Here are some results of the recent analysis.
In regards to the sync issue, it is probably the same as before over the years, with the hash rate fluctation. Just need to dedicate one or a few of the newer ASICS to SmartCoin and it can be mitigated.
There are two versions that are used, such that the nodes are about evenly split between 0.9.1 and 0.11.3. The later one does not accept block headers below nVersion=3, which caused the main smartchain.cc node to lag behind since the bulk of the hash rate has been mining using the previous version with block headers that do not meet the standard. It looks like neither Cryptopia, Yobit, or Miningfield had upgraded to 0.11.3, so it is important to maintain compatibility with the initial version.
I set up a block explorer for version 0.9.1 at
http://classic.smartchain.cc. It is currently syncing (slowly).
The network itself looks quite robust - there are 30+ connections to a wide range of different countries, and IP address info shows even places like the Rochester Institute of Technology running a node. (It's not a bad research project idea

)
Also, the hash rate has increased by about 2,000% compared to year ago, and the market cap has grown by about 3,000% during the same time.
Thanks for using SmartCoin, and for the feedback.
What are your plans? What are you going to do in a situation where your network is divided? I already lost more than 1000 coins because the old nodes outweighed the new nodes.