phone is powered on, then it is connected to a mobile network.  That way, it can be used to make emergency calls and receive emergency alerts (even test ones).

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I understand that turning off LTE and allowing the phone to roam on the 3g network dissables the phone form receiving the alerts. Am I right? Soooo, which network is the phone connected to? PM, Telus, Bell?? Is it on LTE or 3g.

Please elaborate because I find your response lacking in a few details.

Thanks

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Depends on your settings. I'm guessing PM/Telus if you used the phone in the previous days. 

[totalUser]

Pm is on Telus network

Deepening where you are and what phone you use you may be on lte, to make calls and text you must be in 3g. If you have nice bars but can't make a call that means you are on lte and far from an older equipment. Public doesn't provide volte. You can force yourself phone y to only connect to 3g through your network settings

[moegagner]

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@jimbobs wrote:

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@moegagner wrote:

A little late to the party here.

I removed my PM sim card the day before the test and put it in my other phone. The phone with no sim card was connected to my home wifi network. The phone with the PM sim card received the 'Alert' at the proper time and to my surprise the 'no sim' phone also received the alert at the same time. 

Question...

Is a phone with no sim card and connected to a wifi network able to receive an Alert Ready Test?

---

Obviously, the answer is YES!  And, I suspect, it had nothing to do with being connected to a wi-fi network.  If the phone is powered on, then it is connected to a mobile network.  That way, it can be used to make emergency calls and receive emergency alerts (even test ones).

---

I understand that turning off LTE and allowing the phone to roam on the 3g network dissables the phone form receiving the alerts. Am I right? Soooo, which network is the phone connected to? PM, Telus, Bell?? Is it on LTE or 3g.

Please elaborate because I find your response lacking in a few details.

Thanks

[jimbobs]

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@moegagner wrote:

A little late to the party here.

I removed my PM sim card the day before the test and put it in my other phone. The phone with no sim card was connected to my home wifi network. The phone with the PM sim card received the 'Alert' at the proper time and to my surprise the 'no sim' phone also received the alert at the same time. 

Question...

Is a phone with no sim card and connected to a wifi network able to receive an Alert Ready Test?

---

Obviously, the answer is YES!  And, I suspect, it had nothing to do with being connected to a wi-fi network.  If the phone is powered on, then it is connected to a mobile network.  That way, it can be used to make emergency calls and receive emergency alerts (even test ones).

[darlicious]

@moegagner  I think you just answered your own question!

[moegagner]

A little late to the party here.

I removed my PM sim card the day before the test and put it in my other phone. The phone with no sim card was connected to my home wifi network. The phone with the PM sim card received the 'Alert' at the proper time and to my surprise the 'no sim' phone also received the alert at the same time. 

Question...

Is a phone with no sim card and connected to a wifi network able to receive an Alert Ready Test?

[ta_wood]

The test came through loud and clear!

[Korth]

Modded software successfully received and disallowed (blocked/ignored) the test alert on three devices.

CAT S61, Android 9.0, Public Mobile

Asus ZenFone 3 Deluxe, Android 9.0, Telus Mobility

RCA RLTP6066,, Android 6.0, Public Mobile

Successfully received and allowed the test alert on two devices.

CAT S61, Android 9.0, Bell Mobile

LG G5, Android 8.1, Public Mobile

Was supposed to allow the test alert on another device but had Data off and WiFi off, received nothing. 

Samsung Galaxy S8, Android 9.0, Telus Mobility

And my ancient LG Eclypse C800G with no SIM card (Emergency Calls Only) received no alert.

It's obvious that some consumers demand the option to kill these alerts. But I could find no CRTC/CCTS regulatory mandates or wireless code (in public domain) which requires SMS software to comply, so I don't know why consumer software typically excludes the option.

I certainly don't want any incoming Presidential Alerts (or "Prime Minister Alerts"?), lol, Trump and Trudeau do not have my permission to spam my phone. 

[jimbobs]

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@ShawnC13 wrote:

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@jimbobs wrote:

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@popping wrote:

I just received the test alerts.   

The one I got from Rogers with title "EMERGENCY ALERT".

The one I got from PM with title "Presidential alert".  We don't have a president in Canada.  It may be a alert from Telus President/CEO.  lol.

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My alert on PM was titled "EMERGENCY ALERT/ALERTE D'URGENCE'.

I got a vibrate notification but no Amber Alert sound. Message stayed on screen until I cleared it.

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Mine as well but my phone was on silent

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Strangely, my phone was not on silent.  I know that specifically because I had received two calls in the hours previous to the test - 1 spam call and 1 wrong number.

[sheytoon]

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@popping wrote:

I just received the test alerts.   

The one I got from Rogers with title "EMERGENCY ALERT".

The one I got from PM with title "Presidential alert".  We don't have a president in Canada.  It may be a alert from Telus President/CEO.  lol.

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Phones with Canadian operator firmware will display EMERGENCY ALERT / ALERTE D'URGENCE. US/international firmware may display other headers.

[Anonymous]

My Samsung got it but my Nokia Windows phone didn't.

[ShawnC13]

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@jimbobs wrote:

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@popping wrote:

I just received the test alerts.   

The one I got from Rogers with title "EMERGENCY ALERT".

