Using 2 ISPs to ensure 100% uptime, possible??

[Trader_Herry]

Using 2 ISPs to ensure 100% uptime, possible??

Is it possible to use 2 ISPs to ensure 100% uptime? If so, how?

1) Do I need to buy a dual-WAN router to use 2 connections (1 as main; the other as backup)?

What dual-WAN router should I buy? How much? Is there any wireless dual-WAN router available (I would like to have wireless connection for non-trading purposes)?

My budget is about US$100. I'm not sure if it's enough. I want my router to support ASDL/VDSL/optical fiber connection.


2) If I don't go for dual-WAN router method, what else can I do to use 2 ISPs to ensure my computer 100% uptime?

Letting 1 computer to have both connections all the time would be fine. But I would like all my computer have such protection, if possible and is not costly to implement?


3) Let's say I have 2 ISPs connection and one fail. Will my broker software like IB TWS disconnect? Is the computer fast enough to switch so I can still keep logged in?

If not, how long do I need to reconnect to IB TWS? Do I need to do anything manually to switch connection?

Thanks a lot.

 

[TheBramble]

Not a lot of good without two independent carriers and two independent physical phone lines.

 

[shadowninja]

Just have your broker's number handy and your account number plus any relevant telephone password in case you need to close a position.

 

[dcraig1]

Not a lot of good without two independent carriers and two independent physical phone lines.

Even then it may not be as redundant as you might think. Construction work can take out whole groups of lines. If you are routing to an overseas destination, then two independant ISPs may still be running thru the same international link. Plenty of other points of failure too including computer kit, brokers, exchanges etc.

The bottom line - 100% up time not possible at any reasonable cost (or perhaps at any cost), and ones trading strategy has to take into account outages.

 

[rnicoll]

One of the wireless broadband adapters they sell for laptops would probably be your best bet for a backup connection. However, expect to have to switch over to it by hand if your primary connection dies; it's not impossible to have systems auto-switch connections and maintain the whole lot, but... infeasible, in this case, at least.

Short version is that the Internet needs to know where to send traffic for you, to. Which means you'd need to have all sorts of weird routing set up so that traffic can get to you in two ways. Which means a business grade Internet connection, and a router that'll probably cost a lot more than $100.

 

[Trader_Herry]

Just have your broker's number handy and your account number plus any relevant telephone password in case you need to close a position.

When it comes to daytrading, every second is important.

Calling broker is the slowest method. You have to tell them your account information. What you want to do. They confirm and start acting it. The delay time is still too much. Sometimes if the market moves too fast, the broker is unable to close the trade quick enough.

I would be better off if I reconnect to another ISP manually (of course it has separate lines) and close the trades myself.

Even then it may not be as redundant as you might think. Construction work can take out whole groups of lines. If you are routing to an overseas destination, then two independant ISPs may still be running thru the same international link. Plenty of other points of failure too including computer kit, brokers, exchanges etc.

Yes downtime is still possible. But if we have two separate ISPs, we reduce the risks of the normal downtime that every ISP has. An ISP will always be down some time for their own reasons. It may happen 2-5 times per year.

The major downtime which affect all ISPs is much rarer, and nothing we could do to help it. So we simply swallow it.

Short version is that the Internet needs to know where to send traffic for you, to. Which means you'd need to have all sorts of weird routing set up so that traffic can get to you in two ways. Which means a business grade Internet connection, and a router that'll probably cost a lot more than $100.

If $100 is not enough, how much is enough? I only need a failsafe and seamless connection. I don't need any advanced features. A simple dual-WAN router is just what I want. I don't need any business-grade router.

I'm willing to invest on it if it can provide what I want.

I want to make sure I can close/manage my positions *immediately* when one ISP is down.
No reconnection from my broker's software! My broker's can still be kept online in such an interruption. I don't need to wait to re-login from my broker's.
I don't need to wait or manually login to another ISP.

