MT4 Indices Platform Connection Bars
One quick method to check the real time internet connection between your MT4 platform and the server of your online broker is to check the MetaTrader 4 status bars on the MT4 platform interface - MetaTrader 4 Connection Bar on MetaTrader 4 Status Bar.
On the stock indices trading example explained and illustrated below the MT4 Connection Bars on MetaTrader 4 Status Bar is Shown:
The MT4 status bar is used to show if there is a connection to the trading servers or not, if there is a connection to the trading server, then a trader can place trades to the online stock indices market using MetaTrader 4 stock indices charts. When there is a connection MetaTrader 4 indices charts can then keep updating - if MT4 Charts on your indices trading platform are Not Updating - you should first check the connectivity using the MT4 Connection bars in MT4 Status Bar.
Green Bars - on the Connection bars in MT4 Status Bar shows there is a connection, next to the green bars there will also be the kilobytes downloaded and uploaded indicated as a figure.
Red Bars - Connection bars in MT4 Status Bar show that there is no connection & trades to the brokers' server cannot be opened.
Red bars may also mean that your internet connection is down, therefore if you are using a connection like dial up and red bars come up, then maybe it is your internet connection, and not necessarily the broker's server. A common question by indices traders is - Why are MT4 Charts Not Updating? if your MetaTrader 4 stock indices charts are not updating then you may need to first check the connection of the MetaTrader 4 software to your broker using this MetaTrader 4 connection bars on MetaTrader 4 status bar - MT4 Charts Not Updating.
To show the status bars on the MetaTrader 4 platform, a trader needs to use the "Status Bar" button on the 'View' menu options as shown below, Click to check, once the option is checked the MetaTrader 4 status bar will appear at the bottom right corner of your MT4 Indices Platform.
How to check if there is an online connection on the MT4 Software Platform
MT4 Indices Trading Software Connection Bars on the Status Bar - Green Bars indicate that the connection is online and Red Bars show that the connection is offline. The connection may be either your internet service provider or broker server. Most of the time it will be your internet service provider as the brokers have 2 to 3 simultaneous servers and there is no way all of them can be offline even if it is for 1 second.
