Did not get emergency test

[Lewlew]

I posted under Digital Life comments, but no one else has commented.

My device is fine, been texting right along... it's a Samsung J5 from 2016-8 era but works great.  I did not get the signal. Husband on Voda got his and I sent him a text across the room, so my signal is fine.  

Anyone else not get it?

[japitts]

When you say "signal is fine", do you have 4G/5G coverage? Cell broadcast doesn't work over 2G or 3G networks.

[Lewlew]

Yep... 4G here in Bristol and my phone is LTE, I know I will get a new phone in another year, just have other expenses right now.

[Graham_A · Accepted solution]

@Lewlew As far as I understand these wireless alerts don't use the same system as text messages so the fact that you can receive and send texts isn't particularly relevant.

If you go to Settings> App & notifications> > advanced > wireless emergency alerts what are the settings you have currently?

[jhuk]

I got it but AFAIR it was 1min early and I have read many if not all on 3 (Three) did not get it.

[Graham_A]

I received it four times including one in Welsh.  I see from the BBC News that there was a mistake in the translation but as I don't speak or read Welsh I didn't spot the error.

[Lewlew]

Graham_A  Thanks for the advice!  I do not have wireless emergency alerts as a feature. I checked my husband's new A13 Samsung bought this year and he has that in his notification settings.  My phone no longer gets Android updates. They stopped in 2020, so perhaps that is why. Mine last upgrade was to version 8.5.  The TV announcement said you only needed a smart phone, not that it had to have updated software to a certain level or date.  🤔

[davsato]

i didnt get it, im with virgin. my wife got it at 0655 this morning, shes with tesco, both on the O2 network i think?

[davsato]

oh, ive just looked in my phones settings and all emergency notifications were turned off. that explains me but not my wife getting it at 0655 16hrs late

[ALF28]

The alert which only worked on 4g/5g smart phones  which means anyone still using 2g or 3g like myself can not receive the emergency alert call.

It would be better if the UK Govrnment also sent a SMS text  message alert to all types mobile phones including dumb mobiles, so any mobile phone  such as 2g/3g would at least get an emergency alert message by text.

In a real emergency, this means only 4g/5g smartphones will be alerted, but I suppose a real alert, rather than a test, would be on TV/Radio or online news or sirens would be sounding in cities.

This means unless you upgrade to a 4g/5g smartphone,  you will not get any important emergency alerts or instructions for local or national emergencies?

Note- I do get an emergency alert from Powergrid regarding power cuts  regularly by SMS text, so it is possible to use SMS text messaging for emergency alerts on the 2g/3g mobile phone mast network.

I have looked into the issue, but have not found any alerts that you can register for SMS messages from Government regarding warnings/alerts.