Interesting to see if any others have had similar problems. I'm 56K dialup from dodgy hotel lines and I've never had any lack of response when posting or writing to the system. As you can imagine I do it a lot even if it isn't visible to the average punter. If I was in your position I'd plug in another computer/laptop and see what happens.
Is this unique to your setup or would ping and trace utilities show it to be your line, ISP or most regular router?
And anyway - we will cry bitter tears if it's time to upgrade the system again - it was only bloody April y'know.
Rob