MT4 on VPS - key takeaways
As you can see, installing MT4 on VPS is very easy and does not require too much effort. But, it may still be a bit confusing as to why people would spend time installing it.
Well, the main advantage is that VPS gives people a faster connection. This means that the trades you open are placed with the broker a bit faster. This helps with taking advantage of price changes in the market more efficiently and sometimes leads to better payouts. But it does not decrease risk. Trading on VPS is just as risky as trading without it.
A faster connection, faster trades, a possibility for more lucrative trades.
FAQ on MT4 and VPS
What is MT4 VPS?
VPS is an abbreviation and stands for MT4 Virtual Private Server. It is pretty much as the name describes, a server that is specifically for one person. Try to imagine an apartment building. It would usually have space for dozens of families, but the apartments would be a bit small. Let us say that the average apartment is 100m²; However, depending on which floor you live on, the time before you reach your home is different.
Now, imagine that you move into a personal house. The place is much bigger at 300m² and you have immediate access from the first floor. It’s bigger, and it’s faster.
This is pretty much how the VPS works. A shared server is the apartment building, and the VPS MT4 is the personal house.
Why is VPS faster than regular connection?
The reason why MT4 VPS is so popular with traders is the fast connection. In order to explain it, let us try and bring an actual example.
Imagine that you are trading from Bangkok, but the broker is located in Dubai. When you make a trade, that information needs to travel all the way from your server in Bangkok, to the broker’s server in Dubai. Although that may take less than 1 second, it still takes time. A person trading from Dubai would have his orders processed much faster than you.
A VPS is basically like buying space very near to the broker’s server, and trading as if you were actually there. Your trades are received by the broker’s server much faster which means you get a better “connection”.
Who uses VPS when trading?
Not every trader needs FX MT4 VPS when trading, especially if they go for long trades which they close after a couple of hours or days.
The traders that usually use an MT4 VPS server are referred to as scalpers. It is a type of strategy for trading where a trader tries to buy and sell currency pairs with very small price differences. The idea of this strategy is to place as many of these trades as fast as possible, so a fast connection is very important.
It is a pretty advanced strategy, so usually, beginners try to avoid it before learning about the basics of the market.
Do I have to pay for VPS?
Yes. A Virtual Private Server is not free whether you get it from your broker or the actual server “owner”.
The prices on VPS can be very different, but usually, you can expect between $3 and $20 per month, depending on the speed, size, and various other technical details.
When it comes to MT4 VPS, it is even harder to determine which one to go for because every trader has a different strategy or a way of placing trades. The good news is that you can customize your VPS very easily.
Can I use other trading software on VPS?
Yes. An MT4 virtual server is pretty much a separate desktop, it is a virtual computer that you own. You can download, install, and run everything that you would do on your actual computer. So the pieces of software like cTrader, MT5, and all the others can easily be used with VPS as well, it is not exclusive for MT4 only.
How do I select a VPS?
Selecting a VPS server MT4 is usually very dependent on your own preferences. It will mostly require you to calculate how much power you need depending on how much you are going to use it. If you’re going to use it just for trading, then RAM, Hard disk, and CPU are not really an issue.
There’s also the question of location. If you are doing VPS trading, it is usually recommended by scalpers to get one as close to the broker’s server as possible. So if you are from Bangkok and the server is in Dubai, you would get a VPS in Dubai.
Another factor is customer support. There could be some questions or problems you may have with your MetaTrader VPS that you do not understand. Good and fast customer support could be a deciding factor in your trading success, so it is considered to be a good idea to pay close attention to it.
When it comes to the price of your MT4 VPS, most traders try to compare the price offered by the broker to the price offered by an independent company. Usually, there is a small difference, but nothing too serious.