TransAct came back with a reply. What they are suggesting is that the problem originates from my end (connection problem).
D wants to do a video capture of both IB and AT platforms to show that we have no connection problem.
I told him to forget it. In the first place, connection problem was NOT what I was complaining about!
But just for argument's sake:
On IB, I have 30 tickers and on TOS I have also 30 tickers and both are streaming in on second by second basis.
My used bandwidth is less than 90kbps (with IB, TOS and TransAct running). Then I turned off IB and TOS, leaving just TransAct on.
With ONLY TransACT on, I'm looking at a pathetic used up bandwidth of less than 10kbps.
When I download videos or files from certain servers in the US, the consumed bandwidth can easily go up to 5Mbps - that is 500 times more than what is required for TransAct.
So, my question is: how could my internet connection be a problem??
D (being a techie himself) challenges his colleagues in other tech departments FOR A LIVING. he knows when someone is pulling a fast one on him.
D wants to do a video capture of both IB and AT platforms to show that we have no connection problem.
I told him to forget it. In the first place, connection problem was NOT what I was complaining about!
But just for argument's sake:
On IB, I have 30 tickers and on TOS I have also 30 tickers and both are streaming in on second by second basis.
My used bandwidth is less than 90kbps (with IB, TOS and TransAct running). Then I turned off IB and TOS, leaving just TransAct on.
With ONLY TransACT on, I'm looking at a pathetic used up bandwidth of less than 10kbps.
When I download videos or files from certain servers in the US, the consumed bandwidth can easily go up to 5Mbps - that is 500 times more than what is required for TransAct.
So, my question is: how could my internet connection be a problem??
D (being a techie himself) challenges his colleagues in other tech departments FOR A LIVING. he knows when someone is pulling a fast one on him.
15 comments:
Jules,
This may not help you, but just in case it does...
I had an issue a while back too with my AT platform getting quotes, they'd get stuck periodically. Tech support, while very nice, had no clue what to do. I use a router, so I rebooted my router and it worked fine again. For some reason the router had a problem with the constant flow of quotes after a while.
Give it a try, who knows, it may work.
Good luck!!
Hi Michael! :-)
Thanks for your note :-)
I don't know how to explain this bizarre phenomenon in a way that doesn't sound accusatory so I'm just going to let the matter rest.
I don't have to use the platform if I don't trust it. I have a choice, and that's good enough for me :-)
hi Jules
I have used IB,Zen,PFG and couple of others.What I found is that IB is very reliable due mainly to the filtered data they send out. Others like Zen and AT are unfiltered and to take advantage of it imo you need good internet speed and platform.The chart,dome and t&s will be more jumpy with the unfiltered data.Putting up a tick or volume chart on AT and IB the AT chart should be much faster.
Good luck
mark
Jules, the only thing I can think of is that with IB being a worldwide company, they most likely have servers in Asia, so you should get quicker response times when hitting IB's servers. On the other hand, TransAct's servers are based out of Chicago, which would require more hops from your location and would affect the latency.
On the contrary, EP, my PC will take more hops to reach the exchange via IB than via TransAct. The connection goes from my PC to TransAct server directly which then reaches CME (e.g. SG -> US); in the case of IB, the connection goes to IB server in HK, then to CME (e.g. SG -> HK -> US). The network latency in the case of the latter is about 1/3 more. Given the same bandwidth and speed, it should take slightly longer for IB to get my order confirmed and send back the confirmation to my PC. If IB could confirm my orders, and most of the time fill my orders almost immediately, I'd expect the same, if not better, from TransAct.
Hi Mark, on TransAct's DOM what I see is intermittent freezes for seconds. That's lack of movement, NOT bumpiness. Unfiltered data should cause more price movements on the ladder, NOT freezes (which are caused by lack of continuously timely data).
My connection speed to the internet is 8Mbps, which is higher than what is offered by Verizon's Turbo Plan and AT&T's DSL Elite package. So, the connection speed is not an issue at all. My PC has an Intel C2D E6750 CPU and 4GB RAM. So, my PC specs are decent enough to handle unfiltered data.
The question remains though, why does the TransAct software freeze on me and skip confirmation details from time to time?
