Slow connection to tick server

[Essan]

For the past 2 weeks there have been delays connecting and/or retrieving from the Tick Server. Until these problems began it would take a maximum of 2-5 seconds to "backfill" an interval chart (1m, 5m, 60m, 240min etc) now it's a coin toss as to whether it's going to take 5 seconds or 50 seconds.

I spoke with William in tech support last week who advised of server issues that should have been resolved by the end of last week. I am still having problems. I spoke with Tracy today who knew of no server problems.

(1) Ad-hoc disconnecting/reconnecting to esignal does not solve the problem.
(2) My internet connection is not the problem either as no latency experienced with retrieving tick data from other vendors.

Please investigate and advise.

[Essan]

For what it's worth, the connectivity to the Tick Server is MUCH BETTER this morning. No significant latency experienced.

[Essan]

Back to having problems. Connection to tick server EXCRUTIATINGLY SLOW at times. Delay increases during "busy" times.

Both domestic and International futures.

Can someone from tech support PLEASE look into this.

Thanks

[Essan]

I'd appreciate the courtesy of a response from esignal staff.

I just clicked on AB H7 and the delay in "backfilling" a basic 60min candlestick chart with 2 moving averages was over 30 seconds.

Essan,

Until someone is able to help, I have several suggestions to start troubleshooting and eliminating possibilities on your end. This will only help getting the issue resolved quicker by eliminating unknown variables.

• What version of eSignal are you running?
  
• What are the time template settings?
  
• Look at your PC performance and internet connection speed and post these values. This is the site my ISP uses to test your internet connection. http://www.dslreports.com/tools
  
• For PC performance, I would suggest trying running the full set of tests at http://www.pcpitstop.com/ . This has helped me in the past.
  
• Finally. I would recommend when you are having issues with downloads that you look to see how much free memory is available (after the download has finished). This should be compared with the same parameters when things are performing well. While not likely based on what you have posted so far, it is something that should be quantified as well.

If you do this and are able to post your results, I am sure this would help to quantify the connectivity issues.

I hope this helps.

[Essan]

Thanks for the response Steve.

As you can see esignal reps have chosen not to reply to this thread.....

I did (finally) speak to an esignal tech who confirmed that they are still having ongoing issues with their tick servers and that they were working to resolve them.

But I am shocked that the usually diligent esignal reps have chosen to disregard this thread.

Essan,

You are welcome.

As to you being shocked, my observation is that up to this point, you have not posted anything other than casual observations that cannot be acted upon. This is why I provided you my recommendations - which seem to have been disregarded by you.

You seem to have resolved this (tech rep confirmation) to the point that this is related to issues with the tick servers. This is good to hear that you were able to narrow this down. If that does not turn out to be the reason for your problems, you will need to provide some substantive information before anyone is able to effectively help you.

Originally posted by Essan
Thanks for the response Steve.

As you can see esignal reps have chosen not to reply to this thread.....

I did (finally) speak to an esignal tech who confirmed that they are still having ongoing issues with their tick servers and that they were working to resolve them.

But I am shocked that the usually diligent esignal reps have chosen to disregard this thread.

[Essan]

Steve,

I certainly did not mean to give the impression that I ignored your useful suggestions. Although, re-reading my post I can see how my brevity could have been mis-interpreted...

During the 2nd week of Jan when the latency became an issue I went through a whole series of tests both independantly and with esignal tech staff.

In summary:
- Fairly up-to-date esignal. Uninstalled, reinstalled.
- time-template is set to auto
- no "stale" lines/trendlines
- Only 2 indicators (moving averages)
- only 2 charts open at any time (daily and 60m intraday)
- never use tick charts, level II's nor time-and-sales
- This PC is only used for esignal + excel

Checked by a contract tech support guru who visits weekly:
- No PC performance issues identified
- Memory and CPU usage show adequate resources
- No bandwidth problems.
- Problem was independant of PC used, location, logon ID.

I did receive an email from an informed person who says that the recent Tick Server issues are the result of ongoing upgrades to increase the available history for intra-day data. Of course I have no way to verify, but it does sound plausible.

Hi Essan,

Good to hear you went through these steps to figure out what was going on in your situation. It sounds like you have everything under control on your end. I appreciate the feedback as well, much better than leaving this open ended.

Having resolved your situation to this point, there is not much that can be done from the forum end IMHO. I still strongly recommend running the tests I mentioned, independent of any reviews you have had, especially when you are having issues. Murphy's law is alive and well, especially when it comes to Computers, Operating Systems, Internet connectivity, and Internet Service Provider glitches. I have found that just-in-time troubleshooting to identify or rule out problems can be quite effective.

I'll use the analogy of having an intermittent problem with your car... When you take the car to the dealer, the problem is not apparent. You continue to have the problem with your car, but every time you take it back to the dealer, the problem is no longer there and you get the same response from them through no fault of yours or the dealer's. By performing the testing I mentioned (and saving the results) it is almost like having a mechanic in the passenger seat when the problem occurs. (FWIW, I was able to identify an intermittent issue with my cable modem this way.)

Anyways, I wish you the best of luck on this and hope the issue resolves itself quickly.