Steve, you might want to traceroute Intersat again. Traceroute to their quote servers, which are not connected the same way as their web server. Use intersat1.taltrade.com. If you are on MCI, it should give you a VERY good route. (I do live in S. California.)
You are right about Intersat's defficiencies. And they aren't working on them, because they are really a commodity quote dealer, and aren't that intersted in stocks. Still, I will try to pound on them again, because I can use their quotes, and I simply cannot use PC Quote's.
I NEVER have the problems with the software hanging any more, and you wouldn't beleive how quickly my page comes up in the morning and how quickly I get charts. (Heck, I get them as quickly as I can type.)
Of course, part of the reason it works so well is probably because they are missing some ticks in the first place. :(
Intersat seems to be within a second or two of Datek's quotes, which come directly from NASDAQ. Datek claims to have the fastest NASDAQ feed available, FWIW. I did notice a lag at times with PC Quote, though it came and went. Level II seemed squirley, and wasn't in sync with a quote window. At times, it seemed that stale quotes were not being removed from the Level II window. On the other hand, most of the time when I place an order through Datek, I saw ISLD pop in right away, indicating a lag of no more than a few seconds. (e.g. place an order on Datek, 5 seconds later see the ISLD bid - the lag could be anywhere, Datek, ISLD, or PC Quote.) Maybe I was only placing orders when it wasn't lagged.
Anyway, this proves that RT3 can work well on the Internet - you just have to limit the number of users/server, and provide the right backbone connection.
I would be interested in hearing of any satellite, cable, or FM-based service that is in the same price range (I pay $150/month without Level II), that isn't significantly lagged, and has flexibility similar to that of the RT3 software.
BTW, I can't imagine the lag that you've experienced with your satellite feed. The worst I've ever heared anyone mention for any quote service is 5 minutes during heavy trading with Signal. |
