Checking connection delay with IB

I went through a few tests in order to find out how is my connection delay with the server.
Just jotting it up here in case you would like to do the same.

The easiest way is to look for this document:
https://www.interactivebrokers.com/download/IB-Host-and-Ports.pdf
There you will find the region you are in.

Open a command prompt and run a domain lookup query in order to retrieve the IP, this is useful as it will show the primary server along with the current server you are trying to reach. As a couple of examples, I tried the American general region and the Client Portal American East. Both point at the end to the same range of IPs.



Then hit a ping to that IP, bear in mind that IBKR IPs change over time, so if you don't get anything from your ping run the domain lookup query again in order to find the new IP.
I am over the other side of the pond in Europe, so they send me to the Irish server.



I got 20 milliseconds, fair enough.

What is your delay? Let's compare our connections?

 

Ping statistics for 64.190.196.12:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 7ms, Maximum = 9ms, Average = 8ms

 

Is your trading fully automated?
If you are doing manual trading, then it doesn't matter.
20, 40, 100 ms, even 1 sec will not make any difference.

 

It is, and I use limit orders. So I better have a good latency.

 

Try a tracert. Dropped packets are the real killer.

 

Do you know how much time it takes you to decide to put your order? And how much time it takes you to manually enter your order?
5, 6, 7 secs?

 

5 seconds and the price has already hit either my TP or my SL

 

Okay, I'll play along. Although my account is with IB US I guess that I get connected to their Asia server (hdc1.ibllc.com, 103.38.91.3). Received ping times: min 47.5, avg 47.9, max 48.4 ms (11 packets, 0% loss). Be aware that it is Sunday so there won't be a lot of traffic to that server at the moment. My trading, which is fully automated, is not latency sensitive, so these values won't have any serious effect.

 

If you want to know for sure which server you are connecting to, you can run https://www.wireshark.org/ and it will tell you.

Looking at the 9ms that Mervyn got I would say that you are correct and your connection does not go to the US directly.

 

To confirm I took a look in a previously downloaded Gateway logfile: It is indeed connecting to hdc1.ibllc.com