Replication over a slow network can be a real problem. There are however some actions you can perform to improve replication performance over a slow network:

- Make sure the retention of the replication is low (usually 72 hours or less will be fine).
- Decrease the value for the Distribution Agent parameter -CommitBatchSize.
  o CommitBatchSize is the number of transactions to be issued to the Subscriber before a COMMIT statement is issued.
  o The default value is 100.
  o You can decrease that up to a value of 1, if the network latency is really high.

- Increase the value for the Distribution Agent parameter –QueryTimeout.
  o QueryTimeout is the number of seconds before the query times out.
  o The default value is 300 seconds.
  o For high latency you could increase this to 3600 (1 hour), though this will clearly depend on your environment.

- Increase the value for the Distribution Agent parameter –LoginTimeOut.
  o LoginTimeOut is the number of seconds before the login times out.
  o The default value is 15 seconds.

- Also worth to verify that you are not affected by the Scalable Networking Package:
  o If you have installed Windows 2003 Service Pack 2, in either the publisher, distributor or subscriber, then also install this public hotfix:
   
    An update to turn off default SNP features is available for Windows Server 2003-based and Small Business Server 2003-based computers
    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/948496/en-us

    Or make sure that your Network card drivers are compatible with the SNP.

In order to investigate latency in replication you may uise these articles:

Measuring Latency and Validating Connections for Transactional Replication
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms151178.aspx

How to: Quiesce a Replication Topology
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms147385.aspx

Monitoring Performance with Replication Monitor
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms152768.aspx

For more information you may review these links:

Considerations for All Types of Replication
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms152479.aspx

Transactional Replication Performance Tuning and Optimization
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/2000/maintain/tranrepl.mspx

A Slow Network Is Causing Problems
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms151858.aspx

Replication Distribution Agent Utility
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa224345.aspx

SQL Server 2005 - Replication Enhancements
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms170959.aspx

Replication Scalability and Performance Enhancements
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms170983.aspx