You could try the "multiple mining clients per card" tactics, so unstable connections might not affect you that much.
Also btcguild + Eligius had both some smaller troubles yesterday, maybe try them again after the weekend or so.
2% fee is kinda not that much in the short run, I just wanted you to be aware, that in the longer run it might hurt a bit (and even more with increasing difficulty! Every Bitcent you mine less right now can be a week worth of work in half a year!).
I took your advice and ran two miners on each card, one pointed at BTCguild and one at Eligius. I thought that was problem, as both kept disconnecting/idleing out, but then I tried getting them to work with just one miner on each card and had the same problems. Hopefully they both stabilize soon.