I would accept any solution which can (nearly) achieve it. But if they are still slower or about the same speed as I manually connect -> relogin my broker's -> close position, I won't bother.

 

[rnicoll]

If $100 is not enough, how much is enough? I only need a failsafe and seamless connection. I don't need any advanced features. A simple dual-WAN router is just what I want. I don't need any business-grade router.

I'm willing to invest on it if it can provide what I want.

I want to make sure I can close/manage my positions *immediately* when one ISP is down.
No reconnection from my broker's software! My broker's can still be kept online in such an interruption. I don't need to wait to re-login from my broker's.
I don't need to wait or manually login to another ISP.

I would accept any solution which can (nearly) achieve it. But if they are still slower or about the same speed as I manually connect -> relogin my broker's -> close position, I won't bother.

You're looking at multihoming then: Multihoming - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . I can't give you an exact cost, but what I can tell you is that when our department looked at multihoming, it was written off as too expensive (and we're basically network critical; network dies, everyone stops and gets coffee).

As a close second, something like a Cisco 881 router: Cisco 881 Integrated Services Router - Cisco Systems should be able to keep a second connection live, and in case the first fails you re-login to your broker. It won't keep the first connection to your broker live, as you basically instantly re-appear at a different IP address, but you won't need to manually connect the network.

 

[fxfollower]

How about something like Netgear FVS336G? Under £200 with good reviews.

PC Pro: Product Reviews: Netgear FVS336G

 

[eagletower]

has anyone thought of you using the wireless usb dongle cards you can get from Vodafone or T-mobile etc?

Would be interested to see if these can handle a Level 2 platform. Unfortunatley most of the providers require a 12 month contract to sign up to them and i don't want to do that with out seeing it can handle a platform.

 

[AnEdge]

Another way is to rent a PC in a data center close to the exchange/data feed you are using a state of the art data center. Then connect to the PC/server remotely...that way, your connection can go down but you still have the PC/server up and running. Plus it will be connected to multiple ISP providers, power backup, etc, etc. What I do not know with this approach, is the latency of the display from the server to your screen which could be an issue when you have fast changing screen content like quotes.

Depends if your trading style is all manual/discretionary or some automation.

 

[new_trader]

has anyone thought of you using the wireless usb dongle cards you can get from Vodafone or T-mobile etc?

Would be interested to see if these can handle a Level 2 platform. Unfortunatley most of the providers require a 12 month contract to sign up to them and i don't want to do that with out seeing it can handle a platform.

I have one and it works well. The data transfer rate is 7.2Mbit/s which is comparable to fixed line broadband. Streaming data does not use much bandwidth at all. I have opened DOM during a very active period of the market at it rarely peaked above 7Kbit/s. I can't imagine you would hit any limits with Level 2.

 

[0007]

I have one and it works well. The data transfer rate is 7.2Mbit/s which is comparable to fixed line broadband. Streaming data does not use much bandwidth at all. I have opened DOM during a very active period of the market at it rarely peaked above 7Kbit/s. I can't imagine you would hit any limits with Level 2.

Have one also & recommend its use as a backup / travelling system. Note that 7.2 speed is only available at small no. of locations (eg airports) but normal speed if your're in a 3G area is quite adequate though not as good as the best of the high speed ISP providers.

 

[lbranjord]

Virtual Private Server services are much cheaper these days and they can notify you in case of an outage, that's what I'm going to do at some point. Trying to get continuous connection is very pricy and inefficient

 

[andy213]

mobile broadband, - internet pass through - the top handsets should all do it fine through USB

Then that's truly independent two connections, apart from of course, electric, which if it goes it zaps your PC whether its hooked to phone line or mobile......

So for that, always on PC backup power! Uninterruptable power Supply. Good security measure in general even if you're a one connection man, as you never know what position you've got on when the storm hits

Would be my solution and cheap too as the mobile's usually a contract, so worry about the UPS as your immediate outlay

edit - generally speaking inverse relationship between power of processor and how long a UPS stays up