MT4 Trading Platform Connection Bars
One quick method to check the real time internet connection between your MT4 commodities software & the server of your online broker is to check the MT4 status bars on the MT4 platform interface - MT4 Connection Bar on MT4 Status Bar.
On the example portrayed & described below the MT4 Connection Bars in MetaTrader 4 Status Bar is Shown:
The Meta Trader 4 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 market using MT4 charts. When there is a connection MT4 charts can then keep updating - if MT4 Commodities Trading Charts on your platform are Not Updating - you should first check the connectivity using the MT4 Commodities Trading Platform Connection bars in MetaTrader 4 Platform Status Bar.
Green Bars - on the Connection bars on MT4 Platform Status Bar shows there is a connection, next to the green bars there will also be the kilobytes downloaded & uploaded indicated as a figure.
Red Bars - Connection bars in MetaTrader 4 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, & not necessarily the broker's server. A common question by traders is - Why are MT4 Commodities Trading Charts Not Updating? if your MT4 charts are not updating then you may need to first check the connection of the MT4 commodities trading platform to your broker using this MT4 connection bars in MetaTrader 4 status bar - MT4 Commodities Trading 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 MT4 Trading Software.
How to check if there is an online connection on the MT4 Platform
MT4 Commodities Trading Software Connection Bars on Status Bar - Green Bars signify and show that the connection is online and Red Bars show that the connection is offline. The connection might 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 & there is no way all of them can be offline even if it is for 1 second.