Co-location vs a trading proxy, what is the difference?
The short answer
Co-location means putting your own equipment in the same building as your broker’s servers. Traders Proxy is not co-location, your platform stays on your computer, and our server connects in your broker’s city. If every fraction of a millisecond decides your trades, use co-location.
Co-location puts your own equipment in the same building, so distance adds almost nothing.
Co-location means paying a facility for space for your own equipment. In trading, that usually means the building that houses the servers you trade with, such as an exchange’s. The facility supplies space, power and cooling, and you bring and run the server.
The benefit is distance. Your equipment sits in the same building as the servers you trade with, so distance adds almost nothing to each wait.
The limits are rules and effort. Each facility has its own rules about who may connect to whom, and you run the server yourself. So it suits people who can run their own server.
A trading proxy leaves your platform on your computer and changes where it connects.
With Traders Proxy, you pick your broker’s city in your dashboard and switch it there. So you match your broker’s city without moving any equipment.
Our server in your broker’s city opens a separate local connection to your broker. If data drops on that link, our server recovers it inside that city.
Your order waits on that short local link instead of the whole way. Trading ports go first when a server is busy, and broker addresses stay warm in memory.
Data lost between you and our server is recovered between those two. If our server in your broker’s city is unreachable, your platform shows an error. Your dashboard asks before using another city.
Only the trading app you set up uses Traders Proxy, so your plan’s data goes on trading. Everything else stays on your normal internet.
Traders Proxy is not co-location, so there is no server for you to run.
With co-location, you bring a server and pay a facility for its space. Traders Proxy is a connection service, with no space in a facility and no direct cable of your own. You paste four values into your platform’s proxy setting and install nothing.
Our own software runs on our servers in each city we list. The software that connects you to your broker is ours. No one else’s proxy sits between you and your broker.
Distance sets the minimum wait, and each lost piece of data adds more.
A backtest runs on your own machine, so no internet link can lose a piece of data during a news release. In live trading, one lost piece holds up every price update and order behind it. Everything waits while your computer sends it again across the world.
Your ping, the time data takes there and back, cannot be shorter than distance allows. When a piece of data is lost, your platform waits about that long. Then it sends the piece again.
If the second copy is lost too, the wait doubles. Meanwhile price updates wait in line and your next order is held up.
The maths of ping
01
Your broker’s distance sets a minimum time for every order
Light in a cable travels about 200 km every millisecond. Your order goes there and back, so every 1,000 km adds at least 10 ms.
What it means for youPhysical distance dictates your latency floor. Fibre travel times remain constant regardless of routing tools.
minimum there and back (ms) = distance (km) ÷ 100
02
One lost piece of data makes everything wait
When a packet drops, your platform pauses while requesting a retransmission across the full distance. Consecutive drops double this waiting penalty. Incoming price ticks stall during the exact seconds volatility peaks.
wait 1× → 2× → 4× → 8×
03
Our server in your broker’s city recovers lost data locally
Our server in your broker’s city opens the final connection to your broker. On a quiet connection, a repeat loss doesn’t double the wait.
What it means for youWhen a piece is lost near your broker, our server recovers lost data inside that city instead of from your computer.
distance set by physics · recovery in your broker’s city is ours
Try your own distance
Singapore to London is about 10,850 km in a straight line, so at least 108 ms there and back. No order can reach your broker and hear back in less. Real routes are longer.
We don’t promise lower ping because distance sets the minimum. Local recovery in your broker’s city covers only the connection between our server and your broker. The repeat-loss fix covers the first few tries on a quiet connection, after the first repeat try.
Co-location shortens the distance, and with it the time data needs there and back. A proxy leaves the connection from you to our server as it is. Instead, our server opens a local connection in your broker’s city and recovers lost data there.
You cannot paste four values into your platform while your chart is already frozen in a live trade. Set it up today while the market is calm. Then time it on your own screen during the next release.
With Traders Proxy, your data still travels the whole distance to your broker. We don’t promise lower ping. Distance sets the minimum. If your broker prohibits proxies, don’t use one.
Co-location shortens the distance, while a proxy recovers lost data in your broker’s city.
