Time Lag With Data From MT4

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I'm sure this has been covered before, but I'm wondering why the data I'm receiving from MT4 is 3-4 minutes behind. I trade forex on a binary options platform and use MT4 obviously to manage my trading points of entry. Everything was fine (I think) until about three days ago when I noticed the time delay. I've compared two different computers (one is brand new and only used for trading), and they both show the same delay. I've contacted my broadband provider and they confirm there is no issue with my account or with Internet speeds. It's very frustrating and I don't know what to do next. I've tried looking at other charting software and, although they appear to show accurate data, they just don't have the simplicity and functionality of MT4. I even looked at a subscription with TradeStation for $250 a month, but unless I can be sure the data will be in real time, I'm not prepared to commit. The annoying thing is that everything was fine until a few days ago. Have changes been made to MT4 recently, or is there something I've missed. Any thoughts or comments would be most welcome!
 
Two things to remember.  First and foremost, your broker sets what time they send the info to your system.  Second, and there is little to nothing anyone can do about this.  Despite the internet being as fast as it it, the further away the 2 communicating computers are, the longer it takes for them to talk.  Although, usually this is only a difference of a few seconds or so, but in trading, those few seconds can make the difference between a win and a loss.
 
JD4:
Two things to remember.  First and foremost, your broker sets what time they send the info to your system.  Second, and there is little to nothing anyone can do about this.  Despite the internet being as fast as it it, the further away the 2 communicating computers are, the longer it takes for them to talk.  Although, usually this is only a difference of a few seconds or so, but in trading, those few seconds can make the difference between a win and a loss.
What is reported is 3/4 minutes lagging, it has obviously nothing to do with internet speed.
 
skywalk7:
I'm sure this has been covered before, but I'm wondering why the data I'm receiving from MT4 is 3-4 minutes behind. I trade forex on a binary options platform and use MT4 obviously to manage my trading points of entry. Everything was fine (I think) until about three days ago when I noticed the time delay. I've compared two different computers (one is brand new and only used for trading), and they both show the same delay. I've contacted my broadband provider and they confirm there is no issue with my account or with Internet speeds. It's very frustrating and I don't know what to do next. I've tried looking at other charting software and, although they appear to show accurate data, they just don't have the simplicity and functionality of MT4. I even looked at a subscription with TradeStation for $250 a month, but unless I can be sure the data will be in real time, I'm not prepared to commit. The annoying thing is that everything was fine until a few days ago. Have changes been made to MT4 recently, or is there something I've missed. Any thoughts or comments would be most welcome!

Did you ask your broker ?

Can you please demonstrate your issue, with screenshots or whatever ?

 
Alain Verleyen:
What is reported is 3/4 minutes lagging, it has obviously nothing to do with internet speed.
I was covering both possibilities.  Some people might come here later looking to see why their trade timing was off, but not as much as this person was having issues with.
 
Thanks for the comments - much appreciated. I'm still having issues with delayed data, though today it seems to be down to about 20-30 seconds, rather than the 3-4 minutes experienced in the last couple of days. Also, generally things were fine for the morning - up till about 3pm AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time) or 5am GMT. I could track both the MT4 and 24Options prices at roughly the same rate. There is usually a difference of 10-15 pips (with MT4 being the lower of the two) though this morning this was closer to 8-10 pips' difference. After 3pm however, the gap widened significantly. I've attached a screenshot for reference. Believe it or not, they are of the same pair (USDJPY), though you wouldn't think so. I would be interested to know if your MT4 chart is similar at the same time period (around 9am Friday 10 July 2015 based on the chart time - 4pm AEST for me). The last spike on the platform's wee graph doesn't really correspond to what MT4 is saying. Very confusing. Is the platform manipulating price data, perhaps???  
 
skywalk7:
Thanks for the comments - much appreciated. I'm still having issues with delayed data, though today it seems to be down to about 20-30 seconds, rather than the 3-4 minutes experienced in the last couple of days. Also, generally things were fine for the morning - up till about 3pm AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time) or 5am GMT. I could track both the MT4 and 24Options prices at roughly the same rate. There is usually a difference of 10-15 pips (with MT4 being the lower of the two) though this morning this was closer to 8-10 pips' difference. After 3pm however, the gap widened significantly. I've attached a screenshot for reference. Believe it or not, they are of the same pair (USDJPY), though you wouldn't think so. I would be interested to know if your MT4 chart is similar at the same time period (around 9am Friday 10 July 2015 based on the chart time - 4pm AEST for me). The last spike on the platform's wee graph doesn't really correspond to what MT4 is saying. Very confusing. Is the platform manipulating price data, perhaps???  

