Two phone lines

[fiftyfifty]

Just wanted to know if anyone operates with a second phone and broadband provider as back up to their primary provider? Was considering adding a phone line and broadband as a back up so that if there is ever a failure that I won't need to start paying a desk fee somewhere which would easily eclipse the cost of having a second line. I do realise that if there is a problem at the telephone exchange that both lines would go down but I presume that if this happens that they'll be pretty quick sorting it out wheras using a regular broadband provider it could take a couple of weeks for them to sort their act out. Using CQG co-lo so broadband speed is not too much of an issue.

 

[tomorton]

Rather than a second phone landline, I have a laptop with Three mobile broadband dongle. I have occasionally had to use this as access to the internet when the BT broadband service via the house's BT landline is down. It is also usable from other locations of course. I could also use my Vodafone mobile to manage positions by phone if necessary / practicable.

We did have two BT phone lines to the house once and it seemed to confuse BT mightily. The second line was paid for by an employer so they took care of the continual hassle.

 

[tomorton]

PS: I also have two SB accounts with different firms so if I ever can't manage positions with one, at least I could open a hedging position with the other.

 

[fiftyfifty]

When BT broadband has gone down from the line going down or just internet, how long has it taken them to get it back up and running? I've just got a normal home broadband so worried that when there is a problem the level of service I get will mean it takes more than a few days to get back up and running.

 

[tomorton]

BT's broadband service is variable. Having problems with slow and intermittent service at present owing to 'improvement' of the equipment at the exgexchange (it was working really well before ironically).

Last issue was down to faulty socket wiring - customer service by phone from India was very good but the engineering service was slow to respond and poor - BT broadband said the socket was BT phone's responsibility: BT phones said the phone system was working fine so they weren't going to do anything. Eventually got an engineer privately to fix it.

Three service went down a few weeks ago. When I phoned them to report a problem unable to connect to broadband, they immediately offered 25% discount on contract and talked me through solution on same call within minutes.

 

[tomorton]

Yes, if BT service goes down, it will almost definitely be days of downtime.

 

[Shakone]

Like Tomorton, I have another account that can hedge if broker goes down, and if internet is gone completely, I can close positions in both accounts via mobile. Also worth putting in that disaster stop in there too, so the damage won't be too bad.

 

[fiftyfifty]

I'm using Ibet (Kyte) so should always be able to ring them to have them exit a trade if system goes down. What kind of speed is possible with a mobile dongle? Is this solution ok with the amount of data that would be downloaded from exchange?

 

[tomorton]

Don't forget, if the company's internet system goes down, everyone else will be trying to ring them too. That's why it's good to have a second account with another firm so you can offset or hedge a position you can't even monitor.

I use Three dongle to open and manage positions at same time as running music videos on youTube in background. It seems as fast as BT phoneline broadband.

 

[fiftyfifty]

I'm using CQG co-location at Frankfurt for most of my trading so Kytes internet failing won't affect me. However CQG's servers going down (can only imagine this is very unlikely) or my own internet failing (far more likely) would need to coinside with Kyte failing for me to require a second broker. I understand what you are saying but unfortunately I don't have the capital required to be able to hold margin for trading in two accounts that would offset each other.

How quick is 3 Dongle to get going? I.e. if my internet fails tomorrow morning, could I go to a 3 store and be back up and running in minutes or is it more like the three weeks it seems to take broadband to get up and running after moving house..

Thanks for all the responses.

 

[tomorton]

If I recall correctly Three dongle broadband was up and running withn half an hour of getting back from the shop.

 

[fiftyfifty]

If I recall correctly Three dongle broadband was up and running withn half an hour of getting back from the shop.

Cheers, that's great to know.