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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. 

 

*Added Labels*

 

30 REPLIES 30

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

turtleinacanoe
I plan to stick around

RE-57,

 

Interesting.

 

My SIM, which I bought from Rogers in 2017 for use in my iPhone 6s, has no Rogers identification on it, just a bunch of numbers which according to the Rogers SIM LTE identification webpage indicate a non-LTE SIM.

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

And the saga continues…

 

Yesterday, I paid a second visit to my local Rogers store and talked to the same rep as the first time. He's very knowledgeable but this problem has him stumped. He admits he's grasping at straws on this but his only suggestion after trying a number of things, was for me to change to a new PAYGO plan in the hope that the new plan will have an LTE flag turned on. Back in 2002 when I signed on to PAYGO, LTE didn't exist so maybe Rogers system isn't smart enough to make an LTE connection with a plan of this vintage. Maybe.

 

Anyway, he did a network reset on my phone but still no LTE connection. He then set me up with a new SIM card (at no charge!) and installed it but my phone still wouldn't connect to LTE. He took this new SIM out of my phone, put it into a store phone, and it connected to LTE! In spite of this, he doesn't believe the phone is the problem because the iPhone 6s is definitely LTE compatible.

Regardless, I will be contacting Apple for their perspective on this.

Stay tuned.

 

 

 

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

Spoke with Apple support today.

Did a factory reset but still no connection with LTE.

Sent analytic diagnostics from phone to Apple engineering who will get back to me on Tuesday.

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

The diagnostics sent to Apple engineering didn't show anything wrong with the phone. Apple support admitted this was a long shot but they suggested I visit my local Apple store to get the phone's antenna checked. My visit to the store didn't prove fruitful because the store's tech service department apparently doesn't do that in the Winnipeg store.

 

Nevertheless, I'm convinced the problem lies with Rogers because my phone did connect to LTE with a Bell MTS sim I borrowed from a friend as well connecting to LTE with a non-PAYGO sim installed by a support tech when I visited my local Rogers store. There's something fishy about my PAYGO plan.

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).

 

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

@turtleinacanoe  I'm happy for you that you got what you wanted and felt entitled to. But it's still curious why it didn't work before you "upgraded" to the $10/month plan. I presume you originally started  with the only plan there was in 2000, same as what I have, now called Talk Anytime.  My phone was a Nokia 5125, a birthday present I believe, but at the time I wasn't interested in cell phones. I loaned it to my son who was looking for a job at the time and it ended up lost or stolen. When Rogers went to GSM they gave me a new Nokia 2610 with which I ended up using the $100/year talk anytime plan where I can roll over any unused balance towards another year. I doubt if it costs me more than $5 a month due to how I use it. (I have it grandfathered and it'd no longer offered.)

 

Anyway, as I said earlier the LG-E410B I have now is 3G, Android version 4.1.2, so not compatible with the Amber Alert system, but it's only turned on when I'm away from the house, so it's irrelevant. 

 

You say the Amber Alerts  work now you're on the $10/month Talk and Text plan. What plan were you on originally? The same Talk Anytime plan as me and @57 ? Is your phone on all the time? I would think anyone on PayGo wouldn't have their phone on 24/7 to keep their air time from getting used up by telemarketers.

 

One reason I'm curious is if at some point I upgrade to a newer, smarter phone, Am I likely to get Amber Alerts since I'll still be on my grandfathered Talk Anytime plan.

 


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 old PAYGO plan dates back to 2002. I don’t remember what it was called but voice calls were 40¢ per minute anytime and texts were 30¢ each. There might have been a number of “free” texts included but, again, I don’t remember. 

 

I have three phones that were on the old PAYGO plan. All have been switched over to the new $10 Talk and Text.  Since 2011, two of the phones have had the 250 Text Add-On option.

 

We keep our phones on all day but turn them off for overnight. The total number of telemarketing calls and such that have been received by all three phones since 2002 has been insignificant (touch wood!). 

 

Outdated or conflicting information on Rogers webpages concerning LTE connection as well as getting conflicting information from the various levels of Rogers telephone and store support made this journey to a solution very frustrating.

 

It would be nice if Rogers indicated on their website the date when PAYGO plans connected to LTE. That would have saved me tons of time and frustration.

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

57
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

@OLDYELLR wrote:

1. I would think anyone on PayGo wouldn't have their phone on 24/7 to keep their air time from getting used up by telemarketers.

 

2. One reason I'm curious is if at some point I upgrade to a newer, smarter phone, Am I likely to get Amber Alerts since I'll still be on my grandfathered Talk Anytime plan.


1. My phone is "on", but in standby almost all the time sitting in a dish in the kitchen. Standby requires that I charge the phone every 4 days or so, but that's OK by me.  The ringer is turned off and vibrate is turned on.  In standby, I can see the incoming call display and answer it if I wish, but that rarely happens since I use the phone so little - I usually ignore incoming calls.  As with you, I only turn the phone completely "on" when i have the phone with me when I go out and even then I sometimes leave it in standby.  Telemarketers don't use up any of my air time because I have voicemail turned off and don't answer the phone unless I have it with me and I recognize the incoming caller as someone I wish to talk to.

 

2. I have no idea why @turtleinacanoe didn't get the alerts (LTE) until he switched plans.  I get them on my grandfathered Anytime plan. Perhaps because he's in Manitoba and they do things differently there...

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

OLDYELLR
I'm a senior advisor

@57 wrote:

1. My phone is "on", but in standby almost all the time sitting in a dish in the kitchen. Standby requires that I charge the phone every 4 days or so, but that's OK by me.  The ringer is turned off and vibrate is turned on.  In standby, I can see the incoming call display and answer it if I wish, but that rarely happens since I use the phone so little - I usually ignore incoming calls.  As with you, I only turn the phone completely "on" when i have the phone with me when I go out and even then I sometimes leave it in standby.  Telemarketers don't use up any of my air time because I have voicemail turned off and don't answer the phone unless I have it with me and I recognize the incoming caller as someone I wish to talk to.

 


Thanks for the explanation of your "standby". Mine does not have that feature, but I presume if I upgrade to a new phone, it will.


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

I believe that most newer phones go into "standby" automatically after a certain period of inactivity. I can set my "auto-lock" to 0.5, 1, 2. 3, 4, 5 minutes or "never".  I have mine set to 5 minutes, but I often hit the power button to put it in standby earlier if I've just used it for something.

 

My old flip phone used to hold a charge for about a week in "standby".  I now have that flip-phone, without a SIM, sitting in my car and "off" in case I need to call 911, which is all it will do.  It'll still have 80% charge after 2 months "off" in the car.  Sorry for going a bit OT.

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