Harv did a thing on his watercooling, im going to do one on my sh*tty connection, an investigation and report. Im currently with bulldog and experiencing pretty sh*tty pings etc so I decided to winge at them. I wrote em an email a comple of months back and got no response so here I go again. NOTE: I sent the email below over a week ago and only got a reply today!

From: Alex Galbraith [mailto:jkagalbraith@hotmail.com]
Sent: 04 July 2004 23:59
To: repair1@bulldogdsl.com; support@bulldogdsl.com
Subject: Bandwidth Contention and Pings

Hi,

I am writing for the second time regarding my problem with bandwidth contentoin and its effect on my gaming pings. During peak usage times (especially mid evenings and on Sundays) I see my gaming pings rise to 70-150 and in fact timing out completely on a regular basis. My connection also constantly drops (if you check your logs you'll see that my line has completely dropped and reconnected about 3-5 times today alone!) This is unnaceptable. I have previously written regarding this over 2 months ago and have not yet received a reply. Please find below some copies of traceroutes I have done to a couple of servers and ping times to your internal servers to assist you in identifying the problem. As far as I am concerned the main reason I purchased ADSL is for online gaming and if my pings are this bad and my connection continues dropping then there is no point in me continuing to be served by Bulldog. I would appreciate a prompt response to this email at least in order to inform me that you are working on the problem.

Regards

Alex

And attached to the email was the following:

Sunday Evening - 8pm

Tracing route to ws22.warservers.com [80.168.35.22]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.0.1
  2    64 ms     *       70 ms  host-212-158-192-228.bulldogdsl.com [212.158.192.228]
  3     *       65 ms    69 ms  host-212-158-192-218.bulldogdsl.com [212.158.192.218]
  4    66 ms    65 ms     *     217.79.161.22
  5    66 ms    67 ms    65 ms  t40-cr1-ge-5-0.router.uk.clara.net [195.8.86.149]
  6    76 ms    71 ms    72 ms  gs-cr1-ge-0-1-1077.router.uk.clara.net [195.8.68.106]
  7    65 ms    68 ms    69 ms  gs-ar1-ge-1-1.router.uk.clara.net [80.168.0.142]
  8    93 ms    74 ms     *     ws22.warservers.com [80.168.35.22]
  9    73 ms    66 ms     *     ws22.warservers.com [80.168.35.22]
 10     *       79 ms    73 ms  ws22.warservers.com [80.168.35.22]

Trace complete.

Sunday Evening - 11pm

Tracing route to ws22.warservers.com [80.168.35.22]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1     3 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.0.1
  2    72 ms    70 ms     *     host-212-158-192-228.bulldogdsl.com [212.158.192.228]
  3    63 ms    62 ms    71 ms  host-212-158-192-218.bulldogdsl.com [212.158.192.218]
  4    66 ms    66 ms    63 ms  t40-br1-fe-5-1-0.router.uk.clara.net [217.79.161.22]
  5     *        *       73 ms  t40-cr1-ge-5-0.router.uk.clara.net [195.8.86.149]
  6     *       65 ms    67 ms  gs-cr1-ge-0-1-1077.router.uk.clara.net [195.8.68.106]
  7    61 ms    68 ms    65 ms  gs-ar1-ge-1-1.router.uk.clara.net [80.168.0.142]
  8    76 ms    65 ms    74 ms  ws22.warservers.com [80.168.35.22]

Trace complete.

Tracing route to ip.space.at.iracks.com [82.192.78.113]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.0.1
  2    64 ms    63 ms    62 ms  host-212-158-192-228.bulldogdsl.com [212.158.192.228]
  3    65 ms    69 ms    69 ms  host-83-146-17-33.bulldogdsl.com [83.146.17.33]  4    64 ms    64 ms    60 ms  195.50.117.105
  5    72 ms    69 ms    66 ms  ge-6-0.core1.London1.Level3.net [212.187.131.45]
  6    64 ms    66 ms    66 ms  pos8-1.mpr2.lhr1.uk.above.net [208.185.188.185]
  7    71 ms    69 ms    72 ms  so-4-1-0.cr2.lhr3.uk.above.net [208.185.156.2]
  8    79 ms    71 ms    75 ms  pos10-0.cr2.ams2.nl.above.net [64.125.29.74]
  9     *       73 ms     *     pos0-3.er1b.ams2.nl.above.net [208.184.210.206]
 10    78 ms    80 ms    74 ms  ge-2-0.r1.tc2.nl.leaseweb.net [62.93.194.4]
 11    76 ms    78 ms    76 ms  ip.space.at.iracks.com [82.192.78.113]

Trace complete.

