As in many things in life "right" is a relative term. A new computer, not an expensive one just a relatively up to date one, will help in most cases when you are doing any multitasking. It is true that my TOS software does not take up much, but if I have outlook, excel, another quote service, and a couple web pages open then system resources can be quickly used up on an old computer. If you are complaining about the TOS charts being behind the TOS quote on occasion when the market moves very rapidly then it has nothing to do with you, it is a TOS problem. I know they are looking into it, but I don't know what the resolution is or when it will happen. That is why I always have the Prophet charts open and another quote feed, so I have three sources at which to look. TOS gives me unbeatable rates and service (I have looked around a lot and have yet to find a better deal for my needs) so I am willing to give them some slack while they are upgrading everything. If you were paying attention, their quotes became much faster after the December upgrade, so now they just have to get the charts faster during extreme moves. Like others, I would suggest the OP run the trace route and ping their server, check that his router and modem are OK, and keep an eye on system resources during any problems he might see to help pin point the issue. There can be several different problems in the computer, video card, drivers, router, modem, ISP, etc. You can't just say for sure it is one or the other without some investigation. Most people I know with old computers complain of slowness from a variety of reasons, few if any know to wipe out the hard drive and do a clean operating install on occasion.
Those with problems keep referring to charting. I have problems with lag time of sending orders (being acknowledge & to know what's happening with the order) & getting updated quotes (using Level 2). On regular days the lag time is maybe seconds, but on certain days (heavy markets?) it has been even minutes on my side--which other people don't seem to be reporting. Seemingly, that indicates something on my end, and the question is what. Specifically, on heavy days, the orders on my end may take 20 seconds to say "submitted" & even several minutes to know what's happening with the order. On those days there can be a delay of 5 minutes or more with online "chat" seemingly because of something on my end.
Option Trader, Thanks for clarifying. I have traded on my wife's old laptop through an old wireless router before and I have never seen order slowness except on the rare times that the broker is having an actual problem. Did you do a ping and tracert, what are your times? Your orders should be acknowledged and working almost instantly.
did you read my other post?? i described exactly what you should do to determine your problem, before you go out and buy a new computer. open task manager and watch your cpu usage. see if there is any correlation between high cpu usage and hiccups receiving quote data.
Thank you both. Ok, we did the above, and also talked to tek support. We saw how the the RAM maxes out early, and we spoke to tek support who recommend another 512 RAM (more important than the processor). Yes the CPU does show a high level of usage, which we understand to be because of the problem with the RAM.
Okay, we may have come up with the primary cause: I have hundreds of open orders operating at any given time, which technical support say is the probably cause of most of the issue.
Update: 1. We increased RAM to 1 gig. 2. We applied to increase our bandwidth to 2.5. 3. The technician noticed their was "noise" on our internet connection. 4. Since that was fixed we haven't had 5 minute delays, rather a maximum of 5-8 seconds it seems for e.g. level 2 quotes. 5. Because of the numerous open orders*, we were advised by technical support to get a new computer with a dual or quad processor, etc. as increasing RAM alone will not do the job. *because we are told the system keeps calculating & recalculating all open orders & open positions on an ongoing basis.
Anyone on here know of their server address so I can ping it and run my own ping tests to their server?