MT4 Status Bar

One quick method to check the real time internet connection between your MetaTrader 4 platform and the server of your online stock indices broker is to check the MT4 status bars on the MetaTrader 4 platform interface - MT4 Connection Bar on MT4 Status Bar.

On the stock indices example illustrated below the MetaTrader 4 Connection Bars on MT4 Status Bar is Shown:

The MetaTrader 4 status bar is used to show if there is a connection to the trading servers or not, if there's a connectivity to the trading server, then a trader can place trades to the online stock indices market using MT4 stock indices charts. When there is a connection MT4 stock indices charts can then keep updating - if MetaTrader 4 Stock Index Charts on your stock indices platform are Not Updating - you should first check the connection using the MT4 Connection bars on MT4 Status Bar.

Green Bars - on the Connection bars on 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 on MT4 Status Bar show that there is no connection and trades to the brokers' server can't 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 traders is - Why are MetaTrader 4 Stock Index Charts Not Updating? if your MT4 stock indices charts are not updating then you may need to first check the connection of the MT4 platform to your stock indices broker using this MT4 connection bars on MT4 status bar - MetaTrader 4 Stock Index Charts Not Updating.

To show the status bars on the MT4 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 MT4 status bar will appear at the bottom right corner of your MetaTrader 4 Platform.

How to check if there is an online connection on the MetaTrader 4 Software

MT4 Stock Indices Platform Connection Bars on Status Bar - Green Bars indicate that the connection is online and Red Bars show that the connection is offline. The connection might be either your internet service provider or stock indices broker server. Most of the time it will be your internet service provider as the brokers have 2 to 3 simultaneous servers & there is no way all of them can be offline even if it is for 1 second.