I have tried using llRequestSimulatorData(<sim name>,DATA_SIM_STATUS) to obtain data about a neighboring region. The data server returns the information quickly (< 1 second) BUT the data is very stale. Polling at 2 seconds, and watching the status for a region being rebooted, 'up' is returned whilst the rebooting region is in the 2 minute warning, still 'up' when it vanishes, shortly after the region re-appears I get rebooting, down, rebooting... many times, then up again. It looks like there is a 30 second to 2 minute lag in the information, which make it less than useful.
Has anyone else noticed this, or found a work around, or a better way to quickly tell if the neighboring region is about to vanish?