[BC] tracert

Ive traced my ping back to a server in New York state. The path that it takes seems to be the long way around. My path to the server goes from Nanaimo to Vancouver to Edmonton then on to Winnipeg,Montreal,then into New York state.Along the way I have lots of packet loss. At my starting point the packet loss is 100% and in two other spots it's at 15% and 25%. I've traced my signal a few times over the years and most of the time it jumps into the states right out of Vancouver and goes to Seattle then on to New York. When it takes this route I notice a lot more lag. Why would the route change? Can somthing be done about the lag? Thanks DW