Trading with wireless internet

[PKFFW]

Hi All,

I'm in the lucky position of having a bit of down time whilst at work, particularly on night shift. This means there is a good chance I could spend a good few hours being paid by my employer whilst I trade. So I'm thinking of getting a laptop and wireless internet and seeing how I go.

I'd like to hear people's experiences with trying to trade using a wireless internet connection. In particular anyone day trading/scalping using wireless.

Has the lag time been a problem? If using limit orders to enter and exit I see no problem with fills but I'm wondering if there has been any problem due to data being slowed down due to longer lag/pings.

The last time I had wireless I had ping times up to 300ms. Do you think that will be enough lag to pose any big problems?

Cheers,
PKFFW

 

[shadowninja]

Wouldn't trust it for scalping! I've seen wireless die completely and the router needing a reboot...

 

[JTrader]

Wouldn't trust it for scalping! I've seen wireless die completely and the router needing a reboot...

I wouldn't use wireless due to the radiation problems similar to mobile phone use. From the opinion i have gauged, wireless is also a bit less reliable than wired.

 

[PKFFW]

I had a wireless connection for about 12 months about 2 years ago. Never had a problem technically. Ran smoothly, no down time, no drop outs, just a high latency.

Maybe the technology used here in Aus is better than the UK.

 

[WinstonSmith]

I just pinged my wireless router and got an average round trip time of 1ms. Even for the fastest fingered scalper this latency sounds irrelevant, or have I misunderstood something?

 

[westernforce]

PKFFW, I work in a remote area of WA and use a wireless system, Telstra, to trade. I am on the $49.95 package and although it can be a bit slow at times, on the whole it's reliable. Telstra is the only one available in this remote area, so I have no reference point.

 

[Mayfly]

IMO Wireless is fine, but you’ll need to check out your setup in the environment you’re going to be using it? So, if you’re sitting in a cottage on the wrong side of two 18” thick walls and a kitchen with a large AGA or steel cooking range, I suspect you’ll probably find that using a wireless connection will be a bit problematic?

Even so, wireless will be less resilient than wired, so if you’re forced to go down that route you need to make sure that your got your broker’s number stored on your mobile

HTH

Cheers

Mayfly

 

[shadowninja]

It might be down to the cost of the equipment. My experience is with the lower end of the market. Some Belkin 4 (5?) port thing.

 

[PKFFW]

Thanks for all the replies. I think I will go ahead and get the laptop and wireless then demo trade for a couple of months trying out different positions in the station to see how I fare.

Cheers,
PKFFW

 

[TWI]

I use wireless at home just about every day and have had very few problems over the years with execution, certainly no more than I have had with ethernet in my office.