Pinging 212.158.192.228 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 212.158.192.228: bytes=32 time=65ms TTL=63
Reply from 212.158.192.228: bytes=32 time=51ms TTL=63
Reply from 212.158.192.228: bytes=32 time=61ms TTL=63
Reply from 212.158.192.228: bytes=32 time=64ms TTL=63
Reply from 212.158.192.228: bytes=32 time=62ms TTL=63
Reply from 212.158.192.228: bytes=32 time=51ms TTL=63
Reply from 212.158.192.228: bytes=32 time=65ms TTL=63
Reply from 212.158.192.228: bytes=32 time=61ms TTL=63
Reply from 212.158.192.228: bytes=32 time=68ms TTL=63
Reply from 212.158.192.228: bytes=32 time=68ms TTL=63
Reply from 212.158.192.228: bytes=32 time=64ms TTL=63
Reply from 212.158.192.228: bytes=32 time=62ms TTL=63
Reply from 212.158.192.228: bytes=32 time=61ms TTL=63
Reply from 212.158.192.228: bytes=32 time=60ms TTL=63
Reply from 212.158.192.228: bytes=32 time=62ms TTL=63
Reply from 212.158.192.228: bytes=32 time=63ms TTL=63
Reply from 212.158.192.228: bytes=32 time=62ms TTL=63
Reply from 212.158.192.228: bytes=32 time=66ms TTL=63
Reply from 212.158.192.228: bytes=32 time=64ms TTL=63
Reply from 212.158.192.228: bytes=32 time=55ms TTL=63

Ping statistics for 212.158.192.228:
    Packets: Sent = 20, Received = 20, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 51ms, Maximum = 68ms, Average = 61ms

Pinging 212.158.192.218 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 212.158.192.218: bytes=32 time=65ms TTL=253
Reply from 212.158.192.218: bytes=32 time=63ms TTL=253
Request timed out.
Reply from 212.158.192.218: bytes=32 time=64ms TTL=253
Request timed out.
Reply from 212.158.192.218: bytes=32 time=70ms TTL=253
Reply from 212.158.192.218: bytes=32 time=63ms TTL=253
Reply from 212.158.192.218: bytes=32 time=63ms TTL=253
Reply from 212.158.192.218: bytes=32 time=60ms TTL=253
Reply from 212.158.192.218: bytes=32 time=63ms TTL=253
Reply from 212.158.192.218: bytes=32 time=64ms TTL=253
Reply from 212.158.192.218: bytes=32 time=67ms TTL=253
Reply from 212.158.192.218: bytes=32 time=62ms TTL=253
Reply from 212.158.192.218: bytes=32 time=62ms TTL=253
Reply from 212.158.192.218: bytes=32 time=61ms TTL=253
Reply from 212.158.192.218: bytes=32 time=57ms TTL=253
Reply from 212.158.192.218: bytes=32 time=67ms TTL=253
Reply from 212.158.192.218: bytes=32 time=58ms TTL=253
Reply from 212.158.192.218: bytes=32 time=67ms TTL=253
Reply from 212.158.192.218: bytes=32 time=56ms TTL=253
Reply from 212.158.192.218: bytes=32 time=60ms TTL=253
Reply from 212.158.192.218: bytes=32 time=63ms TTL=253
Reply from 212.158.192.218: bytes=32 time=67ms TTL=253
Reply from 212.158.192.218: bytes=32 time=69ms TTL=253
Reply from 212.158.192.218: bytes=32 time=68ms TTL=253
Reply from 212.158.192.218: bytes=32 time=61ms TTL=253

Ping statistics for 212.158.192.218:
    Packets: Sent = 26, Received = 24, Lost = 2 (7% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 56ms, Maximum = 70ms, Average = 63ms

They came back to me with the following response (after a week):

From: "Support" <Support@bulldogdsl.com>
To: "Alex Galbraith"
Subject: RE: Bandwidth Contention and Pings
Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 14:13:49 +0100

Hi,

Sorry to hear about your problems.  I have run pings and trace routes to the sites and IP's listed in your attachment and experience significantly better responses. Typically the round trip responds in 10ms. This would indicate the isn't a general problem with our network and that the issue is either with your individual connection, possibly your modem or router; or there is an issue with warserver during periods on high usage on the game server.

