Trading by Satellite Internet -- will this really work?!?

I live in a very rural area of Europe and trade over a landline broadband internet connection. The connection is by current standards rather slow with a speed of 2.5 Mbit. Although the connection is usually reliable, there are times when it will go down for half an hour at a time. As I am mostly an end-of-day trader, the lack of speed doesn't really affect my trading style, but I would like to have a more reliable connection.

I am considering satellite internet. Such a connection will have a much higher latency rate and I've read numerous sources that point out that satellite internet is not practical for "real time" applications. While this would definitely be an issue for certain online games, and perhaps even for scalpers, I am not sure if latency would be a substantial problem for an end-of-day trader.

The Wikipedia article on satellite internet mentions that the latency of satellite connections can impact the initial connection to a secure server. I am wondering if there are other "real world" problems with satellite internet that would rule out its use for trading.

If there are any forum members who have used a satellite connection for trading, could you share some of your experiences, insights, or feedback on this topic.

As an alternative to satellite internet, I am considering a 3G mobile internet connection via USB internet stick. With a special antenna, I have been able to establish a 1.8Mbit connection with a 3G base station that is 10km distant. However, it remains to be seen whether this connection would be stable.

 

Those USB sticks are great as either a backup or mobile connection.

 

Check this Peplink dual WAN product recommended by someone on ET
http://www.amazon.com/Peplink-Balan...TF8&colid=1NEZW6A4WKK1M&coliid=I2YO1GPXYZ9TE5

If speed is not your concern, your current broadband + 3g uSB stick on this dual wan router will provide you redundant connectivity.
If one connection goes down then it will automatically fall over to another instantly without disrupting trading applications.

 

With satellite you will lose the connection in heavy rain, I understand.

 

not really... your brokers system will see that you logged in from one IP address but now you are trading from another. It will require that you login again...

 

if this is true, then it is problematic.

can someone confirm this?

 

confirmed. again this is good that they make you re-log in. for ex, this prevents someone else from trading your account.

 

I'm going to do that with my TMobile cell phone in the near future. I'll find out just how unlimited their "unlimited" plan is. I can possibly add one of those usb sticks to the account.

 

If you're going the 3G route, can you put up tower and antenna in your yard in the general direction of the cell tower? If so, you can just run a coax cable back to your router.

Take a look at this site for ideas. Hopefully you can find a something similar in Europe - http://3gstore.com/products/76_3g4g_antennas.html

 

Just keep in mind that if it's raining/snowing very hard, your satellite Internet connection could degrade dramatically or even drop completely, depending on your geographical location.