Score:-1

Why do traceroutes start with the same path?

my flag

I'm curious as to why all traceroutes start with the same path. For example, if I want to do a traceroute from my current location to www.google.com and another one to www.bbc.co.uk, the first few hops(4 for me) of the traceroute are the exact same for both traceroutes. I'm wondering why is this the case?

us flag
Rob
In most cases there's only one preferred route for traffic to take and your traffic will always need to take that route, before it can reach an internet exchange or (border) router where it will make sense to make different routing decisions. A bit like how when navigating from most residences in the suburbs (with cul-de-sacs and one-way streets) there will be only one route you can take to leave that suburb. And only once you're leaving that suburb there will be a crossroads where certain destinations require you to go in another direction than others.
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