Connection errors in log files

Connection problems. You can have them EVEN if your internet is stable... See here -> https://www.mql5.com/en/forum/118546 for more info.
U should ping and trace the server's IP.

Thanks for the reply.
In the first instance I think I'll try a continous ping from command prompt to the broker's demo server ip address and see if this improves the connection uptime. Perhaps the client terminal is disconnecting due to some latency issue, as you speculated in the forum post.
I'll let you know how I get on.

Wilbur.

I doubt pinging continuously will improve the connection up-time... The Terminal automatically pings the server if it does not receive data (u can see this in the Journal).

What I meant was that u should check your latency to the server and whether u have lost packets. You can also trace to c where your problem is.

Looks like the broker's router is setup not to respond to icmp ping packets.
And there are 13 known hops across the internet to get to this destination, possibly more which can't be traced.
Further investigation is needed.

Make sure u r not behind a firewall... I have never seen a broker do that to his server (I always ping them with no problems).

I haven't yet seen a broker server, particularly Alpari UK, which is unpingable. Try using something like TCPView to confirm which IP address MT4 is connected to. Server names displayed by MT4, such as uk.cl4-gw.demo.alpari.co.uk, seem to be a private naming system and don't have DNS entries. (Also worth bearing in mind that most brokers have multiple banks of servers in different locations. Latency will vary slightly depending on location.)

If latency is the cause then I suppose my only option is to change to a different broker that is not so 'far away'.
I haven't experienced any connection loss errors in the past 24 hours so maybe the continous ping is keeping it alive (I sent the pings to the last known hop router ip address).
However, I have noticed the terminal is having to re-login at random intervals. I'm not too sure why this is happening.

I recommend you consider getting a VPS or even a dedicated server near your broker. Hosting companies tend to have much better internet connections (latency, up-time, number of hops...) relative to what u can get in your home. I have had similar connection problems in the past which disappeared over night when I moved to a dedicated server. I haven't had a single problem since.

Thanks for your feedback.
I've already considered the VPS option and looked at prices etc.
Once I have a trading strategy that is showing profit potential then I'll think about this more seriously.
Also, the continous ping didn't solve any of my connection problems.

This is probably due to the alpari demo server itself.

I have been running an alpari demo for a year now, only to test my EAs and these connection problems seem to have increased during the last months.

However: there is an advantage to this: My EAs (and the library of order related functions i have been developing during this time) are now able to deal with almost every bizarre error condition during trading that could ever occur. Forward testing your EA on an alpari demo seems to be the ultimate stress test.

I also have a demo from PFGBest to test the ECN related things (on the same internet connection, I'm in Hannover, Germany, the internet connection is broadband and stable) and this demo has not had one single disconnect, timeout or any other error since weeks, running 24/5.