Why does my connection keep going to orange/yellow?

[Instamess]

This happens randomly during the day, both pre-market and when the market is open. When it happens the charts continue to update but I can't open or close trades. It's scary when you have a trade open and the connection goes to orange.

It happens whichever of my two ADSL connections I'm using and happens whether I'm connected to the router via cable or WiFi. I'm with RCG and Continuum.

What are the causes of this behaviour?

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

Hello Instamesss,

The orange connection color in the lower left corner of the Control Center indicates you are disconnected to one of the servers of your broker connection. If you lose connection to the price server, no realtime data will be received anymore. If disconnected from the order server, NinjaTrader will not have access to your trading account and orders cannot be submitted.

Am I correct you tested the same computer on the different ADSL internet connections? Could it be you have other software running that could be interfering the connection? Check if the issue remains if you only run NinjaTrader on your computer.

If possible, please test a different computer and check if the disconnections persist.

[Instamess]

Thanks for your quick reply. So it's the order server I'm getting disconnected from?

I still don't understand why. Could it be the broker's fault? If not where would the fault be and how would I go about solving it?

(There is no other activity on my main 8M ADSL connection. I have this computer running NT and one other PC running a very basic Metatrader with just two charts. No downloads happening in the backgroud, no ipad updating apps on the sly, no programs on my PCs that are connecting to the internet without my knowledge)

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

Yes, if you cannot submit or close trades, it would indicate you lost connection to the order server.

If it would be caused on the broker's end, all users would experience the issue. I do not think this is the case.

I suggest to check if you can reproduce it on the other PC. If not, it is likely related somehow to the computer that currently has NinjaTrader installed.

[Instamess]

I can't test NT on the other PC as it's an old machine that doesn't have enough RAM.

However, the current PC is one I understand very well. I have "What's running" in the background to monitor programs and services that are running on my PC. It is a powerful machine which is more than capable of running NT (and has run NT fine in the past).

I've been monitoring the router and downstream speed hasn't ever dropped below 6100Kb. So it's not a bandwidth issue.

I hear what you're saying about a broker problem being something that would affect more people. However, it's also possible for a problem at their end to be affecting some / a few / just one or two customers while not affecting the others. Is there anything in NT logs or elsewhere that I can use to prove that it's not my PC?

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

I am not aware of any broker issues in this regard. You could always contact your broker and check if they experience any issues on their end.

Perhaps there is an issue between routers from your location to the broker order server. The connection goes from your computer via various routers to the order server. You can perform a tracert test to check this.

This procedure allows you to check where connection might fail or experiences large latency. It will sent a package to the license server and it will track down the routers it connects through.

Please clarify with your broker what IP address is used by their order server first.

In Windows, select Start-->Programs-->Accessories-->Command Prompt.

Enter "tracert xx.xxx.xx.xxx" and hit Enter. Check if you see any major latencies between routers. More information regarding this procedure can be found at the link below.

http://www.mediacollege.com/internet/troubleshooter/traceroute.html

If you see latency between certain routers, please contact your ISP and check if there is anything they can do from their end.