T-Mobile’s Data Network Leaves a Bit to be Desired
Andy Abramson is complaining about T-Mobile’s lousy message notification service. I’ve had a very similar experience. I got a call from one the mid-level executives at my employer once on my T-Mobile phone and I was at home. I have junk coverage at home on T-Mobile. Did not get the SMS notification for several hours. Considering this person needed me to call him back really quick, that delay was just ridiculous.
To top it off, if you’ve ever used T-Mobile’s GPRS network for anything outside of your mobile phone (e.g. tethering to a laptop), you’ll find their network pathetically slow with lots of latency to boot (try 2-3 seconds).
No wonder T-Mobile basically “gives away” access to their network (i.e. has really good plans and deals).
Of course, Cingular isn’t perfect either. There’s an area of Port Orchard that T-Mobile has excellent coverage in (and I even get good in-building coverage), but Cingular has almost no signal. If I go in a building, my phone won’t work. But I get my voicemail notifications more or less right away and their GPRS/EDGE network is actually peppy, at least compared to dialup. 
