IPTV Edmonton

Edmonton has an unusual telecom history. Until 1995 the city owned its own telephone company, and the cable company that became Shaw started here in 1966. Both networks have since changed hands. Telus has run the old city phone network for three decades, and Rogers has owned Shaw since April 2023. The city has also kept growing outward. All of that affects which connection reaches your home, and your connection decides how well streaming TV works. Here’s what to know, and how to test Boom TV on your own line with a free 24-hour trial.

From city phones and a local cable company to Telus and Rogers

For decades, Edmonton’s phones ran on Edmonton Telephones, a utility owned by the City. Telus bought it in 1995 and retired the name the following year. Telus launched a new top fibre tier here in February 2022, and its own announcement noted it was not available in all areas.

Cable has an Edmonton origin too. JR Shaw founded the business that became Shaw Communications in Edmonton in 1966. Rogers completed its acquisition of Shaw on 3 April 2023 and has been moving customers to the Rogers name since. Rogers’ Edmonton network runs fibre to the neighbourhood and coaxial cable into the home, and Rogers says fibre-to-the-home plans appear at addresses where it becomes available.

For streaming, the result is simple. Most Edmonton homes on a wire are served by either the Telus network or the Rogers (ex-Shaw) network, and both comfortably carry live TV. Boom TV is an app, so it doesn’t touch either one. There’s nothing to install on the line and nothing to change on your account.

Edmonton keeps getting bigger, and the wiring shows it

Edmonton grew by taking in land. A 1982 annexation more than doubled the city’s area. On 1 January 2019 the city annexed another 8,260 hectares from Leduc County on the south side. Meanwhile St. Albert and Strathcona County, which includes Sherwood Park, are separate municipalities. Edmonton once won provincial board approval to annex St. Albert, but the provincial cabinet overturned it.

Why it matters for TV:

• A new subdivision and a mature neighbourhood may be on different technology. New builds are more likely to have fibre. Older streets may be on cable or waiting for an upgrade. Both can stream well, but don’t assume.
• The outskirts are patchier. On acreages and rural land around the city, wired internet can thin out. Test before you commit.
• Your neighbour’s experience is about their line. Two houses a few kilometres apart can be on different networks at different speeds.

Fibre or cable: does it matter for TV?

Less than the marketing suggests. A live TV stream is a steady flow of data in one direction, from the internet to your screen, and both Telus fibre and the Rogers network deliver far more download speed than one or two streams use. Fibre plans usually offer much faster upload speeds than cable, and fibre tends to hold its speed well in the evening. The faster upload helps if the same household is on video calls or backing up phones while the TV is on.

If you’re choosing between the two for a new Edmonton address, pick the plan whose evening speed is reliable rather than the one with the biggest headline number. If you’re already on one of them, you likely don’t need to switch to stream TV.

How much speed you actually need

Boom TV’s recommended speeds, per stream:

Most current home internet plans have plenty of headroom. When a picture freezes, the fault is usually inside the house:

• Choose 5 GHz Wi-Fi over 2.4 GHz. The 2.4 GHz band reaches further but is slower and easily crowded.
• Use Ethernet for the main TV. A cable from the router ends most buffering for good.
• Mind the basement. If your modem is in the basement, concrete and ductwork can weaken Wi-Fi. Move the router up a floor or add a wired access point near the TV.
• Restart the router occasionally, and keep the TV device’s software up to date.

Getting started in Edmonton

1. Start the free 24-hour trial and watch on the TV you’ll actually use, ideally in the evening.
2. Install the app and sign in with the login we email you.
3. Connect by Ethernet or 5 GHz Wi-Fi and let a live stream run. Smooth for a full evening means you’re set.
4. Choose a plan in the Boom TV shop.

No appointment, no technician and no changes to your Telus or Rogers service.

Edmonton IPTV: frequently asked questions

Does Boom TV work with Telus in Edmonton? Yes. It runs over any working internet connection, and Telus fibre is a strong one for streaming. Nothing changes on your Telus account.

My bill still says Shaw. Will it work? Yes. Shaw is now part of Rogers, and legacy Shaw service uses the same network. If it carries about 10 Mbps per HD stream, Boom TV will play.

Does it work in St. Albert, Sherwood Park or the newer south-end neighbourhoods? Yes. Location doesn’t matter to the service. What varies is the internet technology at your address, so use the free trial to check your own line.

Why does it buffer only in the evening? Evening is peak time on every home network, and 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi is the usual weak point. Switch to 5 GHz or Ethernet and check what else is using bandwidth.

Is there a free trial? Yes. Start the free 24-hour trial, then pick a plan from the shop if it works well for you.

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