ISP Reliability - How do I test it?

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no_agenda

I have Verizon DSL. It seems to fluctuate in and out sometimes, which scares the crap out of me as far as using it for trading. I don't know if I'm being paranoid or not, but it does worry me.

Is there a way for me to test my connection? Also, is there some sort of monitoring tool I can install that may warn me of dropped connections or the like?

What is all this ping test stuff? What is a good speed in milliseconds for trading remote? Are there any other diagnostic tools out there?

Thank you.
 
Quote from no_agenda:

I have Verizon DSL. It seems to fluctuate in and out sometimes, which scares the crap out of me as far as using it for trading. I don't know if I'm being paranoid or not, but it does worry me.

Is there a way for me to test my connection? Also, is there some sort of monitoring tool I can install that may warn me of dropped connections or the like?

What is all this ping test stuff? What is a good speed in milliseconds for trading remote? Are there any other diagnostic tools out there?

Thank you.
More...

Verizon is currently upgrading a lot of their equipment. A lot of what you are experiencing may also be due to where you are right now. As far as speed testing goes, this should get you started:

www.dslreports.com

When I am home in Chicago, I use the Verizon DSL for all of my trading connection needs. I have had a little trouble with the local pop connections, but they (Verizon) have been rather timely in servicing my issues. Most (save one that was a regional upgrade issue) have been fixed within 48 hours. As a tech, I am not as impatient as most subscribers as I understand what is involved. But I am also too knowing to be snowed easily. :)
 
Go to downloads.com or any of the shareware sites. Type in "auto ping" and see what you get. there as serveral programs that can test your connection.

Runningbear
 
Thanks for the comments.

I don't really need the speed test - I'm getting a consistent 1MB + speed, which is nice.

I was more worried about diagnostics and the like, if such a thing exists.

As far as downloading the auto ping stuff, how about when you open up your DOS window and just type ping yahoo.com for example? You get a figure in milliseconds there. My last test, I got an average of 66ms. Is that good or worthless because I should be pinging my trading servers (I don't have any at the moment because I'm still deciding on which prop firm to go with)?

Also, I thought I read somewhere on ET about doing a hop test, which tells you how many servers or networks your signal goes through. Anyone familiar with that?
 
no_agenda, doing a ping will get you the response time right at that point.

Trace route will get you the route - the hops, and the corresponding response times, but again - only at the time that the command is called:
tracert yahoo.com

You would want to use something that uses repeating traces to chart the results over time. For example:
http://www.pingplotter.com

Here is an example screenshot:
pingplotter.gif
 
Quote from j_medved:

no_agenda, doing a ping will get you the response time right at that point.

Trace route will get you the route - the hops, and the corresponding response times, but again - only at the time that the command is called...
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j medved, thank you for the post.

Now, what is considered "good" for these trace routes? How about the ping times? Once I start trading remote, how do I measure the performance of my connection with my trading firm's servers/network? Does such a tool exist?
 
Quote from no_agenda:

I have Verizon DSL. It seems to fluctuate in and out sometimes, which scares the crap out of me as far as using it for trading. I don't know if I'm being paranoid or not, but it does worry me.

Is there a way for me to test my connection? Also, is there some sort of monitoring tool I can install that may warn me of dropped connections or the like?

What is all this ping test stuff? What is a good speed in milliseconds for trading remote? Are there any other diagnostic tools out there?

Thank you.
More...

We use Verizon DSL services at three widely different geographical locations. The performance is satisfactory running 99.5 percent or better uptime.

One thing that we have noticed on these dsl hookups is that more often than not its not the ability of the provider to send / route packets through their network that is the issue. More often the issue is DNS lookup. The management of DNS services is a weak link in most telecomm operations and they frequently go down without warning or become overloaded and dont respond.

Remember in most cases dsl its not a guaranteed service. If you want a service level guarantee then you need something else - dedicated services which we also have....
 
Quote from CalTrader:



We use Verizon DSL services at three widely different geographical locations. The performance is satisfactory running 99.5 percent or better uptime.

One thing that we have noticed on these dsl hookups is that more often than not its not the ability of the provider to send / route packets through their network that is the issue. More often the issue is DNS lookup. The management of DNS services is a weak link in most telecomm operations and they frequently go down without warning or become overloaded and dont respond.

Remember in most cases dsl its not a guaranteed service. If you want a service level guarantee then you need something else - dedicated services which we also have....
More...

Totally perfect and correct response here. I too run just about perfect in the uptime category. And yes, dedicated service is the best route. :)
 
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