Is Anyone Receiving EAS Weather / Amber Alerts While Connected to a Microcell?

That is an excellent question. Let me run this by the Admins and see what they have to say. I've disabled the alerts on my iPhone because here in Calif. we just don't have severe weather enough for me to warrant leaving them enabled so I'v never bothered to look into it.

I do have CMAS enabled on my iPhone 5 with the latest iOS and I live on the Oregon coast where we do have severe enough weather (hurricane force winds) in the winter months to warrant a CMAS alert occasionally.  I have never had an alert but I don't know if one has been broadcast in my area in the past because I am connected to the Mcell while at home.

I'm very curious to hear what the admins find out.  It very well could be that the CMAS alerts are being sent out on the affected area's cell towers only and not on the Mcell.  This could be something that hasn't been folded into a Mcell firmware push yet.  If this is the case, then it is a serious problem for people who are connected to a Mcell while at home.

There are apps that will notify a smartphone user of severe weather, Amber alerts and disasters if this is the case.  Some are free, some cost money and some require an annual fee.  One thing to keep in mind is if a given state's public safety agency isn't subscribed to a particular alert app, then the app won't work as intended.

What I can say at this point in time is that this has generated some discussion at AT&T. I would agree that if the current WAS is not enabled for the MicroCell that something should be done. AT&T, as other mobile carriers, do comply with the current federal regulations concering WAS and cellular notifications but I don't believe that the MicroCell falls under those regulations becuase it depends on the internet to make your cellular connections, not a tower. I'm staying on top of this.

We will get information from AT&T regarding this apparent problem.  Since WEAs are only broadcast from cell towers in the emergency zone, this may be a gap in coverage that either hasn't been recognized or modifications to the Mcell network to handle WEAs are still being worked out.  Since WEA has been around for a couple of years, I'd like to think a solution is in the works.  We will post what we find out here when we know an answer.

Thanks for staying on top of this.  I just want to remind everyone that the MicroCell requires GPS location for E911 service, so AT&T should be able to use the MicroCell's GPS location to determine if it is in the emergency zone similar to how they know if a MacroCell (tower) is in a warning zone and be able to send WEA alerts from it.  However, I have read that WEA alerts are more like RF transmissions and are not SMS and use a completely different infrastructure than SMS to avoid congestion and to gaurantee delivery unlike SMS.  For example, I sure would hate for someone not to get a WEA SMS alert because my teenage daughter is flooding the tower with SMS messages!    So it may be possible that the MicroCell does not have the necessary hardware to send the WEA alerts.

I'm still waiting to hear back from AT&T so that tells me that they are trying to get confirmation. My guess is that the MicroCell doesn't fall under the federal guidelines as I indicated because of its use of the internet to connect and not a local tower.

You are correct in that GPS data is used for E911 but there have been instances that the data for E911 is not always accurate, especially in rural areas. That's why I recommend that you never use 9-1-1 for cellular emergency calls. Quite often the 9-1-1 call is routed first to your local Highway Patrol or what ever and then on to your local 9-1-1 operator. The best way is to program the 9 or 10 digit phone number. That way the call goes directly to the local dispatcher much like a land-based call would. The downside of that is the number is area code dependent. For example, if I'm on the road in my area code and need an emergency call, I'll use the 10-digit number on speed dial. If I'm out of the area code, I'll use 9-1-1 on my cell phone. At home we have a landline so I just use 9-1-1 if I have an emergency.

All that I can post officially from AT&T is: "Wireless Emergency Alerts and  Commerical Mobile Alert System are not supported on MicroCell."  

I want to disable the presidential alerts. They are offensive.

@AndyShane - they're not from Trump. The use of the President is to get people to take notice of the message in case of a national or regional emergency.