MKWII Noob

I used these servers a few years ago. I just set it back up, started playing, and quickly remembered why I had stopped playing.....

Getting left in the dust on every race! 

I can accept that there are players who have been playing this game for almost a decade and are better than me, but all of them?????

Going to guess that people are using cheats based on how badly I'm getting beaten.

What are the rules for cheating? Is it hush hush, a gray area, tolerated, or openly encouraged?

Assuming the last one, what are the common cheats that work online?

Don't get me wrong. I would rather everyone just play fair, but playing fair is boring when everyone else is cheating.