Wireless WMP54G

Hey. Recently I've formatted my computer, and since then, I've not gotten good download speeds in DC++ or oDC. I would get good speeds of up to 100 kbs, but now, it's about a 10 at best, rarely going to 20 kbs.
I've reinstalled the original driver, and when I'm downloading, I notice that my wireless signal goes from 3 of 5 bars to about 1 of 5 in the network information panel in win xp professional.
The rate also changes a lot, from 54 to 48 to 18, 11, etc... Not that sure as to how I can improve my download performance. Basically, my problem is that my download degrades over time, from good speeds to pretty slow speeds, and that hasn't happened before. Any help would be great.
Setup:
WMP54G
WRT54G v1.1 router
1.82 OCEd xp1900+
512 Ram
120 HD
Win XP pro
Cable connection

Also, I'm thinking about flashing the bios for the WRT54G with a edited version which should imrpove the signal quality. But I want to use that as a last resort... it's found here.
Discussion:
http://www.short-media.com/forum/s [...] ge=1&pp=20

Page with bioses:
https://sourceforge.net/project/sho [...] 99199&lt;P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Mnx4 on 07/19/04 01:55 PM.</EM></FONT></P>