Editing Openai/68ff0983-d77c-8006-beff-1e8aa72a6d28 (section)

== gpt-5-t-mini ==
=== User: Tracing route to dns.google 8.8.8.8 ===
Tracing route to dns.google [8.8.8.8]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  modem [192.168.0.1]
  2    31 ms    30 ms    31 ms  stpl-dsl-gw15.stpl.qwest.net [207.109.2.15]
  3    32 ms    30 ms    31 ms  stpl-agw1.inet.qwest.net [207.109.3.113]
  4    33 ms    31 ms    31 ms  ae3.bar3.min2.sp.lumen.tech [4.68.38.177]
  5    41 ms    40 ms    40 ms  ae2.2.edge1.Chicago10.net.lumen.tech [4.69.133.29]
  6    41 ms    41 ms    40 ms  15169-3356-chi.sp.lumen.tech [4.68.63.130]
  7    41 ms    40 ms    41 ms  74.125.251.183
  8    41 ms    41 ms    41 ms  142.251.60.203
  9    41 ms    41 ms    40 ms  dns.google [8.8.8.8]

Trace complete.

=== Assistant: Nice — thanks for the traceroute. ===
Nice — thanks for the traceroute. Short answer: this looks like an ISP / upstream routing issue, not your modem or local wiring. Here’s how I reached that and what to do next.

=== What the traceroute shows (quick breakdown) ===
* Hop 1 — <code>modem [192.168.0.1]</code>: <code><1 ms</code> → Your modem responds instantly. That means your local device → modem link is fine.
* Hop 2 — <code>stpl-dsl-gw15.stpl.qwest.net [207.109.2.15]</code>: ~31 ms → This is the first public hop (your ISP’s gateway). Latency jumps from <1 ms to ~31 ms here, and that 30–40 ms level persists through the rest of the path (hops 3–9). That pattern means the added latency is introduced at or immediately after your ISP’s network edge.
* Hops 3–9 — ~31–41 ms, stable to 8.8.8.8 → No later big spikes or packet-loss visible in this trace; the path is stable but already higher than your previous baseline apparently was.

=== Conclusion ===

Because the jump occurs at hop 2 (the ISP gateway) and remains steady, this is almost certainly something upstream at your ISP (routing change, peering change, congestion on their gateway/node, or deliberate routing through a longer path). It’s not obviously your modem or in-home wiring.

=== Suggested next steps (exact, copy-paste friendly) ===
# Gather more evidence - Run longer pings to the ISP gateway and to 8.8.8.8 to show averages/jitter: ``<code> ping 207.109.2.15 -n 100 ping 8.8.8.8 -n 100 </code>`<code> - Run Windows pathping (gives packet-loss per hop): </code>`<code> pathping 8.8.8.8 </code>`` Save results/screenshots.
# Call your ISP and escalate - Tell them: “I tested from two different PCs, both wired directly to the modem, and see a persistent ~30 ms latency increase starting at your gateway (207.109.2.15). This is 24/7 and began recently. Please check routing/peering and the node serving my connection and run line tests.” - Provide them the traceroute, ping/pathping logs, and the exact hop IP (207.109.2.15).
# Ask for specific checks from ISP - Ask them to run diagnostics for congestion/packet-loss on the node, check for degraded peering to Lumen/Google, and (if needed) schedule a tech visit to test the outside line and modem provisioning.
# Optional troubleshooting while waiting - Try a different public test target (game server IP) and paste that traceroute if you want — I can check if the route to your game servers is taking the same path. - If you have a modem with a status page, screenshot signal stats and error counters and give those to support.

=== If you want, I can: ===
* Help interpret the ping -n 100 and pathping outputs you get,
* Run traceroutes to a specific game server IP if you paste it,
* Draft a short message you can paste into ISP chat/ticket.

But based on the trace you posted, this is an ISP/upstream routing issue, not your modem/line inside the house (at least not obviously).