The Servers I think are pretty good, my PC isn't the best and I have one of the worst graphic cards, but my Ping Times are normal.
2nd Question: I belive it does, I haven't used it myself but the Pinger/Joiner comes with a lot of stuff
Try different servers, not many and all are laggy, if the map is a huge map has a alot of objects it will be laggy, also 56K'ers ruin the game for people on servers, that could be the problem with lag if it is the same server, Smoke also ruins the game if thrown too much by too many people smoke causes lag in servers..
Other than that I have to say that it is fine, I rarely get lag in a server, maybe 1 out of 200 maps I get a laggy map, or a very bad server room with the people in it, other than that it is fine
and runs smootly..
It could also however be your comp
uter, make sure your system requirements pass everything for the game, make sure you have a up to date graphics card, and I would recommend DSL/Cable for internet for the mutliplayer to run smoothly.
One last problem for your multiplayer is make sure you have your anti-virus off, that could help, and your firewall allows it.