Meta Trader 4 Connection Bar on MT4 Status Bar
One quick method to check the real time internet connection between your MetaTrader 4 platform and the server of your online xauusd broker is to check the MT4 status bars on the MetaTrader 4 platform interface - MT4 Connection Bar on MT4 Status Bar.
On the xauusd example shown below the MetaTrader 4 Connection Bars on MT4 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's a connectivity to the trading server, then a trader can place trades to the online xauusd market using MT4 charts. When there is a connection MT4 charts can then keep updating - if MetaTrader 4 Charts on your xauusd 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 & uploaded indicated as a figure.
Red Bars - Connection bars in MetaTrader 4 Status Bar show that there is no connection and trades to the brokers' server cannot be opened.
Red bars might also mean that your internet connection is down, therefore if you're using a connection like dial up and red bars come up, then maybe it is your internet connection, & not necessarily the online broker's server. A common question by traders is - Why are MetaTrader 4 Charts Not Updating? if your MT4 charts are not updating then you may need to first check the connection of the MT4 platform to your xauusd broker using this MT4 connection bars on MT4 status bar - MetaTrader 4 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 Platform
MetaTrader 4 Platform Connection Bars on Status Bar - Green Bars indicate that the connection is online & Red Bars show that the connection is offline. The connection might be either your internet service provider or xauusd broker server. Most of the time it will be your internet service provider as the brokers have 2 to Three simultaneous servers & there is no way all of them can be offline even if it is for 1 second.