Help Sprint sms delay

[carmendiva]

This happens across all carriers.

SMS is sent through the control channel. This is responsible for making your phone ring, location/signal strength, etc. When the network gets congested, SMS have the lowest priority and therefore get delayed. Hence the delay in the SMS.

This can and does happen on the receiving and sending end of the messages in question. So if your sending multiple messages, and some people receive them right away, and others don't, the people that experience the delay are usually the ones being delayed(their specific network/tower is congested, causing the delay), and the sender is fine(no delay). Making SMS, Phone calls, etc work is a very complicated process, and they need to work flawlessly in tandem for anything to be even close to real-time, and, during congestion, Phone calls take top priority, followed by data. SMS is pretty much dead last on the list. So they will be and are the first to receive any kind of delay/degrading of service, and the last to regain top notch service.

This is exactly why text messaging should never be used for real time communication. I believe there should be a push towards data based text messaging(like gTalk) for more reliability, speed, and convenience(no pesky 160 char limit).

Also, when cross sending from GSM/CDMA carriers back and forth, there is an additional delay, although mostly minimal, because it needs to go through a gateway that acts as a "translator" of sorts, since the SMS technologies between the two are generally completely incompatible.

thanks iowa
i see you are VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE about these things lol

 

[shinedown87]

Finally someone was able to explain why this keeps happening. Thank you! This may be a very good reason to start texting through google voice.

This happens across all carriers.

SMS is sent through the control channel. This is responsible for making your phone ring, location/signal strength, etc. When the network gets congested, SMS have the lowest priority and therefore get delayed. Hence the delay in the SMS.

This can and does happen on the receiving and sending end of the messages in question. So if your sending multiple messages, and some people receive them right away, and others don't, the people that experience the delay are usually the ones being delayed(their specific network/tower is congested, causing the delay), and the sender is fine(no delay). Making SMS, Phone calls, etc work is a very complicated process, and they need to work flawlessly in tandem for anything to be even close to real-time, and, during congestion, Phone calls take top priority, followed by data. SMS is pretty much dead last on the list. So they will be and are the first to receive any kind of delay/degrading of service, and the last to regain top notch service.

This is exactly why text messaging should never be used for real time communication. I believe there should be a push towards data based text messaging(like gTalk) for more reliability, speed, and convenience(no pesky 160 char limit).

Also, when cross sending from GSM/CDMA carriers back and forth, there is an additional delay, although mostly minimal, because it needs to go through a gateway that acts as a "translator" of sorts, since the SMS technologies between the two are generally completely incompatible.

 

[Firehawk]

Same problem here.....wife will text me or I her and sometimes texts come in hours later. Most are instant but every now and then there is a delay, sometimes just s few minutes....sometimes hours.

 

[CoachEVO]

OK...at the risk of a beatdown...Google Talk is awesome. I know, I know, not everyone has it (although it is available for Blackberry and IOS). It is instant, lets you know when someone is "available", and allows for multiple people chats. Just a thought or a workaround, if nothing else.