Hello everyone
During my intial stages of learning, I am reading that a fast internet connection is required. I have tried unsuccessfully to get broadband because the current booster is too far away. Does this mean I cannot trade online until such time broadband is installed in our suburb or is dial up still ok?
Any help appreciated
Regards
aussie11
I would never trust my real money on a dial up line. Trading is hard enough so why add many other potential pitfalls to the equation. Broadband goes down also but not as much as dial up. You might experience serious lag while putting in a trade and the quotes will change. I personally would never do it. Have you tried Demo trading on dial up? Oanda has an unlimited demo that uses a java frontend so give that a shot and see how the performance is.
Check into Sattellite internet connection or even a WiFi card by Verizon, and other phone companies. You will pay $50 but you can use those PCMCIA cards in a laptop anywhere and distance is not a factor.
Topgun
I actually have Oanda and just getting a feel for it. As I progress in the Forex school I suppose I will get more of an idea on how it works. You say to give it a go and see how performance is: how will I gauge the performance?
will there be a difference in the ‘click’ price and the actual price I ened up with, if the performance is down?
Thank you
aussie11
If you are using limit orders than you will probabaly be ok because your order is placed in advance. By performance I mean if you click on the chart and it takes 10 seconds or so for the drop down to show up and then if you choose a market order for a specific price the price might change before that order actually gets executed. I never traded thrugh dialup so it might be fine so that’s why I said use Oanda’s demo before real money. When you do decide to use real money would you trust the your connection? What if you want to close an order and you get dropped and can’t get back on? If you plan your trade and place limit orders with a stop loss & take profit order than you won’t care so it’s really up to your confidence in your connection.
I see what you are saying. The drop down does appear very quickly, but I read earlier that the demo or pre-sales service may in fact be a lot better than the real thing, so I will just keep plugging along. Our main telco over here is coping some flack over the broadband service coverage, so they may have their act together by the time I go through babypips school and paper trade for a few months. I think I am like you with not trusting the dial up. I could be in the middle of something a get dropped and can’t get back on, so dial up is a no-no
for me. Thank you for your insight.
regards
aussie 11
Hi aussie, You better check with Telstra again. They have recently introduced 3G wireless home broadband service which covers 98% of the population in Aussie. I heard it’s faster than wired ADSL broadband.
Good luck:)
Thanks everyone.
Senaka7, I have been in touch with Telstra. Funny thing, I am with aapt, but telstra said if I make an application for broadband at big pond they MAY be able to help. Sounds a bit like unfair competition to me, I don’t think they can do that, but I will see what happens, if it is my only choice I will have to go with them. My ISP said wireless broadband has many security issues, I suppose as I get closer to needing it, I will iron out all of the questions. Thanks again.
aussie11
Hey aussie11.
I too have only had access to dial-up until recently - thanks to being a proud country bumpkin (and not enough people in town to “warrant” Broadband). But don’t let that stop you. You [I]can[/I] trade successfully with only dial-up (and babypips tuition, of course), but you just need to be aware of some precautions you may wish to take.
1: This is probably my most important step, I Always make it a priority to put a stop loss on my order [B]ASAP[/B] - but this actually goes without saying. Even my “still under warranty” Broadband has had the odd hissy fit now and again and once, quite happily, dropped me in the proverbial while I played with my pretty chart colors, instead of my stop. This does nothing for ones heart rate and blood pressure…
2: I always make a note of my ticket (order) number - see 3:
3: My Trading platform has a phone number that can be called in an emergency, which I keep close at hand. Most of the time they have their feet up and are busy socializing - but it is nice to know they are there (just kidding - I haven’t had to use them yet).
4: Unless my dial-up is being exceptionally well behaved (but this appears to be usually only Saturdays and Sundays when I can’t trade), I generally use limit orders to enter the market.
5: I do find my charts will load extremely slowly - but hey, I think slow, so no great loss.
6: I never tried to scalp trade or trade the news where a [I]quick[/I] reaction time was needed to get in and out of an order. I leave that to my 11 year old nephew and his playstation.
7: I try not to sip alcoholic beverages containing small umbrellas while I trade at night. It seems to throw my trading inhibitions to the wind. However, this is only a suggestion, not a rule.
You could sign up to a demo account (or several) and give them a thorough thrashing while seeing how your dial-up handles it before you sign up for the real deal. However, I don’t think you will have any major problems with dial-up if you use some commonsense.
Cheers - and happy trading!