It's always been slow for me.
I just did a Trace with NeoTrace Pro, and may have one reason why it's so slow:
Fullsize: http://img99.imageshack.us/my.php?image=traceru7.jpg
(see screenshot) my "packet" gets routed to Washington DC,
but then instead of getting further routed directly from there to MI,
for some unknown reason, my packet gets routed back to Europe, and THEN directly to MI.
Here's the text from that trace, also, repeated traces give the same results:
NeoTrace Trace Version 3.25 Results
Target: forums.wincustomize.com
Date: 10.09.2008 (Wednesday), 00:24:08
Nodes: 17
Node Data
Node Net Reg IP Address Location Node Name
1 - - 192.168.2.103 Hamm Laptop
2 1 - 192.168.2.1 Unknown
3 - - 0.0.0.0 Unknown Keine Antwort
4 2 - 217.0.83.22 Unknown
5 3 1 62.154.16.161 Frankfurt am Main f-ea5.f.de.net.dtag.de
6 4 2 4.68.110.253 Frankfurt am Main te-4-4.car2.frankfurt1.level3.net
7 4 2 4.68.118.94 Frankfurt am Main ae-31-53.ebr1.frankfurt1.level3.net
8 4 2 4.69.132.141 PARIS ae-2.ebr2.paris1.level3.net
9 4 2 4.69.137.54 WASHINGTON D.C. ae-42.ebr2.washington1.level3.net
10 4 2 4.69.132.69 WASHINGTON D.C. ae-2.ebr2.chicago2.level3.net
11 4 2 4.69.140.193 STOCKHOLM ae-5.ebr2.chicago1.level3.net
12 4 2 4.69.133.241 Detroit ae-8-8.car1.detroit1.level3.net
13 4 2 4.69.133.246 Detroit ae-11-11.car2.detroit1.level3.net
14 4 2 4.53.74.54 Detroit i123.car2.detroit1.level3.net
15 5 - 216.234.104.162 Detroit
16 6 3 209.124.63.234 Livonia forums.wincustomize.com
17 6 3 209.124.63.234 Livonia forums.wincustomize.com
Packet Data
Node High Low Avg Tot Lost
1 0 0 0 1 0
2 3 3 3 1 0
3 ---- ---- ---- 2 2
4 26 26 26 1 0
5 15 15 15 1 0
6 103 103 103 1 0
7 27 27 27 1 0
8 32 32 32 1 0
9 109 109 109 1 0
10 143 143 143 1 0
11 129 129 129 1 0
12 128 128 128 1 0
13 154 154 154 1 0
14 217 217 217 1 0
15 189 189 189 1 0
16 183 183 183 1 0
17 141 141 141 1 0
And here's the results using Tracert:
Routenverfolgung zu forums.wincustomize.com [209.124.63.234] über maximal 30 Abschnitte:
1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms speedport.ip [192.168.2.1]
2 * * * Zeitüberschreitung der Anforderung.
3 16 ms 22 ms 22 ms 217.0.83.22
4 20 ms 23 ms 24 ms f-ea5.F.DE.net.DTAG.DE [62.154.16.161]
5 16 ms 23 ms 20 ms te-4-4.car2.Frankfurt1.Level3.net [4.68.110.253]
6 30 ms 35 ms 18 ms ae-31-53.ebr1.Frankfurt1.Level3.net [4.68.118.94]
7 33 ms 37 ms 35 ms ae-2.ebr2.Paris1.Level3.net [4.69.132.141]
8 122 ms 109 ms 123 ms ae-42.ebr2.Washington1.Level3.net [4.69.137.54]
9 132 ms 140 ms 158 ms ae-2.ebr2.Chicago2.Level3.net [4.69.132.69]
10 129 ms 143 ms 144 ms ae-5.ebr2.Chicago1.Level3.net [4.69.140.193]
11 239 ms 207 ms 203 ms ae-8-8.car1.Detroit1.Level3.net [4.69.133.241]
12 126 ms 146 ms 142 ms ae-11-11.car2.Detroit1.Level3.net [4.69.133.246]
13 123 ms 119 ms 119 ms I123.car2.Detroit1.Level3.net [4.53.74.54]
14 126 ms 122 ms 137 ms 216.234.104.162
15 133 ms 128 ms 143 ms forums.wincustomize.com [209.124.63.234]
16 137 ms 131 ms 141 ms forums.wincustomize.com [209.124.63.234]
Ablaufverfolgung beendet.
Oddly enough, Tracert does not show Stockholm.