tracert (in Windows) and traceroute (in Unix/Linux) are utilities used to determine the route taken by packets across an IP network. If the command shows appropriate response times for the first few hops but times out at a particular point, the most likely cause is a network device along the path that is not forwarding the packets correctly or is configured to not respond to ICMP requests. In this scenario, if the request times out when trying to reach the router's WAN interface at the branch office, it could be indicative of a misconfigured access list, or the router is possibly set to block ICMP. Network congestion would result in increased latency and packet loss, but not a complete timeout, and issues with the workstation's NIC would affect all network connectivity, not just the path to the corporate intranet. Lastly, incorrect DNS settings at the user's workstation would affect name resolution, not the routing of packets.