You know if the people held the damn telecoms to the same standard as phone makers we'd be in a much better place. Telecoms are getting away with MURDER while charging an arm and a leg for it.
We've been conditioned to just accept it from them and pojnt fingers at everyone else.... I love T-Mo don't get me wrong. I wont leave them for anyone else because their customer service is second to NONE but I do have issue with their crappy backhaul.
Sitting 50 yards from a newer HSDPA 3G tower and I max at .6-.7 down. That is pretty bad. In real world test I get like .3-.5 in Cincinnati which isn't exactly a huge city but not even close to a small one either... I've been running the Antenna's app and have been mapping out the towers I connect to daily and its SAD. I connect to TONS of tower throughout the day but only come in contact with a handful of 3G ones. I'll post the google earth compatible file if no one believes me.
They have minimal 3G capable towers serving up data for an ENTIRE city of millions (including close suburbs).
Like I said it isnt all carrier. It isnt all Google and it isn't all HTC, but when you add it all together weaknesses in one shows greatly in the overall experience and personally in my experience my telecom is the weakest link and I have the exported maps to show for it.