Pro's and con's of using a wifi connection to trade?

W

wartrace

Over the years I have heard people say "Never trade over a wifi connection". I recently switched internet providers and am thinking of getting rid of my home router and just using the ISP wireless connection.

All my devices (Desktop, TV, Printer and other devices) are capable of using wifi. It is a secure home connection. Is there any reason specifically why I shouldn't trade over a wireless connection?
 
Generally speaking, WIFI experiences more disconnects than hardwire, and it is usually at the most inopportune time.
Then of course there is the security issue. A secure home connection can be targeted like any other so called secure connection, but of course there would be a need to target you.
 
There are no pros.

There are fewer cons if you live in a low density area without WiFi congestion. If you live in an apartment building where you can see a score or more other access points, don't risk it if your trades are in any way time sensitive like scalps.
 
I think it is better not to trust any single source of internet connection, because any of them can have issues and then you have no internet for some time. I speak from own experience here. Best way is to bundle them (via software for example) so that landline, wifi and Starlink (satellite internet) work hand in hand when one service is not functioning and then you can be sure you always have internet without even a missing second of no internet connection (you can also use AES to encrypt and VPN and such thing in addition to be more secured from different internet connections, that is no problem at all). I also think it is much cheaper than direct expensive lines for more stable internet connection and second also more stable, because there is always a ca. 0.01% chance that something can go wrong. But not with multiple different souces of internet connection. That is the best way in my opinion.

Second for power outage you need extra hardware for desktops. Therefore a second backup computer on notebook is useful as you have more room for longer power outages (more than a few minutes up to 1 hour) to trade longer here. Last, you can also buy a power generator (I think Tesla is offering a good not to expensive solution for common households) for your Desktop PCs (when a hurricane or something is coming) and you have no power for a longer time.

And last not to forget if your broker have issues you should have a second brokerage account where you can place orders so are you hedged when you cannot get out of your positions because of the other broker its problems. There is also a more serious problem when the exchange itself has a problem then no broker can help you here. My solution here you do cross hedging your positions on another exchange when you cannot get out of your positions and you need to. Therefore you need to be aware of any correlations among your traded products and on which exchanges you can trade them. Hope this is almost complete.
 
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I am indecisive. For tick by tick futures trading, then no. For stocks and option writing, then don’t matter. I often trade on my iPad.
 
My router is very inconveniently located. I used to drag a cable into my office daily for trading hours, but stopped doing it. I haven’t noticed any differences. If I had the choice I would use cable, but wifi works great for me currently.

My cell phone is my back-up.

And I always have a hard stop in the market (exchange) in the event of an outage.

In summary it works well for me, but given the choice I’d stick with cable.
 
Anything and anybody at any time of course can be hacked.

But why make it, relatively speaking, easier even if chances of it happening are slim?
 
If you have a decent WiFi connection there shouldn't be any issues. Mine only had a fail once in the past 6 months, so i trust mine. I also use WiFi 6 for reduced latency.

Then again, if i was scalping for ticks and in and out of trades in seconds or up to a minute i wouldn't use WiFi.

My trades last at least 10-15 minutes so an issue with WiFi wouldn't hurt me that easily either if it isn't a long lasting issue, but i also have the Rithmic app on my smartphone so i always have my 5G mobile connection as a backup just in case.

Edit: Almost everyone has a smartphone in their pocket these days, which means even if either or both your power and or internet goes out, you should still be able to access the markets, at least if that is possible with the platform or data provider you are using. Gone are the days in which you need multiple internet connections and a power backup in case something goes wrong.

Unless you are scalping for ticks and in and out of the market in seconds and trading huge size without bracket orders that are stored server side, you should be fine with 1 connection, either WiFi or ethernet and a smartphone as backup to close or manage any trades if necessary.
 
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