ballerinajz

I am an active trader on stocks/futures. Is the internet speed fast enough to trade stocks/futures on UA and ANA long haul wide body flights ?
If i remember the wifi instrucion correctly, they don't let people watch video, only check email ?

Is there any stocks/futures trader here? I'm trying to avoid flying during NYSE trading hour, but the flight in and out of NRT is once a day - i don't have a choice

I use thinkorswim trading platform on my labtop.

WineCountryUA

Never count on internet access as a certainty on any carrier. Between systems issue and geographic / governmental restricts, it may not be available.

Certainty do not expect speeds for live video of any kind. Sometimes you can get around the streaming limitations but available bandwidth will vary and you need to deal with other passengers using that bandwidth.

And you have the access uses of satellite internet which has long two way response speeds -- can be seconds.

Assuming you have VPN access (protecting sensitive data), linking to a site using character access should generally be OK.

ballerinajz

thanks.

trading platform requires the speed somewhere between youtube video and regular web surf , i guess.

if i remember right on UA flight (even on 1st or business class), the passenger has to pay the wifi, right ?

does anyone know the wifi ANA flight ?

ECOTONE

i don't consider myself an active trader, but i have executed trades while on UA in-flight wifi before. i use Fidelity.com and the site functioned with minimal lag.

ballerinajz

when you trade, do you go to Fidelity.com and log in then use the web attached platform or you use Fidelity trading software w/o going to Fidelity.com ?

PaulInTheSky

Not even close. Two of my last TPAC flights had 90% of the time UA WiFi not working. Not just Customer Care, I am strongly considering not to even bother purchasing United WiFi in the near future.

geckoflyer

I've done trades through Vanguard.com on a UA flight fairly recently. No idea what your platform is like, but if there's a web-based version I'm assuming you'll be fine - IF the Wifi is working. I still question the "security" of those wireless transmissions though. In my case I changed the password before I left and changed it back after I landed.

UA Ronin

No - the service isn't fast / reliable enough to do real time trading - putting in a simple request to sell / buy a security - yes.

FWIW my experience has been that UA is vastly superior to NH wifi - last time I flew NH they had a data cap (3 mb?) that got really expensive after exceeded - and it was pretty slow...

I always purchase wifi on UA longhaul and the performance is decent considering you are over an ocean at 35k feet - but OP - real time securities trading isn't going to be feasible - at least for now - and I don't want to be sitting across the aisle from you when you try....

ballerinajz

thanks. my trading platform is not web based.

security: does that mean we need to change email password if u log in during the flight ?

WineCountryUA

Unless you are using https protocols or VPN there is the possibility, as you are on a public network, of your activities being observed. Probably low on an aircraft but not zero. Same goes for airport wifi or UC wifi. If doing sensitivity activity, you should investigate a more secure connection environment -- such as a private vpn.

If your application is not web based -- are you using a remote login into another computer or some other remote access protocol?

br2k

Internet on ANA flights is absolutely useless. The speed is not even enough to send imessages, and you will not be able to access even most basic websites. It is also down for much of the flight. I am glad I didn't actually pay for it (they give 30 minutes free access, and through basic technical sleigh of hand it could be used multiple times). ANA should really be ashamed to provide that type of service.

Internet on United flights TPAC seems to be quite usable. This is definitely one area where United is significantly better than ANA. However it is still well below what would be necessary for your purposes (unless you can live with significant lag, potential random disconnects and limited bandwidth). It's ok for leisurely visiting "finance.yahoo.com"

findark

Not sure what sort of trading you're looking at here.. I think the short answer is for executing simple things it should be fine, but if you're relying on any kind of decent latency you're crazy to try to do that from a plane.

exwannabe

I watch traffic over my E-Trade Pro setup sometimes, and I would expect it would work fine over a decent airborn satalite connection. The bandwidth is not really all that high, most of your screens are just continuous data streams of small numbers. The local app handles all the pretty formatting. I realize this is not what you have, but the concept should be the same.

The latency issue is minor unless you are one of these guys trying to grab trades in a second or two..

I have never flown ANA, so no comment there.

The HUGE issue is reliability. You must simply assume you could be out of luck.

Security is of course NOT an issue. It really should never be, as the pipe can NEVER be trusted. Security must be provided prior to whatever encryption the link puts in place.

Phil Level

My experience is that it's OK (when it works) for using the mobile app on a phone/tablet, as those apps are presumably already tuned for low bandwidth.

I don't think there will be enough bandwidth and/or latency too long to run a full trading program on a laptop.

Mike Jacoubowsky

I can think of few things that would be more frustrating, and potentially financially disastrous, as depending upon airborne wifi for stock trades that might have to occur at any random time.

If you want to monitor a portfolio and make adjustments if you see something, fine, but only if it's not a requirement at that time of day that you do so. Because, simply, the reliability isn't there.

"This is cool; I can make trades while flying!" OK, fine so far, but if you can't live with "Doh! I lost the connection before the trade completed!" then I'd look for another way to raise your blood pressure.