What this screenshot is supposed to demonstrate ? With Forex, you can never expect to get the same price feed from 2 different providers, it's not a centralized market. How are you evaluating the "lag" as 20-30 seconds or 3-4 minutes or ... ?

 
It appears I'm back to a lag of about 2+ minutes again. Maybe I'm in the Twilight Zone! I've attached another screenshot of the latest - taken around 17.35 AEST or 07.35 GMT. You can see the pronounced difference in charts here (I've used the basic "professional" chart that comes with the platform for comparison this time). There is a price difference of around 40 pips - which the MT4 chart didn't catch up to till two minutes later. I'm flummoxed - it makes no sense and I can't trade my usual (5-minute) system with this going on. Perhaps if someone has the time to compare their own MT4 chart with the 24Options one (or any binary platform, for that matter) and see what they get. I've looked at two other platforms and get the same result, so I don't think the problem's at my end. Or is there something I've missed...? Very peculiar.   
 
skywalk7:
It appears I'm back to a lag of about 2+ minutes again. Maybe I'm in the Twilight Zone! I've attached another screenshot of the latest - taken around 17.35 AEST or 07.35 GMT. You can see the pronounced difference in charts here (I've used the basic "professional" chart that comes with the platform for comparison this time). There is a price difference of around 40 pips - which the MT4 chart didn't catch up to till two minutes later. I'm flummoxed - it makes no sense and I can't trade my usual (5-minute) system with this going on. Perhaps if someone has the time to compare their own MT4 chart with the 24Options one (or any binary platform, for that matter) and see what they get. I've looked at two other platforms and get the same result, so I don't think the problem's at my end. Or is there something I've missed...? Very peculiar.   
There is nothing wrong. The price difference is 38 points and not 40 pips. It's how Forex is working, you will never found 2 providers which give you the same data feed. Sometimes they can match, sometimes not.
 

Hi Alain, thanks for your comment. I'm simply timing the the difference between both charts to reach the same point. I should apologise - the platform "graph" is not very useful as a comparison - particularly if you're not used to looking at them. I appreciate that there is a difference in price between different platforms/providers/brokers, etc, but when that price difference is so wide (compared to what has been the norm for my two years of experience trading forex), and there is such a marked delay in one chart reaching the same point on the other (using features such as spikes, etc as a guide), I have to query "why". As I mentioned previously, I have never seen this before. And it just started a few days ago, hence wondering if there has been a change to MT4 or something else I'm not aware of. If the time lag was consistent at least I could understand that. But it seems to vary at different times of the day, and when the difference is over two minutes, there must be an issue somewhere, surely. I guess I'm simply looking to see if anyone has experienced anything similar and perhaps a suggestion or two as to what I could do to solve the problem.

Thanks again.

Luke 

 
skywalk7:

Hi Alain, thanks for your comment. I'm simply timing the the difference between both charts to reach the same point. I should apologise - the platform "graph" is not very useful as a comparison - particularly if you're not used to looking at them. I appreciate that there is a difference in price between different platforms/providers/brokers, etc, but when that price difference is so wide (compared to what has been the norm for my two years of experience trading forex), and there is such a marked delay in one chart reaching the same point on the other (using features such as spikes, etc as a guide), I have to query "why". As I mentioned previously, I have never seen this before. And it just started a few days ago, hence wondering if there has been a change to MT4 or something else I'm not aware of. If the time lag was consistent at least I could understand that. But it seems to vary at different times of the day, and when the difference is over two minutes, there must be an issue somewhere, surely. I guess I'm simply looking to see if anyone has experienced anything similar and perhaps a suggestion or two as to what I could do to solve the problem.

Thanks again.

Luke 

No worries, your second screenshot is very clear. Unfortunately you are learning what Forex is...a decentralized Market.
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