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Alert Ready Emergency Alert System Test not working on Pay As You Go

turtleinacanoe
I plan to stick around

Has anyone out there received the Alert Ready Test signal on their Pay As You Go phone? I've never received an alert during the annual test of the system despite the fact my phone appears to meet all compatibility requirements as outlined on the Alert Ready and Rogers websites. I don't see any reference to Pay As You Go phones being excluded.

I'm baffled because my phone did receive a wireless emergency alert from local authorities on my last visit to Hawaii. 

 

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Re: Alert Ready Emergency Alert System Test not working on Pay As You Go

Finally at solution!

Today, I switched to the current $10 Talk and Text PAYGO plan and got an LTE connection.

Why it wasn't simply a matter of turning on a switch in my old PAYGO plan to get LTE is a mystery to me (and apparently to everyone at Rogers with whom I talked).

 

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30 REPLIES 30

Re: Alert Ready Emergency Alert System Test not working on Pay As You Go

Lurker
I'm a senior advisor
Where in the country are you?

Ontario and Quebec opted out of this year's test at this time because of the current flooding States of Emergency in this provinces.

Re: Alert Ready Emergency Alert System Test not working on Pay As You Go

turtleinacanoe
I plan to stick around

Manitoba.

Re: Alert Ready Emergency Alert System Test not working on Pay As You Go

@turtleinacanoe : I have an iPhone 5S on a PAYGo plan and do get the alerts.  I have received all of the alerts in Ontario (tests and real alerts).  I didn't get one yesterday since I'm in Ontario.  Ontario and Quebec opted out yesterday.  Here's the Alert Ready link where you should be able to find all the information - you stated you've already checked all this and the Rogers site, but you may wish to revisit all the requirements...

 

https://www.alertready.ca/

 

See the link at the top of the website:  

 


There are a few possibilities why you didn't get it in Manitoba. 

 

- If your phone meets all the requirements, perhaps you were close to Ontario and your signal was from one of their towers? 

- Perhaps the tower you were near didn't have the technology required. 

- Make sure your phone doesn't have LTE turned off... 

- Make sure your phone has a good signal - was your phone receiving a good signal at the time of the test yesterday? 

- What is the make/model phone?

- Have you loaded the latest firmware onto the phone?

I'm not a phone expert - perhaps someone has some other ideas.  

Re: Alert Ready Emergency Alert System Test not working on Pay As You Go

OLDYELLR
I'm a senior advisor

My phone is a 3G, Android version 4.1.2 which apparently isn't compatible with Amber Alert system. Besides, I only turn  and take it with me when I leave the house, which is maybe 2 or 3 times a week.


Rogers PayGo. Location: S-W Ontario

Re: Alert Ready Emergency Alert System Test not working on Pay As You Go

turtleinacanoe
I plan to stick around

My phone is an iPhone 6s purchased in the USA in 2017. 

 

I’ve double-checked and triple-checked compatibility with Rogers and the Alert Ready websites as well as ensuring the proper phone settings are correctly enabled and the iOS is current.

 

Before purchasing the phone in the USA, I researched to ensure it would work in Canada. My research indicated that the iPhone 6s sold in Canada and the USA were identical but apparently that is not the case when it comes to emergency alert notifications.

 

Contacting Apple support this morning, I was told the iPhones sold in the USA are not compatible with the Canadian emergency alert system. This is not mentioned anywhere in iPhone 6s documentation.

 

Bummer!

Re: Alert Ready Emergency Alert System Test not working on Pay As You Go


@turtleinacanoe wrote:

My phone is an iPhone 6s purchased in the USA in 2017. 


IIRC in the US you can opt out of the Emergency Alerts via phone settings. In Canada you cannot opt out.  Perhaps it's due to the way the alerts in the two countries are handled.  I would have thought this is firmware driven, but perhaps there are hardware differences...

Re: Alert Ready Emergency Alert System Test not working on Pay As You Go

turtleinacanoe
I plan to stick around

I can’t find confirmation of this anywhere on the Rogers website but according to Rogers technical support, with whom I spoke this morning, PAYGo plans are 3G.

 

Since the Alert Ready Emergency alerts are sent over 4G this apparently explains why I wasn’t getting the alerts.

 

But…apparently user 57 DOES receive the alerts on a PAYGo plan. 

 

Not sure who to believe anymore.

Re: Alert Ready Emergency Alert System Test not working on Pay As You Go

I have the following comments regarding LTE and PAYGo.

 

1. It may be that LTE Voice is not available with PayGo.  Not sure on that.  Here's an old thread discussing LTE.  There are several other very old threads discussing LTE PAYGo if you search this forum for those terms.

