Emergency alert test Wednesday
There’s a Canada-wide test of emergency alert systems planned Wednesday afternoon. Quebec’s phones will go off at 1:55 p.m. but you only get the message if you’re on LTE rather than wi-fi.
Update: Other people in this workplace had their phones go off, alarming them. I was able to explain quickly. Mine, although on LTE, and with the ringer on, was silent. (Provider is Fido.)
Max 12:12 on 2019-11-27 Permalink
If you’re out and about you get the alert, but if you’re chilling at home or the cafe you don’t?
Isn’t that a rather glaring shortcoming of the system?
Blork 12:21 on 2019-11-27 Permalink
This is speculation, but I suspect that means you won’t get it if you don’t have a phone signal or if you’re using a non-cellular device such as an iPad that’s wifi only. After all, even when you’re on wifi with your phone, you’re still connected to the cellular network, so in theory stuff from that network should come through.
The above is speculation based on a certain amount of logic. However, that doesn’t guarantee it’s correct. It might be such that if you have your phone set to not receive “data” when you have wifi connected (so as not to use data from your data plan) that this signal does not come through. And yes, that would be a shortcoming, and even though it makes no sense it might still be the case.
Blork 12:24 on 2019-11-27 Permalink
Update: from the CTV article, quoting the public security minister:
“…not all cellphone users will receive it: only those with cellphones that are capable of receiving text messages and which are connected to an LTE network at the time the emergency message is sent will receive it.”
So that implies my speculation is correct and that the only phone users who won’t receive it are people with really old phones that can’t even receive text messages or people who are out of service range.
jeather 15:00 on 2019-11-27 Permalink
Even knowing it was coming it was very startling. Oddly no one else in my office got it.
Blork 15:08 on 2019-11-27 Permalink
I got it and most people around me did too, but at least one did not.
Kevin 15:42 on 2019-11-27 Permalink
I’ve never received one of these alerts on my phone.
My speculation is that it’s because my carrier doesn’t know what kind of phone I use.
John B 16:07 on 2019-11-27 Permalink
I didn’t get it either, also on Fido, and like Kevin my carrier doesn’t know what phone I use, so maybe that’s why?
I’d like to get them, though. If an asteroid is hurtling toward the earth I’d like to know. There’s a link to a list of compatible phones on the alerte.gouv.qc.ca website, but it only gives an AccessDenied message that looks like it’s from AWS… https://www.enalerte.ca/mobilite/
CE 17:29 on 2019-11-27 Permalink
Didn’t get it either and I had my phone in my back pocket all afternoon as I needed it for the job I was doing. I didn’t get my phone from the carrier so that seems to be why.
Kevin 17:38 on 2019-11-27 Permalink
@John B
Sadly, nobody will ever know if something is hurtling toward the earth. We look at too little of the sky – – and what we do look at is now subject to light pollution from tens of thousands of Elon Musk’s satellites.
paul 14:05 on 2019-11-28 Permalink
Anyone else find it funny that the message was bilingual…
…for many I am sure the test emergency message created another emergency!