Help if can

[Allorien]

I am near Richmond Virginia, US. I have been having a heck of a time with server lag. I ran into error connecting to the server due to a lack of response, aka timed out. I copied that IP and did a tracert and maybe a had a max of 129ms ping.

Using a VPN did not help. Using a VPN also prevented me from connecting to my mates server to use TS3...and he lives <3miles from my location (yes I understand my connection to him routes out of my city to a larger hub then routes back to him). When I was using VPN I selected UK as my connection location when this all happened.

Any ideas?

I have noticed a trend as well: I have the worst time staying connected/connecting in general from 3pm-11pm EST. When I get on from 12am-11am almost no lag/connection issues.