ok, actually, you made me have to remember some old stuffs, Joe...lol...so I did some quick research.
tracert actually gives more information than a simple ping but so much goes into what your ping is to a particular destination, anyways, it is best to look at averages.
I, personally, get a 104 ping to this site, 216 to Metropolis grid, 18 to osgrid and 173 to yahoo.com [ remember those funny commercials they used to have? here is one http://youtu.be/TRAl48Ucgmw ]
It is generally considered that around 200 or less is ok and since this is in milliseconds, small number changes are not all that critical anyways. As well, there are several other factors to consider.
More info here:
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/...
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/...
I found an old proggie I used to use and maybe should again but it does not seem relevant enough to bother. Ping times are not all that critical anymore, imo, unless it is some ridiculously high number over 400 or so...but even then, not especially critical.
Some people place a lot of value in simple ping times when though they do have "some" value, in reality, not so much anymore.
When I had a dial-up it was VERY important-))
http://www.speedguide.net/down... and ymmv