Quote from dpanic:
I traded DAX for about 6 months with IB using one of the the 3rd party API's. It was fine 6-9 months ago when DAX was making bigger moves and I was only taking 2-4 trades/day. Once that style of trading was no longer applicable and my trade volume increased I had to ditch IB, having used jtrader on ES for several years I went that route but jtrader just isn't quite reliable enuf imo. Been trading xtrader with small size for almost a month now to get quick at it and it does seem to be more stable and quicker to execute from plus I've been very pleased with the service and support from Mark and Velocityfutures.
Btw.. I don't have broadband either but there are ways if you're serious about it. If you have a phone line you can get isdn, bundle 2 isdn lines in a router and you get 256K, coordinate with your ISPs to split over 2 networks and you have redundancy. Isdn is low latency and generally more stable than dsl or most other broadband methods. Over the next couple months I may talk myself into installing a dedicated fract T1 line but really isdn is not bad, as stable as your telephone line, clean and sufficient BW to drive a trading platform and charting.
Interesting info. Is DAX execution with X_Trader really quicker to execute on Eurex, like it is on ES?
I wonder if it's worth it for me, since most of my trades are limit-orders anyway, and native (on Eurex).
A more accurate reason is that I really love ButtonTrader. It is a great platform I got really used to.
As for broadband - Not everyone can get line bundling. My old place had nothing but a pair-gained copper cable, which can't be bundled, so there was no choice but to move into the city. Satellite has far too much latency, and there is no other option.
Now, rather than an analog phone line, I've got broadband with ~1.6 down and 512 up (assymetric / ADSL), it is fantastic.
But you really need to be as close to the exchange as possible - Thus, city location pretty unavoidable.
The new connection stability is 100%, always-on, and super-low latency. It rocks.
Quote from dpanic:
no broadband available in my area at all. while I do have a fabulous mountain view from my office I have to struggle for internet connectivity. So don't take your cable connection for granted 
I'd have to add it all up but I probably pay about $400/month for 256K isdn connectivity. I'm considering office space but that will be a real hassel given I trade DAX and ES, now it's so simple for me to trade the early dax session then go back to bed for a couple hours before the US markets open. The folks at Velocity Futures are helping me price out T1 connecivity, I know it's gonna be steep compared to what folks 15 miles from here are paying for cable access but it's the price of doing business.
Funny, same thing here. However, my "cost of business" was to give up a fantastic beach & riverside house and move into "the smoke". Office? Wasn't for me, because of 'weird' trading times. I gave up the view for a city "seaview" (a little strip of sea from one window in the office, LOL) apartment, I am paying a lot more rent, and I am paying a lot more for internet connectivity. Is it worth it? Oh man!
Funny, you also trade both the early DAX session and then ES?
Is this coincidence, or did you pick that idea up from me?
Warmest Regards And Happy New Year!
Scientist
