Weird Connection issue

Well, the thing is simple. My ping varies between two values. It is either 80-90, or 180-190. It typically stays the same for a single game. In the next one, it is either the same, or goes to the other value.

At first glance, this seems a very typical problem, with many possible explanations. But, I've done pretty much anything there is to isolate all solutions I know.

1) Bandwidth piracy. That was my first thought. It can be done in two ways. Either through the router, or through the pc (typically a virus). For the router, I both kept a tight log of all the connected IPs, disabled wireless (I am connected wired to the router) and then contacted the ISP to get the outbound IPs from my router. Nothing showed up except my pc. I formatted my pc numerous times, and I rearanged the IPs for both my pc and the router, which typically will solve any possible piracy trick, at least for a couple of hours.

2) Distance. If the issue was distance, then there would be no variance in the ping. It would always be 80, or 180, or whatever. So, the variance cannot be a distance problem.

3) Programs eating up resources. Another typical issue, is when programs run in the background and eat up resources. But... this is not possible with a fresh new installation, with only Crossfire running. (WinXP SP2).

What concerned me, was that the ping never varied during a game. Only between two games. So, this pretty much limits the problem to the game. One possible explanation is that the UK server, is not a single physical serer, but a cluster of servers with different locations. So, when a room is created, it might be located in one or the other physical server, explaining the ping variance. But then, pretty much everyone would have the same problem in the UK server.

I only play UK server because on every other server I get a minimum of 220 ping. I am located in Greece.

Any feedback please?