Questions about latency and online gaming (not sure if this even the right thread for it) :

Situation : I'm using Streamyx's 1Mbs package and I play Guild Wars which its main server is either via American or European. Ping was normally about 300 to 500ms in December prior to the Christmas holidays. Since then (and has been worsening lately) to an average ping of 800-1200ms with spikes of 4000-8000ms lately. Initially had thought that it was due to higher traffic during the holiday seasons but now that its well over the holidays, it should have improved back to its baseline. When talking to my other international gaming friends, they do not face similar situations.

As for speedometer testing, I am aware that using local TMNet's speedometer, I register about 160kbytes/sec (roughly 1300kbits per sec). This of course drops when using international speedometers because of distance, server exchanges, ports and routers when going internationally.

Question :

1. Is this worsening condition due to internal Malaysia's TMNet server issue or is this an external/international server issue?
2. Any ideas on improving latency on my own computer via settings?
3. Before I start spending hours on the phone waiting to tech monkeys in TM to read their user guides, will upgrading or changing ISP improve latency?