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Ping maths for a 3 pip target

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Shadow Trader
Posts: 5438
Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2026 5:19 pm

Ping maths for a 3 pip target

Post by Shadow Trader »

Latency isn't only a high-frequency topic. A retail scalper aiming for 3 pips lives in a zone where a few milliseconds can shift the fill by a fraction of a pip when price is moving.

Suppose a pair is moving 1 pip every 200 milliseconds during a release. A 40 ms delay costs about 0.2 pip. On a 3 pip target, that's almost 7 percent of gross profit, every single time.

In calm markets, effect is negligible. In fast ones it stacks with slippage and spread widening, which is why many scalpers hunt for a VPS near the broker's server.

Before paying for anything, measure. The platform shows ping in the corner, and a trace route to the broker's server shows where delay creeps in. Home wifi is a frequent culprit. A wired connection often shaves a noticeable chunk.

For perspective, the typical retail connection to a broker sits somewhere between 20 and 150 milliseconds depending on distance and routing. Moving a VPS from 100 ms to under 5 ms often costs less per month than a single bad fill, which puts the expense in context.

What does the ping read on the current setup, and has it ever been compared against a VPS?
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