I'm just about to open an account and begin to learn trading. Of course my cable connection which was awesome last year has the last few months turned to crap. Its down as often as its up. (damn you to hell comcast!!!!) So, no way I'm going to trade on this POS connection. What's better than cable? Is there a dedicated connnection I can get for a higher price that I won't have to share with others?
yup, you can put a line into a broker's servers if they allow for it, be prepared to pay out big bucks. Call the broker of your choosing and ask them who they recommend and how much they think you'll need to spend.
I had cable for several years and like the speed. It would, however, stop for several seconds often several times per day. My current DSL probably does not test out as fast, but does not seem slower. It been on 24/7 with no problems
http://www22.verizon.com/fiosforhome/channels/fios/highspeedinternetforhome.asp 15 Mb connection for $49.95/mo
Speed is not important. Up-time and latency are paramount. Your connection won't get taxed unless you are running 50 charts and downloading stuff as you trade. I find DSL to be more reliable than cable. Depending on how capitalized you are, you might consider an internet T-1 (not a private line) to get the uptime and service needed to trade. This can run between $150 to 300 per month. Don't go with wireless or satellite since both the latency and reliability are not consistent. Good luck.
Is there a good way to control latency when you have little control over the number of "hops" your data passes through?
If you can get DSL then go with that. Other than that for residential service you can get a partial or full T1, but they are rather costly depending on your location.
As an end user there is little you can do with regard to latency (other than taking your business to an ISP that meets your needs). If your ISP is "well-connected" to major internet backbones on the internet it can help get your packet where its going without taking unnecessary detours or extra hops both of which are going to add latency. The best way to find this out is to find someone who has the service you are considering and asking them to do a traceroute for you to whatever destination(s) are you concerned about. Latency is also a function of your speed. Insertion latency is how long it takes to get your packet on the wire. Also as your utilization increases latency will increase because packets get queued up waiting to get transmitted. If you are using your broadband at 90% of utilization you will see much higher latency than if you are using it at 10%.
For anything short of a dedication point-to-point connection to your broker, you are going to share your connection. With cable, you start sharing at the neighborhood level, with DSL you start sharing at the CO (local telephone central office). Your best bet is to check out what is available to you at your location and read the reviews at a place like DSLReports.com - there are good and bad DSL providers too. And by all means, if Verizion FIOS (fiber) service is available to you then run, don't walk, to sign-up... http://www22.verizon.com/fiosforhome/channels/fios/HighSpeedInternetForHome.asp
Looks like T1 or DSL for me $300 a month isn't that much for a business expense. I'm soooooo through with comcast cable. It's funny today I called them to get a technichan to look at my set up for the 3rd time, magically the connection started working after my call, just like last time. And just like last time tomorrow it will be up and down again. I think they are playing a juggling game with the amount of people on in my area, and somehow trying to guess when certain people use and don't, and then doll out bandwidth. Problem is I'm not downloading porn, (ok sometimes I am), or playing video games, I run already run a home online business and need 24 hour access. This is my income!!! At least with crappy dial up I expected crappy connections and headaches, $50 bucks a month for this...... The hell with them, I wish there was someone to yell at Arrrrrrrrrrrrgh!. Comcast = Crap internet connection= Comcrap DO NOT use them tech, service has same stock answers every time and acts like it's your fault if it doesn't work.