Slow trace route w/time outs

A possible workaround could be to use a VPN. I know Cox had something called "Gamer Elite" which was a rebranding of WTFast but it got discontinued. Do either of you happen to have it grandfathered in? Also, maybe another VPN might help? If it still occurs with the VPN then you pretty much know it's not a Cox issue however it is strange to see 2 people with similar problems. Are both of you West Coast?

::edit:: Just for comparison, I did a tracert on my FIOS connection. Seems to be routing differently. I am in RI. Notice the time outs, which are normal but the latency seems what it should be.

Tracing route to 137.221.105.2 over a maximum of 30 hops

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  RT-AX86U-22F8 [192.168.50.1]
  2     4 ms     3 ms     3 ms  lo0-100.PRVDRI-VFTTP-304.verizon-gni.net [100.40.77.1]
  3     9 ms     7 ms     7 ms  B3304.PRVDRI-LCR-22.verizon-gni.net [100.41.129.52]
  4     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  5    26 ms    14 ms     8 ms  0.ae2.GW1.BOS30.ALTER.NET [140.222.3.69]
  6     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  7     *        *       32 ms  ae2.3608.ear7.Chicago2.level3.net [4.69.142.178]
  8    31 ms    29 ms    29 ms  BLIZZARD-EN.ear7.Chicago2.Level3.net [4.7.196.134]
  9     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 10     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 11    69 ms    69 ms    70 ms  et-0-0-0-pe01-swlv10.as57976.net [137.221.83.81]
 12    75 ms    74 ms    74 ms  137.221.105.2

Trace complete.