Very handy and clear for those of us who don't really speak "computer" Thank you!
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Very well done. I do know that the spybot program works. I had really bad lag once , and after using Spybot search and destroy, the lag was completly gone.
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2) Client performance - framerates are dropping into visible problem area - usually below ~25 fps starts to be noticeable, and below ~15fps is genuinely difficult for most people to play.
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i do QUITE well at my avg of 5fps 
gogo compy 286!
Hi there. Since you clicked this post I assume you're having "lag" issues. You probably mean that you see the game get all choppy sometimes, and would very much like that not to happen. It happens a lot and it doesn't mean you've done anything wrong. Often it's fairly easy to fix.
Two types of lag
The big thing to get is that there are two things that people could mean by "lag". You can figure out which you have by getting the game to show you your framerate (command: /showfps 1) and netgraph (/netgraph 1)
1) Internet latency - framerates are fine but getting big red spikes on your netgraph. This is a connection problem somewhere between your computer and the CoX server. You will notice the whole game just doing nothing for a period of time, or what's called "rubberbanding", when you take a few steps then suddenly glitch back to where you were a second ago (this means your computer and the server got out of step with each other).
2) Client performance - framerates are dropping into visible problem area - usually below ~25 fps starts to be noticeable, and below ~15fps is genuinely difficult for most people to play. This is a combination of the game and your system. In the past few issues a lot of effects and textures have been modified or 'upgraded' to looker cool in the current competitive video game market. This means that the system required to get a decent framerate is now substantially beefier than it used to be a few years ago when the game came out.
Fixing network issues
First make sure it's not on your end. Make sure your wires are all plugged in firmly to the holes they should be.
If you use a router, try plugging in directly to the internet connection, bypassing the router. This should not be something you do permanently - routers are good - but will help you see if maybe you need to fix your router. If your router is the source of the problem, start going through the support steps for it, or just buy a new one - they're not incredibly expensive.
If you connect through wireless, try plugging in through a LAN cable instead and see if that helps.
Get and use the program "Spybot Search and Destroy" to make sure that you don't have other programs running, secretly hogging your network bandwidth.
If all that doesn't work, then unless you're a network guru you're probably in over your head - something is going wrong as your data bounces around the internet between your house and NCSoft's servers. Initiate a support ticket with BOTH your ISP and NCSoft, and they will help you find out where the problem is and work around it.
Fixing client performance issues
A lot of people get angry here, and I understand why. You bought a game that ran fine on your system, and now it doesn't. That sucks.
But the truth is, it's less useful to talk about "fault" than to figure out the solution.
1) Clean up your computer.
I'm not saying "you're a slob who can't take care of your computer". Remember we're in no-fault land. I'm saying you may get better performance if you follow a few steps to make sure that your software is not in the way of your gaming fun. Update all your drivers from the manufacturer websites. This especially includes your graphics card. Eliminate spyware using a program like Spybot Search and Destroy. Shut down all non-essential services that run in the background (such as Google Desktop).
2) Screw with your graphics settings.
Using the "showfps" command and the Advanced Settings in the game's options menu, see what happens when you change each setting one at a time. Take your particle count below 5000, because this seems to be a big one and was changed fairly recently. There isn't a "do this and it will work" solution here. Just use trial and error - change a setting, save the change, check your framerate. Repeat.
3) Upgrade your system.
No one likes to spend money, but computers are built to expire. The natural lifespan is about 1 year per $1000 you spent, but never more than 3 years. That said you can get another year out of an existing computer without spending another $1000.
There are general rules I could give here (get more RAM is almost always right, get a PhysX card is almost never right), but really it depends a lot on what you've got right now. Post as much detail as you know about your system on the Technical Issues Forum, and also post your budget. The folks there are very good about making sensible "bang for your buck" suggestions.
That's all I have, hope it helps.
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