> If I ping the first hop from a Trace Route (the server IP from the PPP
> properties)
> with continuous pings I get times of 27ms to 35ms averaging about 32ms
> most
> of the time. Sometimes (about every 50 to 100 pings if pinging is
> continuous)
> I get a bunch of pings which range from 200ms to 2,000ms. This happens no
> matter what time of the day or night I try it.
>
> I have an internal ADSL card and I am nothing else is running at the times
> I am
> doing the pings.
>
> Telecom said my line tests ok - perfect was the word they used.
>
> What can I do to improve this? Is this an ISP issue or an issue with my
> line or
> my computer?

Kin of hard to ascertain with the information you have supplied, but one
possible cause my be the fact that ICMP could have been given a lower
priority than other traffic on the device you connect to and as other
traffic comes in/out of the device (not necessarily to your port) the icmp
traffic takes a backseat.

Some people actually do this in the reverse to give the impression of no
network problems on an overly congested network.

Have you tried doign something similar with TCP/UP testing tools ? (iperf
may be able to be used to test your throughput - check with your isp and
they may be able to put up a server for you to test againt)

> If I do the same and ping the third hop - My ISP - then I get this same
> inconsistent
> pattern but it happens every 50 odd pings and goes for about 10 pings.
> My ISP
> said it is just the way things are but I am wondering if it is the way
> things should be.

There are far too many variables here - especially seeing as DSL has no
surrounding service level agreements, as a best effort service you will
find that at times you get just that, and there will be hiccups and
slowdowns and the like but usually it will work ok.

> I have pasted the pings to my ISP which I got about 5 mins ago.

You may find it helpful to paste the IP you are testing to as well if it
is a public address as that way others can test to the same IP and paste
their results back which will give you an overview across a wider cross
section of users and may help eliminate the "is it my PC or the ISP or the
line ?" type issues.

-- 
Steve.
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