An embodiment of a method of routing a packet between nodes of a network begins with a step of determining that a route of an external network from a source node to a network node provides an expected near minimum transmission time for transmission of the packet from the source node to a destination node. The method continues with a step of determining that a packet queue for a network link at a source node exceeds a threshold. The method concludes with a step of routing the packet to the destination node via the external network and the network node.