We would appreciate it if you could assist us further with the diagnostic process by running trace routes ad ping tests at some of the more popular sites, for comparison. Sites such as Google, Yahoo, BBC, etc and forwarding the results to us.

We await your response

Regards

Bulldog Tech Support

Obviously I am none too impressed with this response. I have explained to them that the problem is at peak times only and provided them with evidence that the problem occurs from 1st hop, meaning that its obviously a bandwidth contention problem. Anyway, I shall now be taking ping and traceroutes at a number of times this evening and emailing them the results - keep an eye here for more updates!

Heres the 1st set of results - taken at 17.30 on Monday night:

Microsoft Windows [Version 5.2.3790]
(C) Copyright 1985-2003 Microsoft Corp.

Z:\>ping www.google.co.uk

Pinging www.google.akadns.net [66.102.9.99] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 66.102.9.99: bytes=32 time=43ms TTL=241
Reply from 66.102.9.99: bytes=32 time=46ms TTL=241
Reply from 66.102.9.99: bytes=32 time=44ms TTL=241
Reply from 66.102.9.99: bytes=32 time=44ms TTL=241

Ping statistics for 66.102.9.99:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 43ms, Maximum = 46ms, Average = 44ms

Z:\>tracert www.google.co.uk

Tracing route to www.google.akadns.net [66.102.9.99]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1     1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.0.1
  2    12 ms    12 ms    13 ms  host-212-158-192-228.bulldogdsl.com [212.158.192.228]
  3    16 ms    16 ms    15 ms  host-212-158-192-218.bulldogdsl.com [212.158.192.218]
  4    16 ms    16 ms    15 ms  195.50.117.109
  5    15 ms    15 ms    16 ms  ae-0-15.gar1.London1.Level3.net [212.187.131.137]
  6    16 ms    17 ms    17 ms  so-6-0.metro2-londencyh00.London1.Level3.net [212.113.3.26]
  7    33 ms    32 ms    33 ms  195.50.116.70
  8    30 ms    31 ms    29 ms  216.239.46.173
  9    41 ms    42 ms    40 ms  216.239.49.254
 10    45 ms    45 ms    43 ms  64.233.174.42
 11    45 ms    44 ms    45 ms  64.233.174.14
 12    54 ms    48 ms    44 ms  66.102.9.99
Trace complete.

Z:\>ping www.bbc.co.uk
Pinging www.bbc.net.uk [212.58.224.85] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 212.58.224.85: bytes=32 time=15ms TTL=247
Reply from 212.58.224.85: bytes=32 time=19ms TTL=247
Reply from 212.58.224.85: bytes=32 time=17ms TTL=247
Reply from 212.58.224.85: bytes=32 time=15ms TTL=247

Ping statistics for 212.58.224.85:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 15ms, Maximum = 19ms, Average = 16ms

Z:\>tracert www.bbc.co.uk
Tracing route to www.bbc.net.uk [212.58.224.85]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.0.1
  2    14 ms    13 ms    12 ms  host-212-158-192-228.bulldogdsl.com [212.158.192.228]
  3    14 ms    13 ms    15 ms  host-83-146-17-34.bulldogdsl.com [83.146.17.34]
  4    15 ms    16 ms    18 ms  195.50.117.109
  5    15 ms    15 ms    15 ms  ae-0-16.gar2.London1.Level3.net [212.187.131.154]
  6    17 ms    17 ms    15 ms  so-6-0.metro1-londencyh00.London1.Level3.net [212.113.3.30]
  7    53 ms    20 ms    17 ms  rt-linx-a.thdo.bbc.co.uk [195.66.224.103]
  8    15 ms    16 ms    16 ms  212.58.238.129
  9    17 ms    25 ms    19 ms  www40.thdo.bbc.co.uk [212.58.224.85]
Trace complete.