The table sets out what each one changes, who runs it and what it costs, so you can see which fits you.
| Feature | Co-location | Traders Proxy |
|---|---|---|
| Where the server sits | In the premises that house the servers you trade with | Ours, in the broker’s city you pick in your dashboard |
| Who runs the server | You do | We do |
| Where your platform runs | On the server you place there | On your own computer |
| Runs with your computer off | Yes | No |
| What it changes | The distance itself | Recovers lost data locally inside your broker’s city |
| What you pay | Set by the facility, plus the server you bring | A plan from $9 a month |
| What it means for you | The shortest distance there is, if you can run a server there | Your own screen stays as it is, and lost data near your broker is recovered inside that city |
Terms and prices differ by facility, so ask the facility. Our plans are on the pricing page.
How you trade decides which one you need.
Verdict. Short answer
If every fraction of a millisecond decides your trades, co-location is the right tool. Traders Proxy is not that. If you trade by hand from your own screen, a proxy is the smaller step, with no server for you to run.
Traders Proxy does not keep a platform running while your computer is off. If an expert advisor must run while your computer is off, a trading VPS is the right tool.
Keep reading
- Compare with a VPSWhich one a manual trader needs.
- How Traders Proxy worksHow the connection works, step by step.
- The network path to your brokerHow an order gets from your computer to your broker.
- How we built itWhat our software does, in plain words.
Frequently asked questions
Is Traders Proxy a form of co-location?
No. Traders Proxy is a connection service, with no space in a facility and no direct cable of your own. Your broker sees one steady address, our server’s, shared with other Traders Proxy customers, until you switch city or we replace a server.
Does a proxy do what co-location does?
No. Co-location shortens the distance itself, and a proxy does not. Instead, our server in your broker’s city connects locally to your broker and recovers lost data inside that city.
Does my broker offer co-location?
Ask your broker. Whether it offers co-location is its decision, and we do not list which brokers do.
What is a cross-connect?
A direct cable between two customers’ cabinets, or between a cabinet and a network provider, inside one co-location facility. Rules and fees vary by facility. A Traders Proxy plan includes none.
Can I use co-location and a proxy together?
There is little reason to. A co-located server is already in the same building as the servers you trade with. A proxy would only put another server in between.
Does a proxy change what my broker allows?
No. Check your broker’s terms before you start. If your broker prohibits proxies, don’t use one.
Field reports · Verified forum threads
Real forum reports, what our system does, and where it stops.
Every quote below links to the forum thread or vendor guide where it appeared. Underneath each quote, see which parts of our system work together on it and where our server stops.
MetaTrader's own proxy setting fails on some builds or setups
“MT5 doesn't support SOCKS5 natively. This bridge sits between MT5 and V2rayN”
Why a proxy can backfire here. Use SOCKS5 or HTTP, whichever your platform offers.
- Built-in
SOCKS5loginBoundary - Built-in
HTTPproxy loginBoundary
Where it stops. Use the platform's own Test button. If it fails, the fault is in the platform's proxy support. Not SOCKS4. IPv4 only.
High server delay, slow price feed or slow fills in cTrader
“Inquiries related to the price feed and execution should be addressed to the brokers since they are in control of the entire chain.”
Why a proxy does not change this. Traders Proxy doesn't change your broker's prices, fills or spreads, and it doesn't promise lower ping.
Where it stops. We do not change cTrader server delay, tick frequency or fills. In cTrader, our server connects onward to Spotware’s cloud node.
Installer 'Proxy Server' popup and MQL5.community 403 on a VPS or datacentre address
“Zomro provider with subnets has been blocked more than 4 years ago”
Why a proxy does not change this. Traders Proxy carries your platform's trade-server connection. We don't promise it fixes installer downloads or MQL5.community sign-in.
- Only the app you set up is routedBoundary
Where it stops. The platform proxy setting applies after MetaTrader is installed. If the installer download is blocked, download the installer another way first.
'Trade context is busy' (error 146), including on manual trades
“146 ERR_TRADE_CONTEXT_BUSY Trade context is busy”
Why a proxy does not change this. Traders Proxy doesn't change how MetaTrader handles its trade requests.
Where it stops. Trade context is busy is MetaTrader’s own local lock when two scripts place orders at once. A proxy does not change it.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Colocation centreChecked
- Wikipedia, Low latency (capital markets)Checked
- DataBank, understanding cross-connects in colocationChecked
- IETF standard 6298, computing the wait before lost data is sent againChecked
- M2 Optics, latency in single-mode fibre (light covers about 200 km each millisecond)Checked