There was a time when my entire internet connection was so dastardly unstable I couldn't stay on line for more than a few minutes. I discovered by happenstance that as long as i kept one particular datafeed going, my computer would never lose its connection. So, even when not trading, even on Sundays, I always had that datafeed "up," so I wouldn't have to worry about connectivity. THEN, when i cancelled that data feed ( reluctantly, because I associated it with a stable internet connection) I discovered that I had absolutely no more problems in staying online. It was the cause and the cure.
Frankly, its the attitude that irritates me. Why should we have to become telecommunications experts to use IB? How is it that we learn from people on this thread that there might be problems with line quality, or that internet service providers may interfere with the line periodically, or that hardware routers may cause problems. A quality brokerage should have a reccommended protocol for connecting that the customer can rely on, a knowledgeable staff to help you get set up and a way of troubleshooting that gets the customer back online quickly. I get the impression that the folks at IB are simply not interested in providing much in the way of service unless or until a lot of accounts leave the building. Until recently, IB could just ignore problems like these because other brokerages did not not match IB's commission rates, and because IB's API was the only one that was available to third party developers without charge. Thats all changing now. TrackTrade, and several others are making thier API's available to developers, and I know of several firms that are matching or beating IB's commission rates. I figure its only a matter of a couple of months before IB'scompetitors make it so attractive that you can't help but move over.
steve, you couldn't be further from the truth. I know the help desk spends countless hours assisting clients on getting hooked up. I know of others where the programmers or the technical folks call the client and specifically spend time trying to isolate and solve problems. There is a technical group that specifically deals with these issues as well and many of the people on these boards have again utilized their services. that comment alone makes no sense and absurd. should we also tell you that you need a computer as well? It is no secret that if you want to trade over the internet with a direct access provider, that you should have a stable internet connection and that your router shouldn't withhold data. there are some legitimate gripes on this thread but a few of you are now down to petty bickering. Those who've been with us for a while, know that we'll continue to address and solve any issues as the arise.
Def: I can only go by my own experience. No one advised me of any of the potential problems I am now experiencing. You comments seem defensive. I got NO guidance from anyone at IB as to how to reliably obtain a consistent connection. I had to read about the problems with internet connections here at ET. You never mentioned any of the problems that others here have talked about (Maxpi and many others). I'd like to know who these people are who are receiving this service, and if any other posters are receiving this great service, I would like to hear about it now so we can have a balanced view of the situation. I am always glad to learn something that can change my point of view. Steve46
steve, you miss the point. nevertheless, type in "packet loss" on the search windown on IB's home page. you may learn a few things about how to check your internet connection. you may want to look at a few of the other FAQ's as well. i think all the information that you say we aren't supplying to you is on our web site.
First, compliments to def for always trying to solve troubles and answering people's quesitons. def is probably the most helpful and patient IB employee out there, it is hard to deal with anybody else at IB on such an intelligent and civilized basis, that is if you ever get to talk to anybody there, anyway. Thank you, def. Other than that, IB, once upon a time, was the broker of choice for the retail trader, because regardless of lack of service and the like (due to full automation), they were known to be very stable, and particularly offering the lowest rates of all out there. Today, the wind has changed a little. IB is far from stable, I have had several disconnections this week, and my line is not unreliable. I have a tracerouter that visually pings and traces the route to IB's server (in my case gw4.ibllc.com), and the host was fully unreachable several times in a row. One day this week, I got disconnected several times in a row, for several minutes, and upon verification with a trading friend on the other end of the world (UK), I figured that that friend had exactly the same problems, just saying "appalling". Fine for the occassional trader, who uses large server-based stops for protection and trades small size, but certainly not the kind of reliability any professional futures or, god beware, equities trader could even remotely accept. That is reliability. Score = Low. Shame it's come to that stage. Now comes the rates: Well, that's a shame, isn't it? Time ago, I went with IB for they had the lowest rates. Now they're hardly better than poor. $4.50 /RT retail for futures still, while other brokers out there are offering <$3.50, some $3.30 and less with volume. Where's your competitive edge gone? Any flexibility? I think IB should stop defending themselves, shut up and put some money into serious upgrading of server reliability, redundancy and updating of trading rates. This is well-meant and very sincere. If they don't, they will get the bill sooner or later. Traders are very impatient fellows. They only have to lose a couple of K or opportunities a few times and they'll run away and get the next best deal. After all, there's plenty out there now. And once a bad experience with a broker sticks, they'll never go back. That's a client lost for lifetime. To top it all off you get some bad propaganda, too. And never underestimate the impact of propaganda in a word-of-mouth community like that of trader's. As for myself, I have had enough and will only use IB for "emergency hedging" now. I will probably be closing out my now already rarely used IB accounts completely soon, to go to safer shores, with much lower rates, better platforms and much higher reliability. IB management, think about what it is you want. If you don't take your future into your own hands - we'll take it into ours. Sincerely, Scientist.
