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A Backup Internet and Power Plan for Traders

If you live somewhere with unreliable power or internet, you're not alone. Many traders deal with outages, and a simple backup plan can prevent costly mistakes.

Power backup options:

- A power bank for your phone and router
- A UPS (uninterruptible power supply) for your computer and router if affordable
- A laptop, which has a built-in battery
- A generator or inverter, if available in your area

Internet backup options:

- Mobile data as a fallback, with enough data credit in advance
- A second SIM or provider for redundancy
- Using your phone as a hotspot
- Knowing nearby places with reliable connections if you need them

Process backup:

1. Always use stop losses at the broker.
2. Avoid opening new trades if your connection or power looks unstable.
3. Keep your broker's mobile app logged in.
4. Save broker support numbers.
5. Keep your data balance and phone battery topped up.
6. Have a written emergency procedure: what you do if power or internet drops mid-trade.

Test it. Once a month, practice switching to mobile data and logging in via the app, so you know it works.

Think of these as business expenses. Compared with the cost of one uncontrolled loss, backup tools are cheap.

Reliable systems let you focus on decisions instead of worrying about disruptions.

One addition to the process section, because it catches people who use EAs: check whether your stops are actually on the broker's server. Some robots use "hidden" or virtual stops that only exist inside the EA and are sent as a market order when the price is hit. If your power or internet drops, or the VPS restarts, those stops don't exist and the position is unprotected.

The test is simple. Open a trade, look at it in the mobile app, and see whether the stop and target show there. If they don't, they are not on the server.

I'd also add news to point 2. If your connection is shaky, the worst time for it to drop is in the minute after a big release, when you might need to close manually and spreads are wide. On those days it's better to be flat before the number than to rely on a hotspot.

Something I learned the hard way: test the backup before you need it. A UPS with a dead battery is just a box. Every month or so, unplug the router and see how long the backup really lasts and how quickly you can switch the phone to hotspot. In Lagos the outages don't usually wait for a convenient moment, so the switch needs to be quick and boring. Keep the hotspot name and password saved on the laptop already, keep data on the phone line topped up, and know which broker app login works on the phone. The whole drill should take under two minutes. If it takes ten, you'll be managing a trade blind for ten minutes.

For people with frequent power cuts: a laptop with a decent battery covers a lot. Combined with a mobile hotspot, you can usually close or manage trades for an hour or two even if everything else is down. That's enough for most situations. In Lagos, having a second SIM from a different network helps too, since one network can be slow in your area while another works fine. Test the hotspot with the platform once a month, not just for browsing. And keep a power bank charged for the phone. If everything fails, the phone with the broker's app is still your last way to close trades.