The one I got from PM with title "Presidential alert".  We don't have a president in Canada.  It may be a alert from Telus President/CEO.  lol.

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My alert on PM was titled "EMERGENCY ALERT/ALERTE D'URGENCE'.

I got a vibrate notification but no Amber Alert sound. Message stayed on screen until I cleared it.

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Mine as well but my phone was on silent

[darlicious]

Alert test received and done.

[popping]

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@jimbobs wrote:

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@popping wrote:

I just received the test alerts.   

The one I got from Rogers with title "EMERGENCY ALERT".

The one I got from PM with title "Presidential alert".  We don't have a president in Canada.  It may be a alert from Telus President/CEO.  lol.

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My alert on PM was titled "EMERGENCY ALERT/ALERTE D'URGENCE'.

I got a vibrate notification but no Amber Alert sound. Message stayed on screen until I cleared it.

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It may be just my Chinese global version of Umidigi A5 Pro phone uses "Presidential alert".

[jimbobs]

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@popping wrote:

I just received the test alerts.   

The one I got from Rogers with title "EMERGENCY ALERT".

The one I got from PM with title "Presidential alert".  We don't have a president in Canada.  It may be a alert from Telus President/CEO.  lol.

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My alert on PM was titled "EMERGENCY ALERT/ALERTE D'URGENCE'.

I got a vibrate notification but no Amber Alert sound. Message stayed on screen until I cleared it.

[popping]

I just received the test alerts.   

The one I got from Rogers with title "EMERGENCY ALERT".

The one I got from PM with title "Presidential alert".  We don't have a president in Canada.  It may be a alert from Telus President/CEO.  lol.

[kav2001c]

@computergeek541 

It IS that easy

Only people who buy a cell phone from a Canadian carrier are out of luck

All USA phones have a disable button, as do many up here with custom firmware

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@computergeek541 wrote:

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@will13am wrote:

I just turned emergency notifications off on my phone.  So, I will get to test if that control works or not. 

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If it were that easy to disable, the dislike and complaints about the system probably wouldn't be as rampant.

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[totalUser]

I just got it:)

[Korth]

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@sheytoon wrote:
In Canada we don't allow users to block alerts.

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This assumes the client-side software (or embedded firmware) is fully compliant, of course.

I'm actually looking forward to this test.

[sheytoon]

@jimbobs CMAS in Canada and US use the same protocols. In Canada we don't allow users to block alerts. In the US, they have different tiers of alerts and the low tiers can be blocked.

More info on CMAS: https://www.sharetechnote.com/html/Handbook_LTE_CMAS.html

For anyone else who doesn't want to be disturbed, just set your phone to "Do Not Disturb" mode automatically overnight. CMAS will not override DND mode. It will still deliver the alert to your phone, but it will be silent.

[GinYVR]

@SparkydogYou can just turn off LTE on your phone.

[Sparkydog]

Where do I get one of those non LTE phones? Please please please save me from the "nanny-state"!

[Sparkydog]

Hmmm. I have a BC# and an Ont #. Both on public Mobile. Both Motorola.

But I was physically in BC for the Amber Alerts that (rightly) annoyed so many folks in Ont. I didn't get it on either phone #. Meanwhile friends with Bell Ont # were jolted out of their BC bed by the Amber Alert.

Blasting millions of phones with an unstoppable noise, whatever the reason, will NOT alter the course of events. If there's a fire or natural disaster, surely the locals will notice. If there's a terrorist attack, the violence has already happened. Etc. Etc.

I don't think that I've consented to this kind of intrusion and interruption of my life when I signed up for my phone so I want to be able to easily opt out

[Korth]

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@jimbobs wrote:

It will be interesting to hear if it works or not.  Based on what you have written, I don't believe it will as our Alert system is not based on SMS messaging.

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The app is named "Signal SMS" but it is not restricted to SMS only.

The full source includes functionality for "all" SMS and MMS modes, voice modes, and auxiliary/ancillary (legacy) radio modes.

I won't pretend to understand it all, it's not my industry and I'm not quite that curious/obsessive. But (most of) the source is documented well enough. It points to relevant datasheets, SMS specifications, GSM standards, 3GPP protocols, etc. And it is (mostly) written by people in the industry who do have expert understanding. 

So my modded version allows user option to block "channel 50" and "channel 60", to block generic "SMS-CB" and "SMSCB" packets (which are not true SMS in the strict technical sense, but that's still what they're called in much of the technical literature), and to block certain incoming 3GPP emergency protocols/flags on conditional basis.

(Also logging, blocking, and monitoring lots of other "hidden" SMS-related stuff, incoming SMS-M2M, outgoing SMS-A2P, etc, but that's not really relevant here.) 

Whatever works and whatever doesn't work will be logged during the event. I have to rely on real SMS-CB events for testing. 

[cellphoneuser1]

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@KkuraWiz wrote:

Thanks for letting us know. Will be interesting to see how the alert is.

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It'll be the same as usual. These aren't new these tests happen on a regular basis.

[KkuraWiz]

Thanks for letting us know. Will be interesting to see how the alert is.

[Kmn0507]

2:55 pm EST

[Louisa]

Thanks to let me know.

[Anonymous]

11:09am PT...another one?! Identical. Still not on my secondary account.