scientist, you are way off, you've just insulted the numerous people at the firm whom i'd consider more intelligent than me. i must admit, though while you guys test me often, i normally have no problem keeping my cool outside of trading hours. However, since you're doing it now forgive me as I say that for someone claiming to be so smart, you should know your comment is asinine. in any event, you state that you had one bad week. outside of this past week I think we've done pretty well and even with the short amount of time that some of our connections were down, I still believe our reliability stands up well to most firms. thus again i believe your comments are way off the mark. good luck where ever you end up and to be fair, I'm sure you'll make a point of posting if and when you lose your connection to them. finally, if you want to discuss fees, think about two things: first, i assume we'll make a statement soon and i'm sure we'll make our mark. second, given most of the firms offering a cheaper fee don't self-clear, don't own their software and aren't nearly as efficient as we are, think about who will remain in business or will be able to maintain their current fee structures after the current price wars.
To be fair, Def, it would be a really good idea for IB and ALL OTHER platform providers to post an OBVIOUS link to information about troubleshooting an unstable connection. I never before heard the term "packet loss," and also, I never would have thought to run a search on that connection topic even if I were familiar with the term. Why are traders EXPECTED to be all-knowing about things such as this? This kind of information could be provided along with all the other instruction on how to use the TWS, don't you think? IB could lead the way in this matter! Now for the pulpit: Trading is probably as HIGH RISK as it can financially get. This is an adult business. I definitely feel that traders should not have to learn through the Blindside Elementary School of hard knocks that they may lose money due to something like internet connectivity/ data feed interruption/ unstable trading platforms, etc. YES these things are a part of the reality of online trading. BUT when did any of us hear or read anything about this by the VARIOUS on-line vendors? Certainly not at the trade shows. Allusions, yes! We are required to sign agreements that we will not hold the vendor liable for trading losses which are the result of an ALLUDED TO interruption of service or inaccurate data. I believe that INFORMED CONSENT should be the rule of the day. Don't you think a case could be made that before any company can claim a sanction from lawsuits for a flaw in service, that the company should provide some sort of EDUCATIONAL SERVICE regarding the potential problem the trader will encounter? Namely, exactly the BAD things that can happen, and specific and comprehendable information on coping with connectivity and bump-off problems.
Def and Others: We have use and tested numerous other brokers and in our opinion IB is still among the best if not the best over all, including reliability. However, they are now in the high end when it come to commission for Futures particular for high volume traders. As a consequence I use IB for testing and backup and another broker for the high volumes that we do.
And adding to this, IB is still the ONLY broker I know of that offers - Multicurrency accounts for all products (not just futures) - These accounts are SIPC insured (even if you only trade futures) This might not be a problems for people living in the USA but think about European traders (like me) - If I put 100K USD in a trading account and within months the EUR / USD has been rising from 0.80 to 1.20 (50%) that would have cost me â¬33K !!!!! - If I put 100K in an account I don't want to lose it because of financial problems on my brokrs / clearing firms side. This might not be a problem if you have an account with 5K.....but think about it. IB accounts have SIPC and a very stable firm. As for disconnection problems, I'm on the Swiss servers and I haven't had disconnections for a while... This doesn't say that IB should be fixing any problems on THEIR side. As I said before : Trading is not some kind of game. Commissions : I'm very glad with Def's : "first, i assume we'll make a statement soon and i'm sure we'll make our mark. " Improvements for IB : - Let people access more symbols than 40. (Make something like a minimum commission or else you have to pay so no bandwidth is wasted) - Create 'Spread-Orders' . Buy(sell) XXX and Sell(buy) YYY if XXX - YYY (or XXX / YYY or XXX + YYY) has a certain value. - I don't like to work with 3rd party software (Other than my own excel) and I heard a lot of people like to trade from a 'Dome' kind of trading ladder. Just my thoughts...