Unless you have much better luck reading the news online, it's possible
that the link to the mail and remote nntp servers are what's slowing things
down rather than uqwk. Other packages, like souper, work similarly except
that souper runs from your PC. Even then, delays can occur.
I've found that gathering news and mail with readers such as Agent and
Virtual Access can experience the same type delays.
The advantage to using uqwk - all else being equal - is that the packet
is compressed, making the transfer quicker from the host to your PC.
For packages other than souper, check Kevin Martin's web page:
http://www.nic.com/~cannon/handson.html
Ken Gresham
kgresham@america.net