Why?why?why?!

ok, i play unreal tournament 2003 online. I have a 56k modem, it sucks, it runs like a 38.8 ok? So I go in, my pings are good, I start to play. Within minutes (if im lucky its usually seconds), I notice lag, i shoot, 2 seconds later you can see my shot. It sucks arse hardcore to the max. Then when I find a REALLY good ping it is always a server that is using a custom map, which takes me 30 minutes or more to receive (again if im lucky) so basically what im gonna ask, is if anyone knows how i could reduce lag, and if there is anyway to increase my modems speed and AOL connection for long periods of time....without buying a new modem or switching services cause im broke right now.