Modem-Related Jitter?

I've been having terrible lag in online FPS games lately, prompting me to check my ping. Apart from typical shaw issues (unusable during the day / etc), I'm getting significant jitter to everywhere I've tested (google.com below): ... Reply from 173.194.33.23: bytes=32 time=39ms TTL=57 Reply from 173.194.33.23: bytes=32 time=55ms TTL=56 Reply from 173.194.33.23: bytes=32 time=39ms TTL=56 Reply from 173.194.33.23: bytes=32 time=40ms TTL=57 Reply from 173.194.33.23: bytes=32 time=64ms TTL=57 Reply from 173.194.33.23: bytes=32 time=39ms TTL=57 Reply from 173.194.33.23: bytes=32 time=40ms TTL=56 Reply from 173.194.33.23: bytes=32 time=82ms TTL=56 Reply from 173.194.33.23: bytes=32 time=40ms TTL=57 Ping statistics for 173.194.33.23: Packets: Sent = 87, Received = 87, Lost = 0 (0% loss), Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds: Minimum = 39ms, Maximum = 94ms, Average = 62ms I ran the tests at 2am to be sure congestion was not an issue (pings spike to ~250ms during the day, jitter is ~100ms). Tracert at 2am: 1 32 ms 9 ms 18 ms XX.XX.XXX.X 2 29 ms 27 ms 29 ms 64.59.173.146 3 37 ms 59 ms 47 ms 66.163.76.58 4 40 ms 42 ms 61 ms 66.163.76.154 5 39 ms 57 ms 38 ms 74.125.48.233 6 48 ms 63 ms 39 ms 209.85.249.32 7 54 ms 41 ms 41 ms 209.85.253.24 8 41 ms 74 ms 39 ms 173.194.33.23 I'm directly connected to the modem, with no routers or other hardware involved. Connecting a different computer had the same result, so there should be no software issues. Pinging the modem (Motorola SB5102): Ping statistics for 192.168.100.1: Packets: Sent = 104, Received = 104, Lost = 0 (0% loss), Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds: Minimum = 1ms, Maximum = 32ms, Average = 14ms As I happen to have another modem (SB5101), I tried that with the same result: Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds: Minimum = 1ms, Maximum = 32ms, Average = 15ms I haven't pinged the modems before (that I can remember), is this normal? In any case, jitter was not normal back when Shaw was working properly (years ago?). Are the modem's ping spikes to blame for the jitter, and if so, what options do I have to remedy that?