A few minor gliches here. I had to log out and then in several times. Not as bad as some days lately.
Took several attempts to close application and log-in before I was back online. Probably 30 to 45 seconds or so. I have also noticed that I lose the connection or things freeze up if I have a very heavy volume stock on my LII and Time and Sales, although today's dropped connection doesn't apply. I can't believe I'm saying this but I actually am pleased it was "just" once. I'd probably feel different if I had a position at the time. 30 seconds can be an eternity when you're daytrading. This thread has made me wonder about the reliability of other prop firms and their remote connections and stability. Any Bright, Assent, or other prop remote traders want to chime in? Maybe in the grand scheme of remote prop trading Echo's performance is average....?
Thanks for all the replies. Learninglisted, I think you must be having some problems on your end. Echo traders don't seem to be hesitant about posting when frequent major problems are occuring (see earlier posts on this thread). I haven't had nearly as many problems as you have recently. I was primarily interested in seeing if others were having the same trouble on Tuesday before I spent a lot of time checking things out in detail on my end. I'm happy to say I didn't have any problems today. Hope you all were as fortunate.
tdoc, if the problems indeed are on my end, I'd love to know what they are. Why do I lose my Echo connection but am still able to refresh Internet Explorer pages (one of which refreshes automatically, a subscription to Briefing.com and their "In Play" section)? Why does my e-mail refresh still function? Why do my trade-ideas.com streaming alerts continue to function? If it was indeed my internet connection, I shouldn't be able to have those applications functioning either, right? I have a multi-monitor setup and my Echo trading screen will show a disconnect and on the screens next to it I see the applications mentioned above refreshing successfully! I've got 784MB of RAM and a recent P4 system. Task Manager indicates that the Echo software is NOT hogging resources let alone maxing them out. With all those applications running I still have over 500MB of available RAM all the time. BTW, I've had this problem while using both EchoPro and EchoTrader 2. I'm not trying to slam Echo here - I think the people are great and the response to phone calls is EXCELLENT. I'm trying very hard to be loyal to Echo, but these dropped connections are worrisome. As a relatively new trader hoping to increase share size gradually, doing so becomes that much more difficult if you're always wondering in the back of your mind if the connection will be lost once a trade is put on. One thing's for sure, I put my stop orders in immediately after my trade is executed. I just hope I won't lose the connection before I get a chance to submit the stop orders or while waiting to get filled on an already submitted order.
I hear ya. I've got a system similar to yours, and a reliable internet connection. I have no idea why this happens. Have you talked to Dan? He might be a little more helpful than some of the other support folks (you know, no problems here!, must be on your end). I listen to echoforum daily, and you can tell when they are having problems in the Chicago office. I always have problems at the same time, but they don't always seem to be having trouble when I do. Good luck. Let us know if you find some answers.
Thanks tdoc. No problems today, but I only traded half the session. C Robinson was kind enough to PM me with some suggestions, i.e. changing servers on Echo's end. I didn't even know that was an option. All the best.
I think the problems that Echo is experiencing are inherent with any company who tries to create their own quote and charting software. What I don't understand is why they are doing it. Why doesn't Echo partner with a company like ESignal who has been doing it for years. Just by hooking up with ESignal's datafeed opens up all kinds of possibilities for 3rd party chart and anlysis software packages. Echo/Pax should only concentrate they software efforts on the order entry platform making sure that in integrates with as many third party data feeds as possible. The last thing we need in this industry is another charting package. I personally talked to ESignal about this issue a couple of years ago. The rep mentioned that they were very interested in partnering with Echo but they were given the cold shoulder. I think this alternative needs to be revisted. Any thoughts from anybody at Echo?
Bmont, Maybe I'm misunderstanding your post, but to my knowledge EchoPro is a Sterling product, not an in-house designed software application, while EchoTrader2 is an InstaQuote application. (EchoPro is by far the more superior product with excellent charts; unfortunately it does not offer server-held stops for Nasdaq stocks). Have a good weekend.
Thank you for the correction. EchoPro is a Sterling Product. However, the do have a very strong relationship with Pax/Echo. I also believe that the EchoPro Product uses the HyperFeed data feed. I believe the problems that I am experiencing have very little to do with the datafeed and more to do with the EchoPro software. If Echo was to support the Turbofeed product from Esignal this would open up all kinds of possibilities of using other software packages and tools and let Echo/Sterling concentrate all of their resouces to the direct access part of the platform (i.e. order entry, order management, position management) I believe this is what MBTrading did. They have a product called MBT Navigator that integrates with ESignal, QCharts, DTNiQ, etc. http://www.mbtrading.com/integration.asp I think Echo's direction should be create their own 'MBT Navigator' which is integrated into various data feeds. This is what I'm proposing.