pooled modems

J

jmcgraw

I read something in a trading mag I got free in the mail about a year ago that talked about different internet connection options.

It covered, dsl, cable, etc... But it said the best choice was pooling several modems with some special hardeware using several ISP's at the same time. Has anyone ever tried this? Is it really the best choice?
 
Pooling analog modems is not a good idea.

When you pool modems, you are increasing the amount of bandwidth that is available to you. However, in trading the important factor is latency, not bandwidth. Latency is the amount of time in measured in miliseconds that it takes a small data packet to travel over the medium. Quote data is not bandwidth intensive, but latency is important.

Analog modems have a media access latency of about 200-300ms. Latency cannot be decreased. It is a function of the electrical characteristics of the medium. In comparision, ISDN's latency is about 15-25ms, DSL and Cable modem has been quoted to be about 10-20ms. A T1 or DS1 circuit is @5ms. Ethernet is @.3ms.

 
Hi,

I use the Linksys BEFSR41 Cable/DSL router. Has 4 ports and an uplink if you want to connect to another switch or hub. Currently run 2 computers of my single cable connection and was easy to install.
 
hardware latency is important. But cable may suffer complicated routing forcing many hops by the packets. This bring delays.

Results vary per location, hardware and provider.
The only way to know what is best at one is to try it and measure the time it takes packets to get from your quote/broker servers to your computer.
Testing will also give you an idea of the stability of the connection [does it remain uninterrupted ?].

Only the very expensive solutions like T1 and frame are sure winners, but you pay the price for it [if you can afford it].

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top