Second Computer

[Jes070466]

Being a busy man I have a home office and use Ninja Trader there. It is on a tower pc. I have laptops and would like to use them when I am either travelling or having to work in another area of my home. How do I setup Ninja to use without having to go through getting a whole new data feed? The best example I can give you is how do I use another computer to trade on? Not simultaneously, (as I have read those posts) but when I am not able to be at my office. Thanks in advance. Can I just sign in using my ID or how does that work? Please be thorough in explaining. Thanks for your time.

[bltdavid]

Start with this:
(The answers get muddy when you trade with multiple brokerages, so let's
start by assuming you have one trading acct and expand from there.)

Enter your same NinjaTrader license key (preferably leased or purchased,
otherwise the free one from your prop firm) into each NT8 on each PC.

[EDIT: Here the term 'PC' just means any machine running Windows with NT8
installed, which could be a desktop or laptop, a VPS somewhere in the cloud,
or even a Mac running Windows.]

Setup the same connections using the same credentials from each of your
trading accounts on each PC.

Only connect to your brokerage from one PC at a time, which effectively
means, you're only live trading and getting that broker's real-time data
feed to one PC at a time.

The general rule, as I understand it, using only 1 NT license key, as long
as you're only live trading from one PC at a time, you should be fine.

That is, you could have NT8 up & running on one or more PCs at the same
time, all using the same (paid or leased) NT license key, but only one of
those PCs can be live trading at any one time.

[Brokerage connections usually enforce this: they will auto disconnect
your first connection (assuming one exists) when you connect using that
same broker technology from a 2nd PC. That is, there can only be
one Rithmic connection, regardless of how many of your brokerage
accts use Rithmic. Same with CQG/Continuum, and I presume IB, TDA,
and Crypto also do this. It's not just the brokerage connection, it goes
deeper than that, it's really the underlying brokerage technology used
for the connection that enforces this limitation. I think IB/TDA have their
own tech stacks, but Rithmic/CQG are not brokers, they are broker
technology firms, and lease their various APIs to trading platforms and
other brokerages, such as TopStep/Apex/Leeloo/Bulenox, etc, along with
whomever else needs datafeed/orderfeed connections to the exchanges.]

Which means, if you have two different brokerage accts, say NT and
TopStep/Apex/Leeloo/Bulenox/etc, and you have a multi-broker license,
you should be live trading all live accts from the same PC -- not from
two separate PCs.

[EDIT-2: TopStep, Apex, Leeloo, Bulenox (and others) all use Rithmic.
These companies are usually called "prop firms" because they offer
trading accts to casual and serious traders whereby the acct is funded
from the firm's own money -- you have to pass an evaluation process
in order to trade a funded account at a prop firm. After a certain
probationary period, prop firms let you keep a healthy percentage
(sometimes up to 90%) of the profits you generate in your funded
acct.]

That is, live trading at the same time from two separate PCs requires
two separate NT license keys.

So, do you need to buy/lease another NT license key for your 2nd PC?
That depends.

How so?
Because some prop firms give you a free NT license key -- so just use
their key on the separate PC if you trade that acct separately -- which
means you're back to not needing a M/B license key for your first PC.

The muddy waters of this issue get murkier if you want to use NT8's
order flow tools, since the free license key from your prop firm may not
specifically include those features.

Clear as mud, eh?
As I implied, the answer really depends on your trading lifestyle, ie,
how many and which brokerage accts you have, tools you use, etc.

NT Support can correct me as needed, but the general rule, as stated
above, is my current understanding.

[NinjaTrader_Zachary]

Hello Jes070466,

Thank you for your post.

bltdavid is correct here. So long as you are only looking to use one PC at a time, you may have it installed on as many computers as you would like. You can access your account by simply installing NinjaTrader from our website, entering your live license key and building a connection using your existing credentials on the laptop. You can even use NinjaTrader's backup and restore feature to export a backup file from your desktop installation and import that file onto your laptop so that you can move your existing workspaces and templates from one PC to another.

The only time you'd have to get a secondary connection or license key is if you wanted to use them at the same time. If you are ever looking to trade from multiple PCs at the same, each PC would require it's own license key and set of login credentials.

Please let us know if we may assist you any further.

[StealthM93]

Hi Zachary,

I just want to confirm... I can use the same license for two PCs if I'm live trading on one and using Market Replay (Playback Connection) on the other. Is this correct?
That is, I'm confirming this thread.

This would be ideal for me to have a PC running live while developing new strategies on the other PC. I do understand that I would have have to close the live connection on the trading PC to then use a live connection to download market replay data on the development PC, correct?

Thanks!
Matt

[NinjaTrader_Zachary]

Hello StealthM93,

Thank you for your reply.

Not quite. It's about both the connection technology and the license key. Your live account connection can only be connected in one location at at time per set of login credentials so you can only be connected within one installation at a time. It's true that you may use the same license key on 2 PCs, but you cannot have both of those installations of NinjaTrader open at the same time. Using your license key on more than one PC at a time is a violation of the terms of service.

If you want to be able to use both installations simultaneously and have no need to have live trading enabled on one of your machines, you can simply use the simulation edition license key that comes with brand new installations of NinjaTrader for free.

[StealthM93]

Thanks Zachary,

With the free license key, would that include downloading market replay data from a data provider (Continuum or Kinetic) for intraday testing? In other words, what would be the best way to get data for the free license key PC?

Thanks!
Matt

[NinjaTrader_Zachary]

Hello Matt,

Thank you for your reply.

Market Replay data does not come from data providers, but is provided by us on our dedicated servers. We provide 90 days back of Market Replay data for most commonly traded futures instruments. That download utility and the Playback Connection are available with any license key, including the simulation key that is included with the platform when you first download it.

If you are needing historical data (which is different from Market Replay data), you would have to have a connection to a data provider. You can certainly use your existing NinjaTrader Continuum credentials on the second PC to connect and download historical data from your provider to either PC, just not at the same time as the other one is connected.

[StealthM93]

Thank you, Zachary!