Feed delay

Discussion in 'Trading Software' started by PitBull, Dec 11, 2001.

  1. flier

    flier

    You can try Ping plotter for free. It showers the same things as the tracert, ping, netstat commands, except it puts the information in a more appealing graphics format- and would be easy to use. Cost $15. Here is a link. http://tde.tucows.com/preview/195100.html

    The home address of your quote provider may or may not be the actual server that you are receiving your quote data from. www.quote.com for instance has about 30 servers with 30 separate addresses, so to tracert to a specific server I can run netstat to get the address, or it also is displayed in the bottom righthand corner.

    flier
     
    #11     Feb 3, 2002
  2. faction

    faction

    Pinging your data provider will only tell you a small portion of the story, as far as I can tell. Perhaps the connection between you and your data server is fine, but perhaps their connection to their data provider isn't so great. Or, perhaps they do some data scrubbing that is delaying your data feed. Pinging your server would tell you none of this.

    Rather, I would suggest comparing the opening trade of some high volumed stock (take MSFT as an example) to a reliable clock (http://www.time.gov/ is a good example). That would give you a good idea how off your feed is.

    Also, you could compare your datafeed to one of the readily available free data feeds on the Internet, like ScotTrade. I have no idea how delayed their data is, but at least it would give you a cheap and easy benchmark for your own data.

    Cheers.

    faction.
     
    #12     Feb 11, 2002
  3. Faction

    Thanks for the link but how do you know the clock is not delayed?
     
    #13     Feb 11, 2002
  4. yeah I am not even sure the NYSE clock is in synch with the atomic clock.... at least when I hear the bell on CNBC.
     
    #14     Feb 11, 2002
  5. This morning I put the government clock on two different computers, one with satellite feed and one on 56k and compared them. The 56k was one second behind the satellite. I then compared the satellite with t&s for the ES and it seems to be right on. However there is no way to be sure how much delay there is on the satellite. I would like to set my own clock to government time and compare it but cant figure out how to be sure my setting on my clock is correct! Any way that I get the official time is subject to some delay! Any ideas? I'm pretty sure any delay is less than a second and doesnt really matter too much but I am curious.
     
    #15     Feb 12, 2002
  6. faction

    faction

    easyrider,

    there is no way to know for 100% sure that the time you are seeing is absolute, however, this service is managed by the U.S. federal government, whom, of course, is 100% trust worthy. :p

    If you want to keep your clock constantly in sync with such a clock, I would recommend installing one of the many free atomic clock utilities. I have used Rocket Time in the past, and it has worked well. Give it a download here.

    Cheers.

    faction.
     
    #16     Feb 13, 2002
  7. I'm sure the source clock is accurate. My concern is the delay in getting to my computer and that posed the puzzle of how would you set another, independent clock on the desk, to be in sync because whatever method you use, the computer, over the phone, etc. could have some delay in the delivery. The only way I could see to do it would be to go to wherever the clock is and set it there, while your looking at it. I wonder if they have a branch office in rural Georgia?.:D
     
    #17     Feb 13, 2002
  8. Use a program like NISTIM32 to set your computer's clock to the NIST time. The program computes the link delay and factors it into the setting.
     
    #18     Feb 14, 2002
  9. Kicking,

    For Nextrend, ping comrte.nextrend.com. That is the addy for their quote server.

    Easyrider,

    What satellite service are you using? Just curious (I'm using Starband until next month).

    Best regards to all,
    Jim
     
    #19     Feb 14, 2002
  10. TNO-Mike

    TNO-Mike

    Saw this dicussion on ping tests and I thought I'd pass on a valuable link about the subject. RealTick.com has a self-help section that could be benificial in understanding how these tests work and how to run them. Who you are pinging will change of course, but the basics of how to run one and how to understand the test is all there. Check it out, http://www.realtick.com/support/support_selfhelp.asp.

    Also someone mentioned the time on your clock, for RealTick if your time zone is off that can cause problems so for those RT users out there make sure you have the time set to your particular time zone. Not sure about the time zone for other platforms so please contact your broker or data feed provider on this subject.

    Regards,

    Michael Garvey
    Client Services
    Terra Nova Online
     
    #20     Feb 14, 2002