What gives?
 

upgraded to pr, have a cable modem, speeds are slower than ever, whiskey tango foxtrot, over?

It's difficult to guess. Some more details could be handy to see if we can work out what the issue is:

Can you give us a total desciption of your set up:
1. OS version? (eg: Windows 98)
2. What firewalls you have?
3. How much ram?
4. Hard Disk space available?
5. Connection type? (eg: dialup, broadband, cable, etc.)
6. Modem & router brand name & model numbers?
7. Where are you trying to connect from (home, school, work, etc.)?
8. What version of Limewire (LW) & Java do you have? (Go to LW's menu Help>About LW...) Will show both LW & Java version.
9. Who is your isp provider?
10. Do you run other p2p programs at same time?
11. Do you have a network with another comp using LW off same connection at same time?