Reading this thread gave me a different idea. Can 2 users for the same account be on 2 separate servers? If so, then I may want to switch one of my user ids over to a different server to avoid a single failure point.
I doubt it. The coordination of margin availability (or cash) between servers prior to allowing a trade would be difficult and would certainly add to the delay in entering a trade. It might also result in IB's magic margin fixer closing some positions if the two users got the account into trouble with some high volatility issues unbeknownst to one another. The other problem might be in handling "self-dealing" (painting the tape) with two users inadvertently creating a pattern that might draw regulatory scrutiny. They could implement a lock on one user while the other had a trade working (market order) but that would prevent the other user from exiting\flattening a position for a bit. Not good if you are a scalper. Of course there is always IB's ever popular Customer Service for an authoritative answer instead of us ET bozo's. Jack
this just happened tonight... 21:23:30 User: Submit Order SELL 1 HHIN7 HHI.HK JUL07 Futures at 13472 21:23:57 User: Cancel Order SELL 1 HHIN7 HHI.HK JUL07 Futures at 13472 21:23:57 System: Cancel confirmed SELL 1 HHIN7 HHI.HK JUL07 Futures at 13472 on HKFE 21:24:07 User: Submit Order SELL 1 HHIN7 HHI.HK JUL07 Futures at 13463 21:24:16 System: Acknowledged by exchange SELL 1 HHIN7 HHI.HK JUL07 Futures at 13463 on HKFE 21:24:16 System: Sold 1 HHIN7 HHI.HK JUL07 Futures @13467 on HKFE the orders turn blue but don't go to green- never acknowledged (btw, the system was not down or resetting @ the time- never went pink or anything; the reset came 1/2 hour early tonight). it traded right thru every one of these. as it was coming up to the lunch, i just kept canceling until one stuck. as you can see, i gave the first one 27 fucking seconds and it never turned green. finally, one stuck. note how the system confirms teh cancel but can't seem to acknowledge the order. bizarre and infuriating when the market is moving fast (which is usually- got lucky tonight). little wonder i'm trading single contracts, though i was hung out to dry like this with 6 contracts a few weeks ago- that one was good for over $1m. worth noting, again, that this has happened on 2 different PC's using 2 different internet connections, different versions of java and TWS too. iow, it's IB, not me. this exact problem has happened about 15 times, this is independant of server down issues- this only happens when things are *seemingly* connected and ok. now kiwi, do you think i have grounds for an adjustment? ib doesn't think so (or hasn't to date). ib also has no answers, nor does it attempt to answer, as trouble tickets seem to go into the circular file. i will be switching to the HK server this weekend. thanks for all the replies, guys- i had no idea people had posted since lst night until i just signed in.
someone pointed out that it's better to ask IB than post on ET. this and several other posts show this is quite wrong (exception goes to our 12 year old kiwi who desperately needs a time out in the corner and an expanded vocabulary beyond the playedoutsince1990 'wanker'). i inquired about 2 dif account and the same trader who advised against HK server since i trade US makets told me that tfr between 2 dif. ib accounts took a day (not practical). now i learn it's 2 minutes- that solves a lot of problems there, as i don't have to have twice the capital. and, yes, there needs to be capital in a backup account with another broker to be large enough to rescue me if/when IB (whichever server) goes down and i'm in a position. thanks again for the info, all...
gang04 ... your attempts to rewrite history aside ... you are still a wanker. But please, put your paper trading and excuses to the side. Come, join us and trade the HSI.
I reckon you possibly have some sort of data comms problem somewhere. Just because you have two different ISPs doesn't mean that the route taken via the different ISPs does not transit the same router somewhere in the net, or some routing config is screwed up somewhere. It might be at the IB end of things, but I would think there would be a lot more complaining going on here if it was a generalised issue with IB. My approach technically would be to get onto a paper trading account, turn off SSL, put on a line sniffer and have a look at what is going on.
actually, from the sounds of it, i may be the only one who was stupid enough to take bad advice from an ib trader- trying to trade on the HKFE using the US server! it has never happened while trading the US markets. i PM'd Steve, the ib guy who posted to this thread- i'll report back what he says. chat, conversations with overseas and US support has yielded zip in terms of answers or even a desire to help me. like i said, i am going to change to the HK server friday and hope that ends the problems. if they continue, then i'll explore more detail. thanks for the input.
Hey, guys Hong KONG market has a tradition of make the drastic turning point in August, so watch out, there might be some huge downward movement next month. You might be able to see some several hundred points of lunch break gap, just think ! Gangof4, clear the connection problems or it can be very dangerous then.
A further thought. If you have two ISPs, you have two modem/routers. These are not by any chance sited on the same local area network and configured with the same default local IP address (eg 192.168.1.1). If so, you are guaranteed to have problems. It might even work a bit, but you will most definately have problems.
Every broker has issues - and when they do you can bet that many dudes are going to bitch about them here. However, there appears to be one constant on ET - everytime someone bitches about IB their drooges come out to attack the already irate poster - often with eloquent replies