traceroute

[andy66]

ive been looking at the tracert cmd and what it does and how to read it.the thing is,every time i do one it always times out on hop 2,most of the time on hop 3,sometimes on hop 4??ive no problem with my line,i just want to learn.
ive googled it and got a few different answers ranging from, routers always do that,traffic is prioratised and a few that dont make sense.ive seen others tracert results and 2 doesnt usually time out.
if hop 2 is my first point on the o2 network why does it time out.
if anyones got a link to understanding traceroute id be really gratefull or if anyone can explain why it is timing out

[andy66]

done some more and i get timed out on hop 2 all the time,most of the time on hop 3 and sometimes on hop 4???
Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\andy & kate>tracert BBC - Homepage

Tracing route to BBC - Homepage [212.58.251.197]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.0.1
2 * * * Request timed out.
3 * * 78 ms 10.1.2.169
4 20 ms 20 ms 20 ms 83.245.126.93
5 20 ms 20 ms 19 ms 212.58.238.129
6 20 ms 20 ms 20 ms 212.58.239.58
7 21 ms 20 ms 20 ms www-nonuk-vip.telhc.bbc.co.uk [212.58.251.197]

Trace complete.

C:\Documents and Settings\andy & kate>tracert Google

Tracing route to Google [216.239.59.104]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.0.1
2 * * * Request timed out.
3 * * 21 ms 10.1.2.169
4 20 ms 20 ms 20 ms 87-194-0-206.bethere.co.uk [87.194.0.206]
5 20 ms 20 ms 20 ms 64.233.175.27
6 35 ms 35 ms 31 ms 209.85.251.190
7 33 ms 31 ms 31 ms 66.249.95.164
8 38 ms 35 ms 36 ms 216.239.49.114
9 34 ms 32 ms 34 ms gv-in-f104.google.com [216.239.59.104]

Trace complete.
on hop 3 it goes to 10.1.2.169,i looked it up and its a private address and cant be traced,is it part of the o2 network

[Saturday]

The first few hops will always be through your ISP's network before breaking out into the internet. First hop is your PC, second hop is the exchange equipment you're connected to and so on.

Network servers are busy machines and network administrators will have them set to ignore unnecessary responses as they are low priority and use resource. The fact you're getting a time out means nothing - your request is being ignored that's all - "proper" traffic will be routed.