Yes,it seems the addition of PS2 isos really lifted the traffic and consequently reduced the speeds.If EP went donation-only,I mean, a fixed and relatively small fee(let's say $10) every month, I think it would be fair, because, it's simply the largest ROMS,ISOS and games source in internet, and most of the the files can be directly downloaded.
It's funny how a site which has a extremely large amount of traffic and thus very limited bandwidth, barely asks visitors for donations, and even gives them the chance to disable ads.This is just top class attitude.And a lot of sites which have very limited content to offer for its visitors asks for high amount of donations.It's like the things are reversed!