Z:\>ping www.yahoo.co.uk
Pinging www2.vip.ukl.yahoo.com [217.12.3.11] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 217.12.3.11: bytes=32 time=15ms TTL=246
Reply from 217.12.3.11: bytes=32 time=15ms TTL=246
Reply from 217.12.3.11: bytes=32 time=16ms TTL=246
Reply from 217.12.3.11: bytes=32 time=15ms TTL=246

Ping statistics for 217.12.3.11:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 15ms, Maximum = 16ms, Average = 15ms

Z:\>tracert www.yahoo.co.uk
Tracing route to www2.vip.ukl.yahoo.com [217.12.3.11]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
  1     1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.0.1
  2    13 ms    12 ms    12 ms  host-212-158-192-228.bulldogdsl.com [212.158.192.228]
  3    13 ms    15 ms    17 ms  host-83-146-17-34.bulldogdsl.com [83.146.17.34]
  4    15 ms    16 ms    14 ms  195.50.117.109
  5    17 ms    17 ms    24 ms  ae-0-53.bbr1.London1.Level3.net [212.187.131.129]
  6    19 ms    18 ms    15 ms  so-3-0-0.mp1.London2.Level3.net [212.187.128.46]
  7    16 ms    15 ms    14 ms  ge-10-2.ipcolo2.London2.Level3.net [212.187.129.198]
  8    17 ms    17 ms    17 ms  unknown.Level3.net [212.113.10.218]
  9    18 ms    17 ms    17 ms  www2.vip.ukl.yahoo.com [217.12.3.11]
Trace complete.

As can quite plainly be seen, at 5.30pm before everyone comes home and starts torrenting etc my pings are fine, in fact rather good, 16 ping to the bbc...!

Ok, here we go, I ran the exact same tests as previously done but this time at 20:30 and got the following results:

Microsoft Windows [Version 5.2.3790]
(C) Copyright 1985-2003 Microsoft Corp.

Z:\>ping www.google.co.uk
Pinging www.google.akadns.net [66.102.11.104] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 66.102.11.104: bytes=32 time=91ms TTL=243
Reply from 66.102.11.104: bytes=32 time=95ms TTL=243
Reply from 66.102.11.104: bytes=32 time=99ms TTL=243
Reply from 66.102.11.104: bytes=32 time=104ms TTL=243

Ping statistics for 66.102.11.104:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 91ms, Maximum = 104ms, Average = 97ms

Z:\>tracert www.google.co.uk
Tracing route to www.google.akadns.net [66.102.11.104]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.0.1
  2    69 ms    59 ms    68 ms  host-212-158-192-228.bulldogdsl.com [212.158.192.228]
  3    66 ms    64 ms    67 ms  host-212-158-192-217.bulldogdsl.com [212.158.192.217]
  4    68 ms    75 ms    69 ms  195.50.117.105
  5    72 ms    65 ms    68 ms  ae-0-16.gar2.London1.Level3.net [212.187.131.154]
  6    71 ms    69 ms    62 ms  so-2-0.metro2-londencyh00.London1.Level3.net [212.113.0.117]
  7    87 ms    84 ms    81 ms  195.50.116.70
  8    86 ms    86 ms    83 ms  216.239.46.173
  9    90 ms    91 ms    93 ms  216.239.49.254
 10    84 ms    83 ms    78 ms  216.239.48.50
 11    95 ms    99 ms    95 ms  216.239.49.58
 12    94 ms    92 ms    92 ms  66.102.11.104
Trace complete.

Less than ideal I think you'll agree. Note things like the pings actually timing out completely...

Ok, here we go with the final set of readings, this was taken at 00.30 at night. Interestingly, using HLSW to constantly monitor my ping I noticed a CONSIDERABLE drop of about 50% in my pings at around 00.18 - my suspicion being that there is someone/something specifically tearing up my connection via contention ratio or a specific setting on Bulldogs own network causing it. Anyway, heres the final set of pings, as you can see, perfectly fine again...

Microsoft Windows [Version 5.2.3790]
(C) Copyright 1985-2003 Microsoft Corp.

