My mainly concern is:

The speed of a forum php like Vbulletin: Seems faster on Venturesonline.


PING myacen.com (216.180.224.69) from 130.94.244.195 : 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from myacen.com (216.180.224.69): icmp_seq=0 ttl=244 time=32.863 msec
64 bytes from myacen.com (216.180.224.69): icmp_seq=1 ttl=244 time=32.842 msec
64 bytes from myacen.com (216.180.224.69): icmp_seq=2 ttl=244 time=33.750 msec
64 bytes from myacen.com (216.180.224.69): icmp_seq=3 ttl=244 time=32.840 msec
64 bytes from myacen.com (216.180.224.69): icmp_seq=4 ttl=244 time=32.726 msec

--- myacen.com ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 5 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/mdev = 32.726/33.004/33.750/0.393 ms


PING venturesonline.com (209.151.64.143) from 130.94.244.195 : 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from venturesonline.com (209.151.64.143): icmp_seq=0 ttl=238 time=115.464 msec
64 bytes from venturesonline.com (209.151.64.143): icmp_seq=1 ttl=238 time=115.222 msec
64 bytes from venturesonline.com (209.151.64.143): icmp_seq=2 ttl=238 time=115.155 msec
64 bytes from venturesonline.com (209.151.64.143): icmp_seq=3 ttl=238 time=114.979 msec
64 bytes from venturesonline.com (209.151.64.143): icmp_seq=4 ttl=238 time=114.965 msec

--- venturesonline.com ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 5 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/mdev = 114.965/115.157/115.464/0.182 ms

What would a vbulletin have to do with the stats?
From California

C:\>ping venturesonline.com

Pinging venturesonline.com [209.151.64.143] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 209.151.64.143: bytes=32 time=68ms TTL=236
Reply from 209.151.64.143: bytes=32 time=67ms TTL=236
Reply from 209.151.64.143: bytes=32 time=67ms TTL=236
Reply from 209.151.64.143: bytes=32 time=68ms TTL=236

Ping statistics for 209.151.64.143:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 67ms, Maximum = 68ms, Average = 67ms

C:\>ping myacen.com

Pinging myacen.com [216.180.224.69] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 216.180.224.69: bytes=32 time=92ms TTL=234
Reply from 216.180.224.69: bytes=32 time=99ms TTL=234
Reply from 216.180.224.69: bytes=32 time=78ms TTL=234
Reply from 216.180.224.69: bytes=32 time=88ms TTL=234

Ping statistics for 216.180.224.69:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 78ms, Maximum = 99ms, Average = 89ms

tracert venturesonline.com

Tracing route to venturesonline.com [209.151.64.143]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

8 242 ms 255 ms 250 ms pop2-ash-P0-0.atdn.net [66.185.139.209]
9 335 ms 240 ms 246 ms TimeWarnerTelecom.atdn.net [66.185.141.246]
10 268 ms 239 ms 239 ms core-01-so-2-2-0-0.nycl.twtelecom.net [66.192.24
0.17]
11 300 ms 303 ms 287 ms core-02-so-1-0-0-0.dnvr.twtelecom.net [168.215.5
3.14]
12 306 ms 319 ms 295 ms sagg-01-rif-2.dnvr.twtelecom.net [66.192.245.94]

13 372 ms 311 ms 295 ms 66.162.99.2
14 389 ms 287 ms 297 ms 209.151.64.68
15 622 ms 295 ms 295 ms venturesonline.com [209.151.64.143]

Trace complete.


and


>tracert myacen.com

Tracing route to myacen.com [216.180.224.69]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

9 250 ms 238 ms 239 ms WilliamsCommunications.atdn.net [66.185.141.250]

10 254 ms 239 ms 239 ms hrndva1wcx3-oc48.wcg.net [64.200.95.117]
11 266 ms 263 ms 255 ms drvlga1wcx2-pos.wcg.net [64.200.210.57]
12 250 ms 269 ms 241 ms atlnga6lce1-pos5-0.wcg.net [64.200.127.62]
13 258 ms 254 ms 255 ms atlnga6lce1-cuttingedge-atm.wcg.net [64.200.126.
70]
14 * * * Request timed out.
15 263 ms 261 ms 264 ms 209.51.130.33
16 270 ms 263 ms 263 ms 216.180.224.69

Trace complete.


I'm using AOL UK 56K Dialup.
:)

Honestly pings / traces are pretty unreliable to judge by. They tend to have very low priority on most routers. Just for kicks, however...

Target Name: www.venturesonline.com
IP: 209.151.64.143
Date/Time: 10/31/2002 8:03:31 AM

3 15 ms fe002.bbsr1.den.megapath.net [66.80.128.65]
4 16 ms gigabitethernet8-0-115.hsipaccess1.Denver1.Level3.net [63.211.236.153]
5 16 ms unknown.Level3.net [63.211.250.18]
6 16 ms ge-0-0-0.den003jp02.yipes.com [66.7.147.246]
7 16 ms [66.54.149.66]
8 15 ms [209.151.64.68]
9 16 ms venturesonline.com [209.151.64.143]

Target Name: myacen.com
IP: 216.180.224.69
Date/Time: 10/31/2002 8:04:19 AM

3 15 ms fe002.bbsr1.den.megapath.net [66.80.128.65]
4 16 ms gigabitethernet8-0-115.hsipaccess1.Denver1.Level3.net [63.211.236.153]
5 15 ms ge-6-0-0.mp1.Denver1.Level3.net [64.159.3.117]
6 31 ms so-1-0-0.mp1.Dallas1.Level3.net [209.247.11.22]
7 32 ms pos8-0.core2.Dallas1.Level3.net [209.247.10.102]
8 31 ms verio-level3-oc12.Dallas1.Level3.net [209.245.240.190]
9 32 ms p16-0-1-0.r21.dllstx01.us.bb.verio.net [129.250.3.28]
10 62 ms p16-2-0-0.r00.stngva01.us.bb.verio.net [129.250.5.35]
11 63 ms p16-0-0-0.r02.stngva01.us.bb.verio.net [129.250.5.15]
12 63 ms p16-1-1-1.r21.mclnva02.us.bb.verio.net [129.250.5.47]
13 62 ms p64-0-0-0.r20.mclnva02.us.bb.verio.net [129.250.2.34]
14 78 ms p16-0-0-0.r00.atlnga03.us.bb.verio.net [129.250.2.49]
15 78 ms ge-0-0-0.a00.atlnga03.us.ra.verio.net [129.250.26.227]
16 78 ms ge-1-1.a02.atlnga03.us.ra.verio.net [129.250.26.229]
17 79 ms ge-3-3.a02.atlnga03.us.ce.verio.net [157.238.161.42]
18 78 ms [10.10.10.2]
19 78 ms [10.30.30.2]
20 109 ms [209.51.130.33]
21 110 ms myacen.com [216.180.224.69]

- Mike Griffin

Honestly pings / traces are pretty unreliable to judge by. Very true. You can have 2 hops from CA to NY if you setup MPLS or your network tunnel correctly.

If you want to measure the network speed from your end to other end, I would recommend download test.

For application such as VBulletin, the speed of the server will also be a factor.