 

https://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Pay-as-You-Go/Getting-LTE-on-prepaid/m-p/287341#M560

 

2. I don't use Data on my iPhone 5S, however, when I check the various data settings LTE is showing in my phone.

 

3. I'm on the same Grandfathered "Anytime" plan that I've been on since 2009.  I doubt that makes any difference.

 

4. The Alerts would not be coming over voice though, so it's not a matter of if you have LTE Voice, but I believe rather if you have a compatible device and you're connected to an LTE tower.  As I stated earlier, I'm not a phone expert.

 

https://www.rogers.com/consumer/wireless/network-coverage

 

Scroll down to the map, or view the following:

 

https://www.comparecellular.com/rogers-coverage-maps/

 

 

 

 

Re: Alert Ready Emergency Alert System Test not working on Pay As You Go

OLDYELLR
I'm a senior advisor

Apparently there was an Alert around 5 am this morning, according to family members. I didn't hear it because my cellphone wasn't on and isn't compatible anyway, and  I wasn't watching TV or listening to the radio at that time. Is there an archive of these alerts somewhere?


Rogers PayGo. Location: S-W Ontario

Re: Alert Ready Emergency Alert System Test not working on Pay As You Go

57
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

There was an Amber Alert at around 5AM this morning.  I checked our iPhone 5S (which is always turned off (in standby)) and the alert was there (in both languages) with the alert issued at 4:58 AM.

The notification on my iPhone 5S "go away" after a couple of views and I need to remember to do a screenshot if I want to revisit it.  So, it definitely works on PAYGo.

 

I see that the alert was over at 8AM.   Here's more detail in another part of the forum:

 

https://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/TV/How-Do-I-Turn-Off-Emergency-Alerts-On-Navigatr/td-p/348789/...

Re: Alert Ready Emergency Alert System Test not working on Pay As You Go

Pauly
Resident Expert
Resident Expert
there sure is, simply turn to CP24 when you wake up and they will discuss the prior amber alerts

Re: Alert Ready Emergency Alert System Test not working on Pay As You Go

turtleinacanoe
I plan to stick around

Thanks for all your help RE57!

 

I’m amazed at all the conflicting information I’ve received from Apple, Rogers and my Internet research in general regarding my problem.

 

I visited a local Rogers store this afternoon to get yet another take on my situation. Both of the staff members there confirmed that PAYGo phones SHOULD connect to Rogers’ LTE network. A staff member switched my phone’s SIM with a store SIM to verify there was nothing wrong with the phone. With the store SIM, my phone connected to LTE.  All other settings checked out OK. Putting my SIM back in the phone, it would only connect to 3G. My SIM is less than 2 years old so it’s above suspicion.

 

Since everything else seems in order, the only suspicion the staff member had was with the age of my PAYGo plan. My plan is also “grandfathered” (from at least 2000). He suspects there may be something in the Rogers system that is preventing my PAYGo phone from looking for LTE.

 

The results of today’s visit to the Rogers store were saved to my account by the store so I will be contacting Rogers tech support once again to get their reaction.

Re: Alert Ready Emergency Alert System Test not working on Pay As You Go

 

@turtleinacanoe : A few comments/questions.

 

1. Your experience at the Rogers store is interesting. Thanks for experimenting and providing your feedback.

 

2. My SIM is from a flip phone I purchased in 2009, yet I receive the alerts.  My SIM needed to be trimmed to fit my iPhone 5S when I got it last year.  You could consider spending $10 for a new SIM - but it may not make any difference since it may be the plan that affects LTE Voice as you state?

 

3. Please provide us with your rough location (town or city) in Manitoba.

 

4. The fact that LTE comes up for Voice with the store's SIM, still may not have any impact on the alerts for you with your SIM/plan. I believe that alerts are handled differently from voice and even though PAYGo may be limited to 3G for voice, it doesn't impact the alerts, which are by phone (and cell tower), not by plan.  The alerts website would have indicated if PAYGo plans are impacted and I could find no such statement.  After all, that would impact a huge number of people.

 

Re: Alert Ready Emergency Alert System Test not working on Pay As You Go

turtleinacanoe
I plan to stick around

1. Interesting to say the least. I'm not happy hearing conflicting feedback from different Rogers reps. 

2. The Rogers store staff member said the SIM card is just fine. He didn't think a new SIM would change things.

3. Winnipeg

4. Agreed. 

 

We'll see what Rogers Tech Support says when I call tomorrow.

Re: Alert Ready Emergency Alert System Test not working on Pay As You Go

From the Alert Ready Website:

 

https://www.alertready.ca/

 

Wireless alerts are sent on a specific cellular channel that is separate from normal text and data traffic. While the alerts may look like text messages, they are not text messages and are not billed like text messages.

 

Also, emergency alerts are sent to wireless devices in a specific geographic area and do not require the phone numbers of those devices. As such there is no ability to identify or bill for the messages that are received.


Since it's not sent by phone number, there would be no way for the alert system to "know" if you're on PAYGo or not...  I rechecked and there is no mention of PAYGo, Prepaid that I could find.

 

You may wish to utilize the Contact-us form?

