Thank you both for your reply regarding speed and execution. I also wasn't aware that TS is dumping RJO. I'll have to look into that. Thanks again.
if you are hand/mouse trading you just need to worry about getting sub-second fills. if it takes more than a second to execute that's slow. IMO there isn't a reason to pay for 0 latency execution when hand trading. Your time warner (retail I assume) internet connection is probably a larger limiting factor than your platform. TWC is horrible - do you have an RCA modem or do you have the new "wide band" service? Ask about "wide band" it's 50mbps down/5mbps up - faster than the "turbo boost" of 768k up/15mbps down
If you use Ninja Trader or any of the screens that run on Rithmic's infrastrcuture and use Zen-Fire or Vision Financial Markets you may find using equipment at Steadfast's Chicago data center greatly reduces your latency. We have some users who have such a setup and they report good results. Steadfast is located in the same building as these systems and though the connection to Zen-Fire or Vision is through the internet, i doubt if the data leaves the building. You could run your screen on the machine at Steadfast and if it is running an automated strategy you get the benefit of very low latency regardless of your actual physical location.