How can I measure the data traffic caused my MT4?

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Hey forum,

I think about buying a new netbook with a mobile data-stick. There are a lot of sticks with different monthly data volume available and I don't know which one to buy.

I only want to use that netbook for trading purposes. But how can I measure the data volume caused my MT4? I am not sure if I need 1GB, 3 GB or 5 GB monthly.

Does anybody have an idea?

Thanks! 

 
Only way I can think of is stare at your computer's system area that shows network activity, or else get a program that tracks that, in and outbound, and do a few days to a week without MT4 running, and then do it again for the same time period with how you trade normally, and compare the 2 totals.
 
That's indeed a good way. I read that MT4 displays in the right lower corner its traffic but I don't know if this is reliable. If yes, my MT4 with 28 opened charts consumes around 90 MB a week when it's running 24/5. I can't imagine that this is really all.
 
mar:

I only want to use that netbook for trading purposes.

Let me add a sentence here. Do not go for a Netbook. Netbooks tend to use low consume hardware like weak CPU, weak L2 cache, weak GPU or in worst case use an APU rather than separate CPU and GPU. Low RAM.

I know what I am talking here because I once thought doing the same. I ended up with a bad responsive MT4. If you open 10 currency pairs and have the one or other indicator installed then your Netbook goes bonkers.

You need to see trading as some sort of business (write a business plan). You need to have a responsive computer. At least I recommend going for minimal i3 (better i5 or i7) or comparable CPU with at least 4gb of ram and some suitable harddisk (maybe ssd).

If you plan buying external monitors then make sure they have at least VESA standard (those little holes in the background where you can mount an external monitor stand). Make sure that you have proper internet access. Using an USB Stick is surely a nice idea but should be considered as backup solution. You need a proper internet line wich at least transfers 18mbit to your computer. 2.5mb/s or something similar. I say this because you might also wish to read news sites about current monetary news and so on. This all cause traffic.

If you want to trade then you need to invest. You don't need to buy the best possible options at the beginning, but you need to have some usable hardware at least. If your preference is a small sized computer then you might look for a "nuc" or some small sized barebone or something like that.

 
Thanks aakcaagac, I appreciate your answer. But I have my trading station at home. I am just thinking about a solution when I am not at home in the summertime (restaurant, cafe, chilling somewhere...). My home-server-solution which runs 24/5 sends out signals to my smartphone when price touches areas of interest like support/resist, supply/demand, round numbers etc... But the problem is that trading from the smartphone is definitely not possible. It's only for my information. I need a computer to execute my money management based order scripts and to do that I don't need a strong computer. But it is necessary for me to use the MT4 to do so. Therefore I think a netbook is ok because I don't scalp and need 100% correct data. It's only about placing trades which are detected by the MT4 running on my home server. 
 
I see. Then a Netbook makes clearly sense. You can remote-desktop to your server and use your server to do the deals rather than installing MT4 on the Netbook.
 
mar: But how can I measure the data volume caused my MT4? I am not sure if I need 1GB, 3 GB or 5 GB monthly.
  1. Open Resmon and measure it.Varies by broker.
  2. I average 2KB/s at 1100z (half during Asian) That's (2*86400*20)=3GB/mo max.
 
WHRoeder:
mar: But how can I measure the data volume caused my MT4? I am not sure if I need 1GB, 3 GB or 5 GB monthly.
  1. Open Resmon and measure it.Varies by broker.
  2. I average 2KB/s at 1100z (half during Asian) That's (2*86400*20)=3GB/mo max.

Cool, I never heard about Resmon. Seems to be an interesting tool. Thanks!
 
aakcaagac:
I see. Then a Netbook makes clearly sense. You can remote-desktop to your server and use your server to do the deals rather than installing MT4 on the Netbook.
That's a very good idea! I don't need all that data on the Netbook. I am just not sure about the connection speed. Which tool would you recommend to use for remote desktop? Or is that also possible with the Windows 8 standard remote desktop which I use within my WLAN intranet at home?
 
mar:
That's a very good idea! I don't need all that data on the Netbook. I am just not sure about the connection speed. Which tool would you recommend to use for remote desktop? Or is that also possible with the Windows 8 standard remote desktop which I use within my WLAN intranet at home?

Another possible idea would be setting up a remote VPS (which is not specifically what you had asked, but is a possible solution for this) and with this, you do not need to worry about data limits as much because you will only be on there every so often, not all the time.  I do not know if you are at the stage where your trading is making enough for you to cover the cost of the service, but if so, this might be a decent solution to your issue.  The other advantage to this is your trading can be automated, and you would not need your local computer on all the time, just when you are on checking on your account and/or tweaking on your EA.


Edit: Didn't see the other comments about how your setup was working already when I posted this.  Looks like you have that covered already.

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