Firstly I will go over actual game lag, and easy ways to fix it. As in frames dropping and things of that nature. The first thing you can do to combat the problem is turn all the higher video settings down by hitting Esc--Video Settings-- To turning down sight distance, fancy to fast, no head-bobbing, smooth lighting off, and don't limit frame rate. Now this is the obvious fix you've more than likely done before, so secondly you can restart your computer if it was at one point faster than it is now. This will clear the RAM and allow you to load things faster upon it starting up again.
The third step in clearing up lag is a tad more technical, and comes with associated risks. Load up Minecraft, enter single-player and pause. Now open Task Manager by hitting control+alt+delete at the same time. Once in, select the "processes" tab. If you have opened Minecraft you should see a "Java.exe" in the list of ongoing processes. Right click the process, and another list should appear. Scroll down to "Set Priority" and select high or above normal(see below). Now some people have problems with their computers overheating or fans spinning out of control, and this could be a solution to that if you would like to actually set it lower.
Note: adjusting this, or anything else could cause serious harm to your computer, but more than likely will not do anything but speed up Minecraft.
Lastly there is connection issues. This information isn't helpful for only Minecraft, but a myriad of other online games. First things first either go to speedtest.net on your PC or if you'd like to test your connection from your iDevice, download Speedtest from the app store. Speedtest is an internet speed test, and once there hit begin. If the ping is above roughly 150, with a download of below 5, and an upload of below .5, you may just have a bad internet provider. Remember, if you are the one wanting to host a server you'll need a good connection and an especially good upload speed. So if you clock in with a bad test, try restarting your router. When it comes on it will clear old processes and start fresh. After this make sure no one is downloading or uploading unnecessarily big files to ensure speed is maintained.
Next, I will go over connecting to friend's run-from-home servers. If you don't have it and connect through it already, I'd recommend looking into Hamachi. Hamachi basically makes the computers have the ability to exchange information faster, resulting in faster load times and an improved experience overall. If this doesn't help and your connection is good, make sure the host has a good connection. If the host has a terrible connection ask him to reset his router, or consider just moving server location altogether. Note: this doesn't work on servers being housed in a server farm on the other side of the continent.
If none of this seems to help I'd recommend looking into buying either a.) A new router, preferably a Linksys, or b.) Internet from a new provider. Just a heads up, most AT&T packages are rip-offs with limited usage, Grande throttles, Time Warner Cable overcharges, and you will have to find an alternative for your local area without me sadly, but the above is my opinion on IPs. On the subject of upgrading, if the lag doesn't fix itself look into upgrading your graphics card, your RAM, or your processor. Be sure to research before buying though!
Cheers to a faster Minecraft experience, and as always, happy mining! If you have any problems with these suggestions or would like to add your own, feel free to drop a question in the question box.
