need help with weird Internet issue

[Mouse]

I have been experiencing very strange internet connection issues for last 2 weeks. I could use some help from knowledgeable people here.

I can connect to the Internet, but if I go to certain sites - such as Craigslist, Pinterest, or even Zerohedge, I can only get to the main page or maybe one click deep. For instance, on Craigslist I can get the main page, my town page, and click onto, say Auto Parts. If I click any add it just sits and times out. Same thing with other sites - Pinterest and Zerohedge being the other main comparisons. This is happening consistently at my home connection on three different laptops.

On my work laptop I can tunnel VPN and if I stay in the tunnel I can get through to everything like normal, but if I turn off the tunnel, I get the above results, so I am pretty sure this isn't a malware/virus issue.

Here is a traceroute I just did to zerohedge:

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.
C:\Documents and Settings\>tracert www.zerohedge.com (http://www.zerohedge.com)
Tracing route to www.zerohedge.com (http://www.zerohedge.com) [178.209.48.14]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 3 ms 3 ms 3 ms 192.168.0.1
2 68 ms 65 ms 61 ms 164.sub-66-174-53.myvzw.com [66.174.53.164]
3 186 ms 204 ms 204 ms h-75-116-237-36.ip.alltel.net [75.116.237.36]
4 222 ms 201 ms 207 ms h-75-116-236-250.ip.alltel.net [75.116.236.250]
5 137 ms 156 ms 115 ms h-75-116-238-98.ip.alltel.net [75.116.238.98]
6 133 ms 121 ms 186 ms 209.97.111.131
7 185 ms 201 ms 204 ms so-6-1-1.edge5.Dallas1.Level3.net [4.71.218.5]
8 226 ms 206 ms 202 ms vlan60.csw1.Dallas1.Level3.net [4.69.145.62]
9 223 ms 204 ms 146 ms ae-63-63.ebr3.Dallas1.Level3.net [4.69.151.134]
10 141 ms 174 ms 204 ms ae-7-7.ebr3.Atlanta2.Level3.net [4.69.134.22]
11 234 ms 204 ms 204 ms ae-2-2.ebr1.Washington1.Level3.net [4.69.132.86]
12 231 ms 204 ms 204 ms ae-81-81.csw3.Washington1.Level3.net [4.69.134.1
38]
13 244 ms 204 ms 204 ms ae-62-62.ebr2.Washington1.Level3.net [4.69.134.1
45]
14 345 ms 306 ms 307 ms ae-44-44.ebr2.Paris1.Level3.net [4.69.137.61]
15 328 ms 306 ms 306 ms ae-6-6.car1.Zurich1.Level3.net [4.69.133.230]
16 328 ms 307 ms 306 ms NINE-INTERN.car1.Zurich1.Level3.net [213.242.67.
94]
17 329 ms 306 ms 306 ms ge0.r9.cz.nine.ch [217.150.240.19]
18 * * * Request timed out.
19 * * * Request timed out.
20 * * * Request timed out.
21 * * * Request timed out.
22 * * * Request timed out.
23 * ^C
C:\Documents and Settings\

Edit to add tracert to here:

Tracing route to gold-silver.us [199.193.247.99]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 3 ms 3 ms 3 ms 192.168.0.1
2 67 ms 73 ms 51 ms 164.sub-66-174-53.myvzw.com [66.174.53.164]
3 118 ms 106 ms 194 ms h-75-116-237-36.ip.alltel.net [75.116.237.36]
4 210 ms 108 ms 198 ms h-75-116-236-250.ip.alltel.net [75.116.236.250]
5 115 ms 112 ms 99 ms h-75-116-238-98.ip.alltel.net [75.116.238.98]
6 207 ms 106 ms 112 ms 209.97.111.131
7 224 ms 204 ms 204 ms so-6-1-1.edge5.Dallas1.Level3.net [4.71.218.5]
8 235 ms 204 ms 204 ms vlan80.csw3.Dallas1.Level3.net [4.69.145.190]
9 233 ms 204 ms 204 ms ae-92-92.ebr2.Dallas1.Level3.net [4.69.151.166]
10 231 ms 204 ms 203 ms ae-5-5.car1.KansasCity1.Level3.net [4.69.135.229
]
11 416 ms 207 ms 204 ms ae-11-11.car2.KansasCity1.Level3.net [4.69.135.2
34]
12 331 ms 204 ms 204 ms ADMO.NET-WE.car2.KansasCity1.Level3.net [4.53.34
.26]
13 232 ms 207 ms 204 ms hawk.urljet.com [199.193.247.99]
Trace complete.
C:\Documents and Settings\>



My understanding is that Level3 is a .gov. Does this make sense that I would have so many hops just to get to a site? And would it be normal to route through Level3?

Help

[Gaillo]

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]

There's your problem! ;D


(Where do I send the invoice? ???)

[Mouse]

Thanks, buddy. Send the invoice to foo@l3communications.com

[monty]

Since this is happening on 3 different laptops I would suspect the problem to be in the DSL/Cable modem/router for your home network. maybe it is something to do with the DNS settings.