Wireless connection vs. Wired for Emini trading

syswizard

syswizard

I've been paranoid of using a wireless connection for Emini trading. Just wondering if anyone is doing this reliably ? I just wonder if it's my laptop's built-in wireless adapter ? It's an older Dell (M6800)....and I've noticed a big difference just in surfing the net.
 
I noticed packet loss on a laptop's internal wifi card even with a professional grade wifi access point nearby. Looking through the advanced settings, I noticed a few settings for "power saving" modes. When these were disabled, the packet loss disappeared.

In my experience, a charged laptop (plus cell phone backup with tethering and regularly tested) might be a good backup for a properly wired trading system with everything set to "high performance".

This is an opportunity for you to quantify what would happen in the event of a failure of any component in your system (not just wifi), and then work on mitigating those risks. Network connectivity is just one area.
 
When I went to device manager and then looked at the advanced properties....I saw nothing that was related to power savings. The power management tab indicated that was off.
There were about 20 properties total however....sheesh !!!
The device was a Dell Wireless 1550 802.11ac.
Properties like Antenna Diversity, ARP Offload, Band Preference, and on and on it goes.
How do I research the values for these properties ?
 
I suppose it depends on how much equipment you need to to have to trade. I scalp 1 to 5 points on ES and can do so with my wife racing down interstate 70mph while I use my IPad as a hot spot and a laptop as the trading machine.

But all I need is one screen and a 5 min chart. I am a minimalist. And I use bracket orders with SL and PT in place when I place the trade so if I lose signal still ok. I can’t imagine needing 3 or 4 monitors for trading. Too much info coming at me.

When traveling around in the Motorhome I use the same setup.

When at home I use satellite for trading as I am in the boonies and there is no wired internet here..LOL

IMO overkill in equipment for trading that gives lots of info being thrown at one’s brain for processing obfuscates and does not elucidate.
 
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syswizard said:
I've been paranoid of using a wireless connection for Emini trading. Just wondering if anyone is doing this reliably ? I just wonder if it's my laptop's built-in wireless adapter ? It's an older Dell (M6800)....and I've noticed a big difference just in surfing the net.
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I'm not sure if you're talking about the WiFi connection in your home or the WiFi connection on a public WiFi (e.g. store, library, sports arena).

You can easily test both versus your wired connection at home prior to any trading. Also, your broker should have posted at their website the minimum requirements for WiFi connection speeds and such.

If your broker doesn't list the minimum WiFi requirements...call their technical department.

In my area, I've notice most public WiFi spots are not suitable for trading. Instead, I use my personal hot spot from my cell phone or my portable WiFi...speeds are better than my broker minimum requirements, no disconnections and good latency.

Good laptops are cheap these days and can be upgraded easily/cheaply too.

You say you've notice a difference in surfing the internet but you did not say anything about your connection to your broker servers. Regardless, go get your laptop upgraded if you can't do it yourself if it does not meat your broker minimum requirements.

wrbtrader
 
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Why would a broker list any WiFi requirements? Completely irrelevant to the broker. More relevant would be available bandwidth. But if you have an unreliable connection, all bets are off - again, not the broker's issue at all.
 
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