Best broadband connection for trading

[franjewy]

I am upgrading from my (hum..., well...) dial-up connection. Been trading from home for nine years now with it. But I am more and more struggling with the slowness, disconnections, etc...

My public library just installed satellite internet. Anyone can go with your laptop and use the network. It's awesome. It took me exactly 2 minutes to download a 40MB file that would need 4 hours to download at home. The speed was 1.44 MB/s download and 1.2MB/s upload. BUT, satellite has a 20 second lag, I am told, which is a lot when the markets are moving.

BTW, I day trade futures, so I am quickly in and out.

I am looking at wireless broadband, which is slower than satellite (between 600Kb and 1.4MB), but the lag is only 1.5 minute.

Then there is DSL which I tried last year, but had to cancel. Couldn't get it to work.

And the last is cable. That is the fastest, but I would be at the mercy of Comcast with their ups and down.

So, what's your experience? Any advice you can give me? Thanks.

 

[JP905]

Hello mate,

Well, I have just set everything up for my home trading. A few weeks ago I got the new fibre optic internet cable. I am not sure if its out over there, but here (UK) it is avaiable in the majority of areas. It is advertised as 50mb high speed internet. I actually did a connection test a few days back and found that the actual rate is around 40mb. Which is pretty awesome. I would check out the possibilty of having that, as it is quick, not that much more expensive and suitable for intra day trading.

Thanks!

 

[jbuckle9]

Virgin broadband fast and reliable for the past 6 months

 

[BTippen]

i use Virgin 50mg... its awesome for trading

 

[advfntrader]

trading for 9 years with a dial up connection ?!? - I take it you are trading larger timeframes ?

 

[shadowninja]

2010... dial up connection? BB can't be that expensive over there can it?

 

[sharecentre]

Virgin wired connection is supposed to be brilliant and even if its costs more, the huge speed increase should mean that you will make a more than proportionate increase in profit from trading. Or just keep going to the library...

 

[ha0dho]

Virgin by far like everyone else, also u need a back up like mobile broadband I use o2

 

[rawrschach]

He's in the US. Best to ask on a US forum like elite trader.

And rly where the heck do you live? My little town in Tanzania when I was in high school had 1Mb internet.

 

[Scrooge_McDuck]

I would highly recommend using cable, dsl, or fiber optic. Like you mentioned satellite internet has horrible latency, which makes it unsuitable for day trading. If you were swing/position trading it might be sufficient but if cable or dsl is available I would just get it and save the trouble.

 

[Directional]

we're getting optical broadband rolled out across Riga by the state carrier... 100mbps upload & download for about 15 quid a month available from next month, pretty sweet IMO!

 

[hasanzehn]

"But I am more and more struggling with the slowness, disconnections, etc..."

hold on a minute, you were using dial up in 2010 and only NOW you are struggling with the slowness???

*shaking my head in amazement*

I do wonder what your trading experience is like, not to mention how much money you might have lost (or not made) for having such a poor setup. Broadband I think is now a basic tool of the trade...I have TWO active internet connections in case one fails - cannot afford to lose money cos my internet connection gets broke by my telco supplier!