I couldn't disagree more with the diagnosis from the Tech team that "everything is great except for the internet connection"
Jules,
Just a couple of comments on the techie stuff. The bandwidth you're talking about, 8Mbps is less relevant in this case than latency and packet drops which are a result of routing from Asia.
There's the distance on one hand, and big brother proxy servers on the other.
You can check for issues related to that using this free tool:
http://www.dslreports.com/linequality
When the market is fast, especially in the morning I see the same stuckiness of prices, that's the price for unfiltered data.
Things which can help improve this include:
ADSL connection instead of Cable
Wired LAN (no wireless)
Changing or removing firewall and antivirus (these things filter and/or examine traffic)
Better router/modem.
Using minimum number of data feeds at the same time
Btw, I switched my IB from HK servers to US servers and see no difference in data feed.
Lastly if I were you I'd do away with market orders completely and only use limits but I don't scalp so maybe that's not a possibility in your case.
Good luck.
Eyal nailed it with his comment:
"The bandwidth you're talking about, 8Mbps is less relevant in this case than latency and packet drops which are a result of routing from Asia."
If you'd like, I can record how the AT DOM behaves on my side during market open (fast price action). I haven't looked at it in months
Regardless of the underlying issue (latency or a problem with AT); you should use the platform that gives you the best fills and peace of mind :-)
Hi Eyal! :-)
Thanks for stopping by.
I ran the line quality test as you suggested and the report came back with normal reading - avg 292ms of network latency between my PC and the US servers in both East Coast and West Coast. In fact, all tests were passed with no problem.
Routers and firewalls do not discriminate data of the same nature. Both IB and TransAct use TCP to communicate between users and the server, and either my router/firewall will block the traffic completely or let them thru.
The point is, running both platforms on the same PC demonstrates the vast difference in the filling speed - a telltale sign that the problem is not with the network/PC/router/etc, but simply with how the server processes my orders [in a fair and consistent way, or otherwise]...
I could continue to hold many more rounds of technical discussions, but I guess it's not going to address the underlying issue since "technical difficulties" were never in the picture.
It's not that I chose not to enter at limit. Whenever I joined bid/offer, price would trade right through me and not fill me, or outright reject to accept my order (multiple times, and in the worst case scenario, filled all the orders that were supposed to have been rejected minutes before and I would know only when I got out! And strangely, all ended up as losers - this happened both during the period I stopped posting, and then last Friday again).
That's why I mentioned in my earlier post that I was FORCED to get in and out at market, even though I know that I would be heavily penalized. It's either getting in/out at market, or no trade at all for me as a scalper.
:-) Thank you, EP. It's alright. What I'm facing is a problem in "fills". Are you going to be trading live just to show me that the fills are fair? :-)
It's ok, really, I know what's going on but I don't want to dwell on the issue anymore.
I've communicated with Anthony and we're exploring alternatives :-)
Hey Jules,
Your ping time is fine for your location, about the same as mine. I get 277ms and 9 hops to either west or east coast. (I pay dearly for this quality here in Bangkok).
You said: "Routers and firewalls do not discriminate data of the same nature."
Actually some of them do, at an application level. I've seen the impact of this on some of my own data feeds. If you're using a firewall and antivirus that have trusted/exclude zones then I would add all your trading apps there so that their data packets are ensured 100% pass-through with zero inspection. Of course you need to make sure you really do trust those apps.
You can also add NAT rules to your router but I would think that's a bit overkill unless you're using some really heavy duty firewalled router.
I'm not saying that's necessarily the cause of the issues you're having, tough to tell from what you've described. But maybe those steps will help speed things up a bit regardless of which data feed you end up using.
There is always going to be a difference between IB and any unfiltered feed, even in the US it's sometimes an issue in fast markets so over here in Asia we're especially vulnerable to these things.
Good luck and nice trading over the last few days :-)
You live in Thailand, Eyal? And you were living in the States? Where are you from? :-)
Thanks for you note, I really appreciate it.
For now, I'm fine with IB and am going to focus on trading instead :-)
Yeah I lived in the US for a while and now in Thailand after moving here from Singapore a couple of years ago. I'm originally from Israel.
Focusing on trading is a good approach :-)
You're from Singapore, Eyal?! Now this is getting more and more interesting :-)
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