I'm using comcast cable internet, which I currently upgraded to 8Mbs Down and 2Mbs Up... I've noticed there are may companies that offer up to 15Mbs down. Someone told me that this doesn't matter at all? I'm very confused... what should I be looking for? Latency? I'm really confused about this whole tech aspect, I used to trade a t a shop and just recently started trading from home. T1 is probably out of the question... I'm a very quick scalped who trades the level II on lightspeed, any input would be greatly appreciated!
Yes you are primarily concerned about latency, you want it under 80 miliseconds or in that neighborhood. Obviously if you are real far away say trading from Europe it will be most likely in 180 mil range. I use Comcast too, in Denver, and you have slightly better speed than me. I am 8 down and 1.5 up. Maybe someone more tech savvy than me can chime in here. We have some IT ppl. on ET. You can sign up for dslreports.com they have some nice testing features or use pingplotter.com and ping your broker's server, if they allow it, and see what your latency is. Lastly, unless you are running a ton of apps that require bandwidth ( skype, tons of DOMS ) anything over 512k is going to enough IMO. P.S. If you are trading size look at getting a dual wan router, search on ET and google, and get DSL as a backup. I am interested in the Xincom, it's about 200 bucks.
I have had to deal with this issue in depth in the past. The speed doesn't make a difference at all beyond 1.2 to 1.4mbps depending on how many DOM of data you have to pull from your broker. The important issue is latency. Generally, latency is much better through DSL than cable. Cable is a shared connection with your neighbors and is subject to fluctuations (not good for a scalper). DSL, assuming you are the right distance from the Central Office (CO) and can get clean DSL at all (no coils on the line), then you will be better off scalping on that. Now, cable gives you a much bigger pipe which is great for charts and other tasks. Ideally, if you are used to trading from a shop, then you would be trading over a PTP line to the broker and using your cable for charts and other unsecured data. Since you are not in a situation where you can do that, I would at least get a DSL line and dedicate that to my trading machine and use the comcast connection for other stuff. Install your trading platform on your charting machine as well so that if DSL goes down, you can log in through your cable. This prevents you from having to use a dual-wan router, etc. Another thing you can do is have your DSL and cable set up and install a second Network Interface Card (NIC) on your trading machine with a line to your comcast router. You would configure this and turn it off. Then keep the NIC to the DSL connection turned on and trade over it. If DSL goes down, you can immediately enabled your second NIC and be able to trade through cable. Be sure to have a good quality UPS connecting everything from the modem(s) to the routers, to your computers, etc. This all depends on your setup and requirements. For me, the UPS is battery backing the trading machine and one of my trading monitors (the one that has my trading DOM's on it). My second UPS handles my charting machine with 1 monitor backed so I can save my work and shut down. If I were at home, I would have a third backup running routers and modems on the battery side. Once everything is hooked up, switch the fuse off for the circuit and see if your system continues to work. That's a lot of info, so read it a couple of times and feel free to ask questions. Cheers, FT71 PS: I forgot to mention. Do a ping test to your broker's servers using either the command prompt or a ping utility. You want to see as low a latency as possible. 40 ms or lower is best for scalping momentum.
Well these are my current options... It was a pleasure speaking with you. Per our conversation, it is hard for me to say in all honesty that these options would make such a huge difference based on your usage patterns, but there are definitely benefits to them. One other item some people in your postion may consider.. is simply having another network internet connection for back-up. In other words, if you took a DSL connection on top of a cable connection, should your cable connection go out, the DSL comes in on totally different setup (phone line,s instead of cable lines) and would almost definitely be up. Same vice versa.. if DSL went down, cable would probably be up. That aside, the highest quality option top to bottom is a T1. In terms of latency... the time it takes for your signal to reach the internet, in terms of jitter... the fluctuation in latency, in terns of routing... the ability of your router to take the most efficient route and handle multiple bandwidth requests off your network and in terms of consistent full speed 24 x 7, as well as less downtime and faster repairs and technical support. That will run you $368 - $399 a month with a free managed and monitored router and all install costs waived. On the DSL side, there are shared line ADSL options on the low end. This is where you share a phone line for voice and for DSL and you put a filter on it to separate the 2. The upload speed is capped far lower than the download speed and the speed is not guaranteed in any way. Latency and jitter will be similar to cable. Line quality as well as subscription ratios on your area will significantly affect and change the amount of bandwidth you receive from time to time. Options here for business class run from $49 a month to about $95 a month and go up to 6 mbsp down and 768kbps up. Next, we have ADSL on a naked DSL loop. You do not share this line with any voice, but a stand alone line is brought in exclusively for the DSL. This increases quality and lowers latency, but all in all is similar to regular ADSL. They run in the upper $80's to about $114 a month. This would probably be your best option to start. I would recommned Telnes for all these solutions in your area. I will detial it out further should you wish to make a move at some point... but as I mentioned, they include taxes and surcharges in their price. They have a lot more human overisght to the automated systems, which allows for a far better experience in installation as well as ongoing technical support. They service only business customers and concentrate far more on their subscription ratios than AT&T, COVAD and others. The real killer is that they monitor their routers even for ADSL! This is where they ping the router every few seconds and if it fails to respond, they auto-open a toruble ticket and begin repairs. This is typically available only on higher end T1s on the likes of AT&T for ver $500 a month. Telnes provides it on their $368 T1s... but also on even the low end ADSL products. IT will also give you a basci web interface to monitor statistics, which help you determine usage patterns and if an upgrade of some sort would be of value to you. Next, we have the SDSL products. This always comes on a stand alone loop. Here, the upload speed is the same as the download speed, and the rated speed is guaranteed 24 x 7. Latency and jitter is typically lower than ADSL and Cable,a lthough not as low as on a T1. It is a far more stable product, and is the closest thing to a T1. Based on your estimated distance from the DSLAM serving DSL, they would attempt to give you as much as a 1.125mbps circuit. That would run about $198 a month. If they fail to achieve that speed, you will have the option of walking from the contract without penalty or deciding to try for a lower speed at alower cost. As metioned previously, if you are strongly considering a move, I can take any or all of these options and work them in further detail with you. Im thinking I will go ahead with the ADSL...
Great post. We've experimented with various internet connectivity and concluded that DSL/T1 was superior to cable. Latency is key. We run over 500 symbol quotes real time over a T1. You don't need mps for trading. You need zero drops.