Rick,
I'm glad you mentioned that about MB shutting down on volume spikes, because that is probably the biggest problem at Watley, and it is a little ironic, since you are probably going to want to be trading when everyone else is (i.e. when the volume is high). Customer Support usually blames it on someone or something else "Selectnet is down", "internet is having a problem today", "it was a problem with PC quote", but it doesn't take a genius to make the connection between trading volume and troubles. My guess is that if Bill Dwyer doesn't know about any volume-related troubles at CT, then they probably have the adequate bandwidth to handle busy days. Their site actually says this quite explicitly.
A few months ago Townsend came out with their revised version of Real Tick, which included new servers and a different network configuration for those servers. (The previous version was actually a beta). Reliability stepped up immediately and dramatically when that happened but, that really isn't saying much, if you knew what it was like before. It's been smooth sailing the last week or so but, as Bill knows from the PM I sent him, it hasn't been that long since my last horror story. Supposedly, last week, Watley increased their throughput from 3megs to 6. (Note, also, they've been advertising one month free data feed to try out the system--could it be this put extra stress on it?) I don't know how the Townsend system is routed--whether everything goes through Chicago or not. But it does seem like the Townsend houses have a lot of the same problems. That's why I would lean to CT if I ever made the switch.
Regarding discussing other brokerages on this thread--well, isn't that what this is for? The thread is not owned by MB, it is part of SI, and that's what SI is all about--finding out the truth. Seems pretty obvious...
wily
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