BGP hops are actually AS (autonomous system) numbers, which are not closely correlated with routers or distance. If an ISP in Los Angeles transits five autonom

BGP hops are actually AS (autonomous system) numbers, which are not closely correlated with routers or distance. If an ISP in Los Angeles transits five autonomous systems to reach an ISP in New York, but four to reach an ISP in London, and the London ISP suddenly starts advertising the New York ISP's IP addresses, oops, your packets are now headed to the UK. Great care is taken to avoid bizarre physical routes for packets, but it still happens constantly. One DSL connection I used in Santa Clara had a propensity for routing packets through Seattle to get to Dallas for a while.