Average pings to gw1.ibllc.com 252ms hdc1.ibllc.com 110ms ndc1.ibllc.com 250ms zdc1.ibllc.com 270ms mcgw1.ibllc.com.cn 260ms
I got pretty similar ping results on my computer. My network connection consists of a 100 Mbps optic fibre line, and wifi from the router to my computer. fast.com tells me that the resulting speed is 53 Mbps.
You only care about the server closest to your location. For me, that's cdc1.ibllc.com (located west coast US). I'm getting around 65 mS on wifi with fiber connection. Getting 86 mS to the east coast US server. 180 - 270 mS to Europe. https://tools.keycdn.com/ping https://wondernetwork.com/pings/New York
Looks like you are bottlenecked by your wireless connection. Guessing that you are using a wireless G router which has a max speed of 54 Mbps.
From a 1 Gbps AT&T fiber link: gw1.ibllc.com 23 ms hdc1.ibllc.com 231 ms ndc1.ibllc.com 23 ms (Apparently this is where TWS connects for me) zdc1.ibllc.com 107 ms mcgw1.ibllc.com.cn 221 ms My algos do struggle with getting orders in quickly. Takes up to 1,200 ms to get a confirmation back that my order made it to the exchange. This isn't exactly speedy service. No clue what they are doing during that time.
For margin and other order checks? 20ish looks good enough, but my connection to the nearest (Asia) server is above 100 which causes concerns.
You would assume, but why does it take so long? When looking at the exchange timestamps for the order execution (on a marketable limit order that executes "immediately") it varies from 200 ms to 1,200 ms. This may seem like splitting hairs until you look at algo trading and fast moving stocks. An awful lot happens in 1,200 ms and you can see it directly in the trade data from the exchange. The result is that retail algo traders end up at the back of the line. This disadvantage needs to be quantified and brought into the light.
If you really need that speed, then you want to run your algo off of a server closer to the exchange. Otherwise, for chart trading, that lag should not matter.
I should clarify that order entry times are not evenly distributed between 200 ms and 1,200 ms. More data is required to properly describe what is happening. But it's never "fast".
This is not a speed of light problem. The data travels about 130 miles per millisecond. IB will do whatever they do on their own servers and networks before sending to the exchange. So you can be in the same building as NASDAQ servers and it won't matter. The middle man (IB) is the delay.