Remote Access Your Trading Computer

For most traders, the trading computers are likely the centre piece of their lives. After all, the trading computers are the means to our income. But the trading machine is just a dead object.

We humans are not. We cannot just glue to the computer all the time. We need activities. We need life outside of the battle stations we are so comfortable sticking to.

How do we get away from our desks?

What about going far away from our trading desk and enjoy life in another country?

Proper setup for remote access is the key.

Many Options To Remote Access

If you use Windows and have been looking for a solution to remote access, you probably know about the built-in Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) application. In fact RDC is one of the best remote access tools.

But what if you are not using Windows, or if you are using Windows 7 (or Vista, 8, whatever!) the home versions that deny you the access to RDP? Don’t worry. There are many other remote access applications to choose from.

Windows Remote Desktop Connection

If you are using Windows XP, or the more expensive versions of Windows Vista, 7, and 8, you get to use Windows Remote Desktop Connection. It is one of the most popular remote access tools, which is not something unexpected because it is built-in. It works great in general and minimal setup is required. It is also supported by many 3rd party applications, including apps on iPhone and Android devices. Hence there is no point not to try RDP first as your remote access solution.

Being the most popular remote access application also means RDC is the most targeted platform (or protocol) to hack on the internet. Every single internet connection on Earth are scanned by the hackers for remote desktop connection access. Do not take this lightly. If someone gain access to your network through your trading computer at home or at the office, many things can be compromised.

There are instructions on the Internet readily available to greatly improves your odds against hackers. First, change the default port you open for remote access to your computer. Second, limit the number of retries allowed to login to your computer. Once these 2 things are done properly, the other consideration would be having a more secure pair of user id and password. Choosing user id and password like "god" and "hello" are not secure for very obvious reasons.

TeamViewer

TeamViewer is not really a home use application. It is an application designed for tech support departments to solve client problems remotely. It works by installing a basic host (or the full version) application on the target computer you are going to remote access to and then using the unique id generated from the target computer to establish connection. It may sound complicated but in reality it is very easy to use as it is one of the most popular tech support platforms of all time.

For tech support people, they would take over the clients’ computers and make remote changes to the computers while the clients are watching. In the case of accessing your own computer, you would simply connect to your computer and take over the access remotely. It has more options and features comparing to Windows Remote Desktop. The best thing I like about TeamViewer is that it is more compatible than RDC, meaning that it many more applications (usually those graphic intensive one) can be accessed remotely through TeamViewer without problems.

TeamViewer is free to use for those only using it for their personal use. If you are going to use it on a production level, consider paying for a license. It is well worth it.

Many Other Choices

Both RDC and TeamViewer are applications belonging to the Virtual Network Computing category. There are many other VNC applications that works very well too. Here are 2 more:

TightVNC is a free VNC platform for Windows. On older computers, it is very difficult to get Windows RDC or TeamViewer to work without slowing the computer to a crawl. TightVNC really shines when working with barebone computers having minimal resources.

RealVNC is a cross-platform remote access solution. For example, you can remote control your Windows desktop computer from your phone or even a Mac. It is free to use if you do not need the extra features but it is very limited in terms of features and security protection on your desktop computer. The basic personal license enables the security feature which in my opinion is essential if you are using remote access all the time.

Bandwidth Issue

Using remote access put a lot of stress on the internet service you have for your desktop computer. Most low end high-speed internet services offered in North America, be that DSL or cable, have 1M bps or less uplink capability, even though the downlink speed can be very good.

Downlink speed is the speed of which you have access to the data coming from the internet.

Uplink speed is the maximum speed that your computer can use to send data to the internet.

When you enable remote access on your trading computer, you are going to make your computer using the uplink capability of your internet service heavily. The 1M bps limitation may cause frequent disconnect and give you less than desirable experience. If you can find an ISP in your area providing 3M bps uplink at reasonable price, it will resolve most of the issues related to uplink bottleneck problem.

If you cannot get a faster uplink speed, then you have to learn to set the options in your remote access platform smartly. For example, RDC has options to reduce the bandwidth requirement by sacrificing the visual effects and color depth settings. Learning about your remote desktop application and experiment with various settings to get the best results is time well spent.

Your Input

If you use VNC app yourself and that I have not mention your favourite platform, post its name below so that other members can learn about them too!

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