Tracert or something better?

Would someone please explain to me what exactly I am looking at when I run a tracert command . ie I am seeing three "times" and am not too sure what I am looking at (I know this is dangerous for the misinformed - me). What I am trying to determine is the latency from several sites and to determine if I should readjust the "recv" buffer in the registry (The MS Holy Grail). My broadband ISP has run several tests from my computer and "says" that the problem must be within my computer (What else is new). I understand the general rule of thumb that download speeds could be 1/10th the bandwidth. Download speeds are a snail's pace (avg 4-6 KB/s) and on a 26 Meg download - forget it. Here is an example of a typical tracert I ran:

1 57 ms 11 ms 13 ms 66.31.80.1

2 11 ms 10 ms 10 ms BAR01-p1-3.MNCHHE1.NH.attbb.net [24.147.0.85]

3 11 ms 12 ms 12 ms 24.147.0.209

4 16 ms 15 ms 13 ms 12.125.39.213

5 12 ms 14 ms 13 ms gbr1-p70.cb1ma.ip.att.net [12.123.40.98]

And this goes on for 13 more routes, some of them are up in the 95 ms and greater range.

Here is another example:

15 89 ms 87 ms 94 ms bbr01-p5-0.sntc05.exodus.net [209.185.9.113]

16 93 ms 85 ms 86 ms bbr02-g6-1.sntc05.exodus.net [64.56.192.194]

17 95 ms 85 ms 84 ms bbr02-p1-3.sntc01.exodus.net [209.185.249.97]

18 87 ms 94 ms 86 ms dcr03-g5-1.sntc01.exodus.net [216.33.147.17]

19 117 ms 91 ms 85 ms csr01-ve240.sntc01.exodus.net [216.33.146.18]

20 96 ms 97 ms 106 ms ge2-1.geo12.sce.yahoo.com [216.34.142.154]

21 97 ms 96 ms 115 ms geocities.com [209.1.225.217]

What do the three different time columns mean and would the latency for this particular site be the total times for a particular column. A tech doc advises that I should increase my buffer from 8K to about 32K. Before I do this I need some real tech advice and does anyone know of a better program (preferably cheap, ie - free) that will do what I'm looking for?

This post is in reference to a similar post I made under "General Discussions" Thanks in advanced

Dewey...........
knowing just enough to be a little dangerous

 

I feel your frustration. My I offer you this link for fine tuning your
connection
http://www.dslreports.com/tweaks

This site will check your settings for you and then offer tweaks for it. I and several million other users have used it to tweak our settings and I can say it is very easy and effective.

Please give it a try, read it's reccomendations and FAQ's and you will be all set.

Then also have a forum where you can get help if needed.

Good luck and speedy surfing.

 

Thanks EZEBOB. I'll give that a try. Getting so that broadband is not all that they crack it up to be. Unfortunately DSL is not available here (4000 ft and a few $$$ too far) BTW - how do I find out the "advertised" spped that cable TV broadband advertise. Don't seem to see it in any of their web sites (other than x times faster than a phone modem).

 

Ezebob and Dewey:
That dslreports site has a wealth of knowledge/help.
I've been hanging out there for weeks now that Comcast Internet has come to our area.
Dewey, if by chance you are/will be on the new Comcast.net,
Rumor has it that download will be capped at 1500kbps and upload will be 128kbps for basic unlimited service.
Faster DL and UL will (supposidly) be available at higher cost.
Due to the demise (chapter-11) of the @home system, Comcast has had to speed up their transition to get all their customers switched over by February 28 when @home will pull the final switch.
There are MANY reports of trouble with the Comcast.net since the switchover in most areas though many report smooth transition.
Needless to say, Comcast has a huge job to do in record time and patience is the keyword until they can get the new system fine tuned.

Daddad

 

In response to your first question about the three times that you see when you run a traceroute, they are response times. This is how long it took for a packet to return to you from the site. Traceroute shows you each hop in a path and gives you the latency for each. Yes, you can add the numbers up and come up with a total latency, but keep in mind a few things.

- ICMP packets (ping, traceroute) have the lowest priority in backbone routing devices
- If I'm not mistaken, the default packet size for the ICMP packets is 64 bytes....not 64K, but a mere 64 bytes.

Click HERE for tweaking your broadband connection.....as well as a wealth of other info!!