Z:\>ping www.google.co.uk
Pinging www.google.akadns.net [66.102.11.104] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 66.102.11.104: bytes=32 time=43ms TTL=243
Reply from 66.102.11.104: bytes=32 time=43ms TTL=243
Reply from 66.102.11.104: bytes=32 time=43ms TTL=243
Reply from 66.102.11.104: bytes=32 time=43ms TTL=243

Ping statistics for 66.102.11.104:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 43ms, Maximum = 43ms, Average = 43ms

Z:\>tracert www.google.co.uk
Tracing route to www.google.akadns.net [66.102.11.104]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.0.1
  2    13 ms    12 ms    13 ms  host-212-158-192-228.bulldogdsl.com [212.158.192.228]
  3    16 ms    17 ms    18 ms  host-212-158-192-217.bulldogdsl.com [212.158.192.217]
  4    15 ms    17 ms    16 ms  195.50.117.105
  5    16 ms    15 ms    15 ms  ae-0-16.gar2.London1.Level3.net [212.187.131.154]
  6    16 ms    16 ms    15 ms  so-2-0.metro2-londencyh00.London1.Level3.net [212.113.0.117]
  7    33 ms    33 ms    36 ms  195.50.116.70
  8    31 ms    32 ms    34 ms  216.239.46.173
  9    43 ms    43 ms    41 ms  216.239.49.254
 10    44 ms    50 ms    44 ms  216.239.48.50
 11    47 ms    47 ms    46 ms  216.239.49.58
 12    44 ms    44 ms    44 ms  66.102.11.104
Trace complete.

Z:\>ping www.bbc.co.uk
Pinging www.bbc.net.uk [212.58.224.86] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 212.58.224.86: bytes=32 time=16ms TTL=247
Reply from 212.58.224.86: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=247
Reply from 212.58.224.86: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=247
Reply from 212.58.224.86: bytes=32 time=15ms TTL=247

Ping statistics for 212.58.224.86:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 14ms, Maximum = 16ms, Average = 14ms

Z:\>tracert www.bbc.co.uk
Tracing route to www.bbc.net.uk [212.58.224.86]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.0.1
  2    11 ms    12 ms    13 ms  host-212-158-192-228.bulldogdsl.com [212.158.192.228]
  3    15 ms    15 ms    15 ms  host-83-146-17-34.bulldogdsl.com [83.146.17.34]
  4    14 ms    15 ms    16 ms  195.50.117.109
  5    18 ms    16 ms    15 ms  ae-0-15.gar1.London1.Level3.net [212.187.131.137]
  6    16 ms    17 ms    17 ms  so-2-0.metro1-londencyh00.London1.Level3.net [212.113.0.113]
  7    16 ms    17 ms    17 ms  rt-linx-a.thdo.bbc.co.uk [195.66.224.103]
  8    17 ms    17 ms    17 ms  212.58.238.129
  9    16 ms    17 ms    16 ms  www41.thdo.bbc.co.uk [212.58.224.86]
Trace complete.

Z:\>ping www.yahoo.co.uk
Pinging www2.vip.ukl.yahoo.com [217.12.3.11] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 217.12.3.11: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=246
Reply from 217.12.3.11: bytes=32 time=16ms TTL=246
Reply from 217.12.3.11: bytes=32 time=15ms TTL=246
Reply from 217.12.3.11: bytes=32 time=16ms TTL=246

Ping statistics for 217.12.3.11:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 14ms, Maximum = 16ms, Average = 15ms

Z:\>tracert www.yahoo.co.uk
Tracing route to www2.vip.ukl.yahoo.com [217.12.3.11]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.0.1
  2    13 ms    12 ms    12 ms  host-212-158-192-228.bulldogdsl.com [212.158.192.228]
  3    24 ms    15 ms    13 ms  host-83-146-17-34.bulldogdsl.com [83.146.17.34]
  4    14 ms    15 ms    15 ms  195.50.117.109
  5    16 ms    15 ms    16 ms  ae-0-53.bbr1.London1.Level3.net [212.187.131.129]
  6    16 ms    15 ms    16 ms  so-3-0-0.mp1.London2.Level3.net [212.187.128.46]
  7    15 ms    15 ms    16 ms  ge-10-2.ipcolo2.London2.Level3.net [212.187.129.198]
  8    19 ms    17 ms    17 ms  unknown.Level3.net [212.113.10.218]
  9    18 ms    18 ms    17 ms  www2.vip.ukl.yahoo.com [217.12.3.11]
Trace complete.

