hey guys, i know that the point of an EA is to trade on your behalf while you’re not at the computer, but does your computer internet have to be switched on and the trading platform open on your computer while your away?
Thanks in advance
yes, it does. unless your using a hosted server or co-located server.
oh ok, sometimes my platform disconnects and then reconnects straight after it only last a few seconds but it still gets disconnected, and then the EA wouldn’t be active after it reconnects, this happens like maybe once every few hours, is this normal? how could i get around this problem?
and MeiHua do you have an EA, that closes ALL open trades when a desired overall profit is reached?
thanks
yes but all my stuff i coded myself. also i dont use the MT4 platform to execute it. that disconnect reconnect can be SUPER dangerous, you will lose orders and stops may not activate during that time.
To go along with what MeiHua says, in an EA, there definitely needs to be some error accounting for losing internet service, and then regaining it.
If the EA shuts down, and doesn’t reconnect to the trade it has open, whatever you do, don’t use it on a live account! It’s not very well written if it doesn’t find itself again.
If you bought it, notify whomever sold it to you, and get that fixed. Any self respecting coder should have accounted for a temporarily lost connection.
Never used an EA but I hear its wise to do as MeiHua suggests and go with a hosted service. The advantages seem to out weigh the very small outlay? I imagine the electricity bill for keeping your computer running 24/5 would be more! 
do a google search for "equity manager for martingale lovers V2 " and “MPTM ea” dont let the word martingale scare you all this EA does is close trades. the equity manager for martingale lovers will close all open trades on your platform. That can be good or bad depending on what you want. The MPTM ea has a ton of settings it can manage some trades and leave others. You could run it on a few charts with different settings for different pairs. you should also find an instruction PDF read it if you try this EA. I use both on my live accounts I place trades from my computer and have the EAs running all the time on a VPS.
edit>> both of these EAs can act funny if you modify the properties while they are on a chart. its always best to remove the EA from the chart restart it and input your new settings. You can use use a saved setting file to make this faster or do like I do and just modify the code a little so my settings are default and the inputs I adjust are the only ones that show in the property window.
Yes it does unless you are opting for an external server, where your programs can run while you and your pc are shutdown for the day…
You can and MUST program your EA and set up your PC so that even electrical outage will not affect it. You should always have a stop loss in place, even if your EA may be exiting before the SL is hit based on other conditions. Even hosted services may fail - and they do fail. Other times, a previously undetected error in the EA may make it stop and then a restart of the EA may be the only solution.
I have left EAs running for a month or so in my home PC without problems. The PC was set up to resume operation after an outage, and MT4 was loaded on startup. I would also automatically close and re-start MT4 once a day. I had also set up a remote desktop application so that I could log in and check how things were going.
thanks alot for the responses guys i really appreciate it. yeah i think i got it now
thanks
Generally, I do not use EA but internet and trading platform have to be open for the EA to work. There are some EA that closes ALL open trades when a desired overall profit is reached.
You’re welcome and remember, opting for an external server is no easy task since you would want to be sure that there’s no downtime. So google the company, check independent reviews and so on…
Good luck!
Besides SL, it is also important to place a TP when leaving an EA running unattempted. If for whatever reason your EA stops working for a period of time, you wouldn’t like to see that your trade reached a point where you would have profited but then turned and hit your SL.
Oh yes, that does happen with a few ea’s. In addition to SL and TP, you can preadjust your risk, lot size and the list goes on. Usually, the EA would come with a guide of sorts, providing you with a list of what you can tinker with…