Solutions to frequent or odd disconnects from your real-time feed

We have worked with many clients to setup their computers to work better with real-time data streaming and trading purposes. Here are some tips (and funny stories) that work very well to maintain your internet connections in prime condition.

For multiple computers and devices sharing your internet connection, 10BaseT is not enough

If you started out using Internet several years ago and have been using the same DSL or Cable modem til now, you may want to check with your ISP provider for an updated version of the hardware. Some of these modems, were built with ethernet speed max at the old 10BaseT standard, where nowadays 100BaseT is the minimum and 1000BaseT (Gigabit) is getting more common everyday.

In short, a single point device (like your modem) having 10BaseT can slow down the complete network of computers, etc. even if you are using a router that is capable of Gigabit routing.

The story goes like this. At the market open, one client’s data service almost always get disconnected. We tried everything from our bag of tricks and it does not help. Then, he told us, “wait a minute, my computer for email and other stuff gets disconnected from the Internet too …”.

That was the start of a happy ending, well, with several days of pain first to find out which equipment he has that failed his connection.

Interference from your neighbour can be avoided or reduced

If you have to use Wi-Fi (i.e. wireless), and that your Internet for the whole network keep falling apart (like, reconnection required again as reported by Windows!), check if you have too many neighbours using Wi-Fi.

If so, there are 3 possible solutions.

First, the cheaper way, keep changing the router’s channel until your connection becomes stable. That should work if your neighbourhood has finished installing Wi-Fi and that your change does not in turn trigger reactions to change channel settings afterwards.

Second, get a dual band N-network router. That will solve the problem completely, at least for the time being (i.e. 1 to 2 years, or, until everyone around your home switch to one like yours).

Third, as suggested by one of our guys, was to install a special antenna (those ones that extend out from the router that look like a mini TV antenna from the roof of a building) onto the router. He says that it works very well and likely to overpower your neighbour’s Wi-Fi if their computers get within signal radius from your router …

The story behind this one is not a funny one, because the client once started NeoTicker he gets disconnected from his Internet services. A simple request for several days of tick data gets him disconnected too. My support guys were being cursed until someone came up with the idea that, maybe, the client’s Internet connection was not stable right from the beginning. That saved the day.

Frequent disconnects may be caused by a router that is in use 7/24 for just too long

This one started out from a request for help, as oppose to a complain that something does not work out.

Somehow, for this user, the Internet keep disconnecting throughout the day with no reproducable pattern. That was the case before he started using NeoTicker. The client wanted to solve the problem but he thinks switching to newer equipments does not make sense, because he already bought the latest hardware.

His network worked like a charm for several weeks, and then it all went bad for weeks. Then somehow, the problem would be gone for good for several weeks again.

We have ruled out the possibility that his Internet problem was caused by his use of real-time streaming data because the problem was there prior to that. We even asked him to contact his local computer technical support people for better help, but he insisted that they were not helping and hoping that we can figure out something that he can give it a try.

The solution came after several weeks of his struggle, when all of a sudden, he got 2 days of stable Internet connection, after careful question and answer email exchanges, we have isolated the reason why his connection is working great again – a power outage!

Since then, we have tried this out ourselves with several common DSL/Cable modem + Wi-Fi routers. Having multiple laptops, etc. connect and reconnect to the network many times within a day. And there you go, the frequent disconnect problem just happens, until we turn off both the modem and the router for several minutes and have them restarted again.

There is no real good reason why it works, but definitely worth a try if you experience a similar problem.

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