Oh, right! You think ours may be only reporting the router against the first per hop, and the second and third could be different as well?

I can test using windows tonight if needed?

It might be useful, at a bad time, with a Linux one around the same time, to compare . It's hard to work out what is going on, and this could be a spurious effect confusing things.

Yes. I've seen such differences between Linux & Windows before; Linux, by default, sends 3 queries for each hop, and the hops can route in different directions sometimes - and you see a new hostname & latency value if it does (or IP address, if you set the right option).

The number (3 in this case) can be altered in Linux with a command-line option.

The Linux & Windows traceroutes also tend to differ in another important aspect: Under Linux, it uses UDP packets, while in Windows, it uses ICMP echo requests, the same as ping commands.

I just tried from a Linux server in London. It routes through a different backbone, so doesn't see multiple routes. It doesn't see ukmail.com either...

[root@mail Scripts]# traceroute -q 10 ukmail.com
traceroute to ukmail.com (80.193.64.202), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
 1  185.xxx.xxx.xxx (185.xxx.xxx.xxx)  0.875 ms  1.077 ms  1.309 ms  1.290 ms  1.498 ms  1.481 ms  1.720 ms  1.708 ms  1.901 ms  1.885 ms
 2  ae2-as0.rdg.as29550.net (91.186.17.90)  1.040 ms  1.291 ms  1.272 ms  1.253 ms  1.234 ms  1.215 ms  1.071 ms  0.933 ms  0.910 ms  0.893 ms
 3  xe-0-0-0-cr0.rdg.as29550.net (91.186.5.233)  0.341 ms  0.588 ms  0.575 ms  0.556 ms  0.535 ms  0.517 ms  0.497 ms  0.477 ms  0.403 ms  0.379 ms
 4  ae1-cr0.the.as29550.net (91.186.5.249)  1.410 ms  1.623 ms  1.510 ms  1.756 ms  1.745 ms  1.727 ms  1.708 ms  1.689 ms  1.670 ms  1.652 ms
 5  linx-gw1.router.ntli.net (195.66.224.22)  1.631 ms  1.612 ms  1.593 ms  1.575 ms  1.557 ms  1.702 ms  1.505 ms  1.672 ms  1.614 ms  1.555 ms
 6  nrth-bb-1b-ae7-0.network.virginmedia.net (62.253.174.17)  32.701 ms  32.933 ms  32.349 ms  32.322 ms  32.304 ms  32.284 ms  32.274 ms  32.242 ms  32.223 ms  32.203 ms
 7  nrth-bb-2a-ae2-0.network.virginmedia.net (62.254.42.129)  5.492 ms  5.659 ms  5.624 ms  5.433 ms  5.662 ms  5.430 ms  5.400 ms  5.829 ms  5.537 ms  5.753 ms
 8  brhm-bb-2a-ae4-0.network.virginmedia.net (62.254.42.45)  5.339 ms  5.322 ms  5.223 ms  5.170 ms  5.199 ms  5.447 ms  5.416 ms  5.396 ms  5.247 ms  5.187 ms
 9  manc-bb-2a-ae1-0.network.virginmedia.net (62.254.42.50)  7.076 ms  26.419 ms  46.695 ms  6.989 ms  7.012 ms  45.811 ms  43.883 ms  39.637 ms  15.196 ms  35.308 ms
10  manc-bb-1c-ae2-0.network.virginmedia.net (62.254.42.114)  7.594 ms  7.304 ms  7.771 ms  7.762 ms  7.480 ms  7.713 ms  7.446 ms  7.679 ms  7.407 ms  7.245 ms
11  perr-core-2a-ae0-0.network.virginmedia.net (62.255.149.66)  10.709 ms  9.913 ms  9.645 ms  9.846 ms  9.942 ms  9.904 ms  9.887 ms  9.610 ms  9.615 ms  9.649 ms
12  perr-pe-2-ge500.network.virginmedia.net (80.1.69.178)  7.689 ms  7.632 ms  7.625 ms  7.849 ms  7.835 ms  7.643 ms  7.848 ms  7.836 ms  7.599 ms  7.611 ms
13  82.36.14.2 (82.36.14.2)  10.073 ms  10.234 ms  10.149 ms  10.157 ms  10.146 ms  10.129 ms  10.102 ms  10.312 ms  10.533 ms  10.326 ms
14  * * * * * * * * * *
15  * * * * * * * * * *
16  * * * * * * * * * *
17  * * * * * * * * * *
18  * * * * * * * * * *
19  * * * * * * * * * *
20  * * * * * * * * * *
21  * * * * * * * * * *
22  * * * * * * * * * *
23  * * * * * * * * * *
24  * * * * * * * * * *
25  * * * * * * * * * *
26  * * * * * * * * * *
27  * * * * * * * * * *
28  * * * * * * * * * *
29  * * * * * * * * * *
30  * * * * * * * * * *

Nothing gets a response after 82.36.14.2.

Apologies for not getting a chance to post any trace routes. I ended up in engaging in a battle with BT which left me needing a break. Good news is I won the battle and hopefully the war... Paperwork pending!

Anyway just before bed I noticed something interesting. I have a three signal booster which as you probably know uses your internet connection to provide signal. If I use my phone and 3G through this the loading problems for think broadband and Facebook vanish (UK Mail also becomes accessible). Now correct me if I'm wrong but this leads me to believe talk talk have purchased adequate capacity from BT wholesale at an exchange issue (as I don't have speed issues and using 3G through the signal booster all is well). So does this mean that the problems lie inside the talk talk network? I would talk to the post office about this but they're only a bit more educated than BT so I don't hold out much hope.

Any thoughts?

I don't know anything about how those signal boosters work (are routed) on the internet side, sorry.

Re capacity at the exchange, that isn't what I've been on about. It's at the other end of the system - corresponding to the old 20CN BT Centrals, if you remember those.

Have a look at this page. Read through the first bit to get the feel for it, but concentrate on the IPSC paragraph as that is what your service will be. Probably with take-off at a single node.

My gut feel is still it is that node, or hop 2 which is the first TalkTalk one after it.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

I don't know anything about how those signal boosters work (are routed) on the internet side, sorry.

With a 3 home signal unit in the data path, the browser on the mobile gets connected to Three's 3G network, and exits onto the internet through one of Three's proxy servers.

It is a low-power 3G transceiver, where the backhaul into Three's network is effectively a VPN over your own internet connection.

In reply to a post by brandscill:

If I use my phone and 3G through this the loading problems for think broadband and Facebook vanish (UK Mail also becomes accessible). Now correct me if I'm wrong but this leads me to believe talk talk have purchased adequate capacity from BT wholesale at an exchange issue (as I don't have speed issues and using 3G through the signal booster all is well). So does this mean that the problems lie inside the talk talk network?

The fact that you get zippy data on the mobile implies that the data throughput on the VPN (from the Home Signal unit back to Three) is working just fine, and it shows that the connection from the Three proxy out to ukmail is working fine too.

If the VPN runs fine, then the underlying throughput of data from mobile to TalkTalk (via the FTTC link to exchange, and exchange into TalkTalk), and then from TalkTalk to Three, must be working just fine.

However, the problem you experience on the PC shows there is a problem in the path from you to TalkTalk, and then from TalkTalk out to that particular destination.

The central part of those two connections (from router, via modem, to exchange, then on to TalkTalk) are identical - and one test shows it is working fine.

Therefore your culprit is highly likely to be either be the PC itself, or the way your PC talks to the router (WiFi?), or in the link between TalkTalk and ukmail.