Esignal ain't what it's cracked up to be

Overall I am a 'relatively' happy customer in terms of the US feed reliability and charts [charts still aren't up to Qcharts standards in terms of readability and use of screen real estate ].

Two others points worth mentioning +, -

1. Symbol limits - I suspect one reason [of many] why Qcharts is so unreliable at times is that there are a significant number of users who suck/leech down considerable volumes of data for manipulation. Clearly I don't trade doing scans or the like [ and am sympathetic for those who do], but additional fees pay for additional hardware so the rest of us don't potentially suffer. Yes, tonnes of symbols are nice if you can use them, but if they are slow or simply stop streaming what’s the use ?

2. Esignal region and multi-product pricing -> counter intuitive [ stupid ].
The current arrangements in my view probably work against you Chuck, Jay, Andy & Co, rather than for you in terms of revenue.
If I like to trade equities in one country but futures in another - why does Esignal try to bucket me into a particular class/product ? Get global and respond to clients needs. [ This is where Qcharts could be dangerous if they offered international mkts & the feed was reliable. DTNiq unfortunately don't have a proper front end.]
A proper pricing policy that removed classes and region fees would probably yield Esignal a higher customer base.

A fair and sensible pricing catalogue should look as follows:

1. A basic feed fee ;
2. plus exchange fees [ no parasitic region fee, remember we're thinking global growth here ! ] ;
3. plus an optional charting fee .

Such a schedule would appeal to a wider customer base, plus avoids any potential cross-subsidisation - ie a feed-only user doesn't want to pay for charting/visual enhancements ; chart users would.

 

Contrary to some guys here, I am quite happy with eSignal. I have been subscribing just for a month, and maybe I am not that advanced of a user like the others here, but I think it is quite good even in its present state. (Not a whole lot of cust serv experience yet, though.)

What I like the most about eSignal is how fast it is developing. Just mere 6 months ago it still lacked some vital features for me, which was the reason I did not sign up then, but I was surprised to find that 7.2/7.3 had fixed those. They are really making strides! (imho). If they continue in the same pace, there will be soon little reason to look around.

Programmability is a vital feature for me, that's the reason I left QCharts. I like eSig C-derived language (JavaScript) with backtesting and program trading (paper as well as live) capabilities. Can anybody suggest any other software which does that? (with the same reliability data feed, at least.) It takes QCharts a year or more to post a new version, they still have not implemented any backtesting or programmability. eSignal, on the other hand, seems to come out with a new version on a monthly basis.

EFS still needs improvement in order to rely on it for real program trading, I think, but looking at the speed of development, I think program trading with eSig is a close reality.

 

Good points re excellent new features, and agree re the autoscaling ...

That's one thing I really like about esignal, too - they're on the leading edge of always adding new features that traders can use .. I especially like the ability to have customizable advanced chart formulas and other additions ..

It's one of those "hey I look forward to seeing what they come up with next" .. feelings in working with the platform over the years...

No other data feed service comes close in the innovation and new feature and data reliability categories that esignal offers... plus having the pres. of the company show up on a message board shows excellent service and being in touch with customers etc type of thing, imho.

And being able to run esignal on 6 monitors as I do, with a handful of other applications, with the stability/reliability I've had over the years (running win2k p4 system), is excellent ...

ken

 

I would switch tomorrow if suggestions 1-3 were implemented. I download historical data at night for whichever issues I'm analysing-- but I don't ever need more than 50 active symbols.

Right now, I'm only interested in US equities, ES/NQ/ZB, forex (optional), HSI and maybe some eurex stuff if I'm feeling frisky. I don't feel like paying for full esignal plus two region fees is a very goodl value. I understand if I'm not in esignal's target market, but I think a lot of IB customers with universal accounts might be in the same position. The old futures/stock bifurcation doesn't make a lot of sense any more.

Regards,
Laz

 

You never answered my question, just avoided it by sending me to the price matrix.

Why can I not get the 69 buck basic equity package, and add on the eurex fee with out paying for the whole seperate futures package? I don't use your charts, just your data feed. Seems like I should be able to add Eurex to the package for the eurex fee, and I would even be allright with paying the ridiculous 25 buck extra region rape, err, fee that you charge. I only need the data feed with access to US stocks level 1, us minis, and eurex futures.

Please respond. Thank you.

 

Speed,

consider that e-signal's eurex-feed always shows some lag, depends on your style whether that's a problem, for me it is.

 

At this point in time, the $69/mo (eSignal Equities Basic) package does not offer the European Futures exchanges. According to the Product Selection Matrix, real-time "International Futures Exchanges" are available in the eSignal, eSignal Futures, and eSignal Platinum packages. As mentioned previously, we are always reevaluating our offerings and pricing structure, and will take into consideration all the feedback on this thread in that regard.

 

This thread talks about the good news that a fix will be forthcoming soon for the delays on Eurex.

 

No offence, but we've been hearing that for more than a year already.