the problem is never at rapidshares end unless the whole network goes down which has only happened twice in its history i think
at time of your slow connections why dont you do a tracert ??
i have a 20mb connection and get a full 2.2mbs all the time from them but when it goes slow it tends to be one of the providers between virgin and rapidshare
this will explain aol may be slightly faster because it goes down a different route
i will still stay with virgin over aol any day though :P