Lets see what they make of this then...

I have posted the info on ADSLGuide forums and shall now write to bulldog with my results which I'll paste below. Heres the link for the ADSLGuide thread anyway...

http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=bulldog&Number=1308772&page=0&view=expanded&sb=5&o=0&fpart=

And here is that email:

Hi,

Please find enclosed my traceroutes to google, bbc and yahoo taken at 17:30, 20:30 and 00:30 this evening. As you can see the problem lies not with my router/modem at all but with the Bulldog network or my connection to it. This problem occurs starting around 18:00-19:00 each night through until around 00:00-01:00 at which time it generally corrects itself back to normal pings. A similar problem occurs for the majority of the weekend, during which my connection generally gets bad enough that it will disconnect completely around 5-10 and sometimes more times a day. I know for certain that these problems are not caused by anything on my machine(s) and am sure that it is related to the contention for my connection. I have tried fixes such as altering MTU values just in case it had any effect but this was unsuccessful (as I expected it would be). Please note, I have also taken the liberty of beginnning a thread on the ADSLGuide forums at the following address:

http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=bulldog&Number=1308772&page=0&view=expanded&sb=5&o=0&fpart=

and am updating the progress of this call on:

http://www.sentfromhell.co.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1069&PN=1&TPN=1

for all interested parties. Please note that a copy of all traceroutes has been pasted there too should you reqiure it.

I would also request that if possible a response to my email within less than a week would be very much preferable. I apologise if this seems an uninviting tone but I have been so far less than impressed with the customer service I have recieved from Bulldog.

Many thanks in advance

Alex Galbraith

Ok, as reccomended by the guys on ADSLGuide I have take pings and traceroutes only to the 1st hop server I get to when I connect out, and surprise surprise,the problem is still the same, which says to me that its exactly what I thought. Check em out:

Taken @ 18:00
Z:\>tracert 212.158.192.228
Tracing route to host-212-158-192-228.bulldogdsl.com [212.158.192.228]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.0.1
  2    13 ms    13 ms    18 ms  host-212-158-192-228.bulldogdsl.com [212.158.192.228]
Trace complete.

Taken @ 21:00
Z:\>tracert 212.158.192.228
Tracing route to host-212-158-192-228.bulldogdsl.com [212.158.192.228]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
  1    <1 ms     1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.0.1
  2    67 ms    67 ms    68 ms  host-212-158-192-228.bulldogdsl.com [212.158.192.228]
Trace complete.

Taken @ 01:00
Z:\>tracert 212.158.192.228
Tracing route to host-212-158-192-228.bulldogdsl.com [212.158.192.228]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
  1     1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.0.1
  2    14 ms    14 ms    13 ms  host-212-158-192-228.bulldogdsl.com [212.158.192.228]
Trace complete.

As you can plainly see the pings rise during peak time. However if thats STILL not enough evidence then examine this, I pinged the bulldog server 212.158.192.228 continually every 30s all evening, and surprise surprise, the exact same results. See them here:

http://www.sentfromhell.co.uk/upload/files/dslup.log.txt

Anyway, I'll email these to Bulldog in addition to my results mailed yesterday and see if they have any response...

Below is the email I sent to Bulldog 2 minutes ago:

Hi,

In addition to the below email <I attached the previous one from above> I have run also some other tests this evening to only your 1st hop server from my traceroutes:

<same tracert info as in previous post - I wont bore you by pasting it again>

However if thats STILL not enough evidence then please examine the arrachment to this email. I pinged the bulldog server 212.158.192.228 continually every 30s all evening using a utility called DSLUp, and the exact same results were found.

Regards

Alex

Anyone want to place any bets as to how long Ill have to wait for a response?...

Wot is an arrachment? :P

Seriously though, this is keeping me entertained at work. Thanks Demon!

Amazing! I got a phone call from them on my mobile at 11.30 today. The bulldog tech said they were investigating it now and they wanted me to do more tracerts again tonight... miraculous!

Plus he was south african, when I picked up the phone I thought it was my cousin lol...

For those interested, I have graphed last nights results and produced this:

Note also that I basically didnt use my connection last night at all apart from a bit later on when I played a little bit of cs from 11.45 to 12.45...