 

https://www.alertready.ca/#contact

 

 

Re: Alert Ready Emergency Alert System Test not working on Pay As You Go

turtleinacanoe
I plan to stick around

Thanks for "alerting" me to the Contact-us form on the Alert Ready website.

I've completed the form and sent it.

Re: Alert Ready Emergency Alert System Test not working on Pay As You Go

turtleinacanoe
I plan to stick around

Well, my initial question as now morphed into the more important question “Why am I not getting 4G LTE on my PAYGo phone?”.

 

This is the key problem. When this is solved the emergency alerts should get through.

 

To update…I talked to Rogers telephone tech support today asking them to have another look at the issue. Their response was my PAYGo plan (circa 2002) does not have an “LTE provision” on it (most likely because LTE didn’t exist in 2002.). Tech support never mentioned this LTE provision the first time. Anyway, the suggestion was made that I talk to the prepaid people to see if my PAYGo plan could be switched to a PAYGo plan WITH this LTE provision. After a frustrating thirty minutes with a prepaid rep who never did understand the issue I was driving at, I politely bowed out of the conversation and will be going to my local Rogers store again to ask if they know anything about an LTE provision.

 

Meanwhile, further digging into the Rogers website, has uncovered a potential problem with the SIM card. Although the local Rogers store rep said the SIM card most likely wasn’t the issue, now I’m not so sure after reading about LTE capable SIM cards (I didn’t know there was such a thing). These two links refer to an LTE SIM card: 

 

1. “When outside of LTE coverage area or if activated on a non-LTE SIM card, your LTE device will seamlessly connect to the Rogers 4G HSPA+ network.“  from this link:

 

https://www.rogers.com/customer/support/article/where-is-rogers-lte-network-available

 

Reference to a non-LTE SIM card must mean there is a LTE SIM card.

 

2. “To use your unlocked device, you need to buy a Rogers SIM card from a Rogers store near you. To access the LTE network, you'll need a 4G LTE SIM card, LTE-ready device and LTE coverage.” from this link:

 

https://www.rogers.com/customer/support/article/will-my-unlocked-mobile-device-work-with-the-rogers-...

 

BTW, my phone is an unlocked iPhone 6s purchased from Apple USA.

 

My mission now is to return to my local Rogers store to 

1. Confirm the existence of the mysterious “LTE provision” and get it on my PAYGo plan.

2. Failing that, spend $10 for a LTE SIM card, cross my fingers, and hope it connects me to LTE.

 

RE57, is your SIM card LTE? This link will tell you: https://www.rogers.com/customer/support/article/how-can-i-tell-whether-a-sim-card-is-lte-ready

Re: Alert Ready Emergency Alert System Test not working on Pay As You Go

So here is my understanding of why this may be happening. Now just a full disclosure, I DID work in the cellular industry years ago, but not currently, so I am not a shill or anything like that I am simply using my existing knowledge and what I have learned in my past to try to answer questions.

Here is what I know so far. Back when LTE first came out, phones only used the LTE bands for "Data" so if you browsed the net, checked email, etc, your phone would communicate over the LTE network. but for other things like making phone calls, the LTE network was not capable of that at the time so calls would travel over the 3G network. so normally when your phone is camping it would prefer to camp on the 3G network.

Now with advances in technology, the LTE network allowed voice calls to be made over it, however this can only be achieved if your phone supports VoLTE (Pronounced Voltee) so your phone will use the LTE network for not just data any more but voice calls and text messages would transmit over it too including emergency alerts, emergency alerts only work if your phone is camping on the 4g (LTE) network, not the 3g network. Now not all LTE phones have volte capability on them, and the ones that do, usually have a toggle on them for the Volte to turn it on or off. I could be wrong but its possible your LTE phone does not support Volte, and if it did, maybe its switched off or not provisioned on your profile some how or what not, now one thing i can not tell you how to fix it since this involves me knowing the insides and out of their network which im not privy to so I can not tell you how to fix it, but perhaps if you had your sim in a volte compatible phone it might work? who knows? im sure their Network continuous improvement performance group who regularly conducts these tests can shed some light on this for you.

Re: Alert Ready Emergency Alert System Test not working on Pay As You Go


@turtleinacanoe wrote: RE57, is your SIM card LTE? 

I believe I mentioned earlier that my SIM card is from 2009 before there was LTE. It was in my Samsung Flip phone from 2009 until 2018 at which time it was trimmed at a Rogers store and put into my iPhone.  I took it out of my iPhone 5S and looked at it. It shows only Rogers and the 1-877 number - no LTE or code.

Re: Alert Ready Emergency Alert System Test not working on Pay As You Go

turtleinacanoe
I plan to stick around

RE-Pauly,

 

My iPhone 6s supports VoLTE.

 

LTE Voice & Data has always been enabled on the phone, as well.

 

I have received emergency alerts on this phone in the past while on vacation in the U.S. although I realize the U.S. system might be different from Canada's. 

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