Internet Routing: St. Petersburg to Los Angeles

Imagine this: your signal, sent from St. Petersburg to Los Angeles, travels hundreds of extra kilometers, experiences nearly eight times the delay it could have, and crosses multiple continents before reaching its destination. This is exactly the route recorded by the GeoCables platform on June 28, 2026. Instead of an ideal direct path of 9,174 km, the signal deviated by 3,652 km, reaching Ashburn in the USA before finally moving to its endpoint. This is not just a technical detail, it is a real issue affecting users.

How is the route built and why does it deviate?

The traffic passed through several key network operators: MegaFon (Russia and Sweden), Hurricane Electric (USA), and IO Inc (USA). These companies are major transit providers that facilitate connections between global and local networks. For example, Hurricane Electric is one of the largest internet operators with extensive peering infrastructure. However, despite their robust capabilities, the lack of direct interconnections between some networks forces traffic to take detours.

One reason for the deviation could be the economics of transit. Companies choose routes that minimize their own costs, even if they increase delays for users. Submarine cable landing points also play a crucial role: if the nearest peering point or cable connection is unavailable, the route "jumps" through other cities or even continents. For instance, signals originating in St. Petersburg often rely on cables like the Baltic Sea network to connect to Europe, but the absence of direct links to the western United States can lead to significant detours.

Another contributing factor is the global distribution of internet exchange points (IXPs). While Europe has a dense network of IXPs, such as DE-CIX in Frankfurt and LINX in London, the United States has its own hubs like Ashburn, Virginia. These hubs act as central nodes where traffic is aggregated and redistributed, but they can also create inefficiencies when direct paths between regions are unavailable.

Practical impact on users

A delay (RTT, round-trip time) of 689 ms instead of a possible 92 ms is not just a number. For video calls, such a delay causes noticeable pauses and degrades communication quality. In online gaming, high ping makes quick reactions impossible, which is especially critical in competitive games. For financial trading, where milliseconds are decisive, such delays are catastrophic. Even cloud services like Google Drive or Microsoft 365 start to "lag," reducing user productivity.

Consider a video conference between a business in St. Petersburg and a client in Los Angeles. The excessive delay could lead to awkward pauses, miscommunication, and a poor user experience. Similarly, gamers participating in international tournaments would find themselves at a significant disadvantage due to the high latency. These real-world impacts highlight the importance of optimizing internet routing to ensure seamless connectivity.

Infrastructure roots of the problem

Why did traffic from St. Petersburg route through Ashburn instead of taking a more direct path? The answer lies in a combination of local network decisions and global infrastructure. For example, submarine cables connecting Europe and America often land in major hubs like Frankfurt or London. However, within the USA, the route may become congested or rerouted due to a lack of direct connections between operators. In this case, Ashburn, one of the largest internet hubs in the world, became a key transit point.

It is interesting to note that no natural or social disruptions were recorded on this route that could explain such deviations. GeoCables constantly monitors events like earthquakes, storms, or protests, but in this case, the route is fully explained by routing and peering specifics. The deviation underscores the importance of strategic infrastructure planning, particularly in ensuring that high-demand routes have sufficient capacity and direct connections.

Additionally, the reliance on specific hubs like Ashburn can create single points of congestion. While these hubs are designed to handle massive volumes of traffic, their prominence in global routing means that any inefficiency or overload can ripple across the network, affecting users far beyond the immediate region.

Why does this matter?

Understanding such routes is not just a technical curiosity. It is the key to improving global internet infrastructure. Currently, users worldwide depend on the decisions of network operators, and examples like this highlight how important it is to develop direct connections between regions, enhance peering, and optimize routing. GeoCables helps identify exactly where bottlenecks are and how they can be resolved.

Traffic from St. Petersburg to Los Angeles is just one of many examples showing that a signal's path on the internet is far from straightforward. Behind every "extra" kilometer and millisecond lies a complex web of decisions, infrastructure, and economics that affect all of us. GeoCables continues to monitor such cases, helping to make the internet faster, more stable, and more accessible.

By addressing these routing inefficiencies, stakeholders in the telecommunications industry can work towards a more interconnected and resilient global network. This will not only improve user experiences but also support the growing demands of a digital-first world, where reliable and low-latency connectivity is essential for everything from remote work to real-time applications.