Selecting a better tunnel server

[bpier]

Hello all,

I've been happy with my tunnel for a several years now, using the LAX server from Tucson on the Cox network.  Every once in a while I've checked the ping path and found that I have just a few Cox network hops between Tucson and LA, (which corresponds to the Cox network maps that I have found).

Recently however I noticed that an extra hop is being used AND that hop is an HE router in Fremont!

current trace:
tracepath 66.220.18.42
1?: [LOCALHOST]                                         pmtu 1500
1:  myrouter.local                                        9.301ms
1:  myrouter.local                                       15.988ms
2:  no reply
3:  172.21.1.156                                         20.631ms
4:  bellcorc02-te-0-0-0-5.ph.ph.cox.net         22.041ms
5:  72.215.229.61                                        27.677ms
6:  68.1.5.137                                             41.237ms asymm  9
7:  v328.br2.fmt2.he.net                              38.824ms
8:  tserv1.lax1.he.net                                   39.788ms reached

Can I assume that the Cox network is now routing to the Bay area with a priority over their previous route to LA?
If so, should I recreate my tunnel to select a Fremont server?  It doesn't seem to make sense to route through an HE Fremont hop to get to an LA tunnel server, to get on the HE IPv6 network.  But then, it's only one additional hop.

Insights welcomed.

[kcochran]

Stale rDNS.  That 66.160.133.113 address is definitely in LA.

[bpier]

Thanks for the clarification, but stale DNS?  I just queried from the HE DNS servers and that address is still mapped to ...fmt2.he.net:

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;v328.br2.fmt2.he.net.          IN      A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
v328.br2.fmt2.he.net.   86400   IN      A       66.160.133.113

;; Query time: 41 msec
;; SERVER: 74.82.42.42#53(74.82.42.42)
;; WHEN: Sun Oct 05 18:50:15 MST 2014

In any case, if that hop is in LA, as you indicated, then all is well with my current tunnel selection.

Thanks!

[kcochran]

Yes, the rDNS is based off stale information, which should be kicked loose and reflect reality within 24hr or so.