[General Maximus]

I think there was an issue with your area just before xmas where a router went down and the normal route/path the traffic would take for you area went down and the re-routed traffic went over another link for a different area which basically translated to double the amount of traffic which is why it was slow for a week or so while they sorted it out. There might be a similar issue now but you wouldn't know unless you did some trace routes.