Sure it does under normal conditions. If I ping mktgw1.ibllc.com from Japan, it takes 203ms. If I ping IB in HK it takes 62ms. Try HK from your location. mktgw1.ibllc.com.hk If I ping a local address it takes 6ms. Try a local address where you are. It should be just a few ms.
Geographical distance is a small order effect. Let's do the computation. The speed of light (at which speed essentially packets move) in a vacuum is approximately 186,282.397 miles per second. Los Angeles to NY is about 2443 miles. We divide 2443 into 186,282 and we get .013114525... In other words, it takes 1/100 of a second for light (from our point of view. From the point of view of light it takes ZERO time. All distances go to zero at the speed of light in Special Relativity) to go from NY to LA, or 13 milliseconds, one way. For a retail trader, that makes zero difference. nitro
Guys get it right here ! The ping, geographic dist or # of hops (10 - 200msec), does not matter at all unless you have a low latency data provider or get data from the exchange directly. Most providers add delays of 100 - 3000(!)msecs. There are just 2 ways: Either house your low-latency system right locally at the exchange (i.e. "upstairs") or FIND A DIFFERENT TRADING STYLE so it just does not matter. I chose 2.