IPTV Montréal

Most IPTV pages for Montreal are written as if it were any other big Canadian city. On the island, wired home internet runs mainly on two networks. Vidéotron owns the cable network and Bell runs fibre and DSL. That holds whether your address says Montréal, Westmount or Pointe-Claire. Here’s what that means for streaming live TV, and how to check your setup before you pay anything. The free 24-hour trial is the place to start.

Montreal’s internet runs on Vidéotron and Bell

If you’ve moved here from Ontario, this part surprises people. Rogers does not run a cable network on the island of Montréal, and neither does Cogeco. Network-owner data filed with the CRTC shows one coaxial cable network across the island, and it belongs to Vidéotron. Bell runs both fibre-to-the-home and DSL.

Other internet brands do exist in Montreal. Several smaller companies have built their own fibre in some pockets, and resellers sell plans over Vidéotron’s or Bell’s lines under their own names. In practice, the island’s wired internet is built mainly on those two networks.

For streaming, both are more than enough. Cable and fibre plans on the island both go beyond a gigabit. Live TV needs a small fraction of that. Boom TV runs over the internet you already have. Nothing is installed on the line, nothing changes on your internet account, and it works the same on Vidéotron or Bell.

What does vary is which technology reaches your building. Bell fibre is widespread, but an older triplex on the Plateau and a new condo in Griffintown can still be wired differently. If your connection is DSL rather than fibre or cable, check your actual speed against the numbers below before you rely on it for 4K.

One island, sixteen cities: why your address doesn’t matter here

Montreal’s map confuses newcomers for a good reason. On 1 January 2002, every municipality on the island, 28 of them, was merged into a single City of Montréal under the slogan “Une île, une ville.” After referendums in June 2004, 15 of those former cities were reconstituted on 1 January 2006.

So today the island holds 16 municipalities. One is the City of Montréal, which is split into 19 boroughs such as Ville-Marie, Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, Verdun and Saint-Laurent. The other fifteen are independent cities like Westmount, Mount Royal, Côte Saint-Luc, Dorval and Pointe-Claire. An agglomeration council still runs island-wide services across all of them.

People ask whether that matters for their internet. It doesn’t. The 2006 boundaries are about city halls and taxes, not wiring. In the demerged West Island towns the picture is the same as downtown: Vidéotron cable, Bell fibre and Bell DSL. If you live in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Montréal-Nord or Mile End, you’re choosing between the same networks, and Boom TV works the same way on each.

The real difference is between buildings, not cities. Old walk-ups, new towers and suburban houses can all get different technology on the same street. Check what your address has, not what your neighbourhood is supposed to have.

How much speed you actually need

Boom TV’s recommended speeds, per stream:

Most cable and fibre plans on the island clear these easily. DSL is the one to test, especially if two or three people stream in the evening at once.

When it buffers, look at the last few metres first

In older Montreal buildings, thick walls and long, narrow flats can weaken Wi-Fi. Most buffering happens between the router and the TV, not out on the street.

• Use the 5 GHz Wi-Fi band, not 2.4 GHz. In a dense triplex or apartment block, 2.4 GHz is crowded with your neighbours’ networks, and that’s the most common cause of evening stutter.
• Run an Ethernet cable to the main TV. If the router is anywhere near it, a cable ends the problem for good.
• Move the router, not just the TV. A router in a back room at the end of a long flat is fighting every wall between it and the living room. A more central spot, or a mesh system, helps more than a faster plan.
• Test at the time you actually watch. Mid-afternoon tells you little. The real test is a weeknight evening, when the whole building is online.

Getting started in Montreal

There’s no technician visit and no change to your Vidéotron or Bell service.

1. Start the free 24-hour trial. Use it on your own connection, in your own living room, during the evening before you decide anything.
2. Install the app on the device you’ll actually watch on, then connect that device to 5 GHz Wi-Fi or Ethernet.
3. Watch something live for a full evening. If it plays cleanly, pick a plan on the plans page. If it doesn’t, work through the Wi-Fi checklist above first.

Frequently asked questions

Does Boom TV work on Vidéotron internet? Yes. Vidéotron owns the cable network on the island, and Boom TV runs over it the same way it runs over Bell fibre or DSL. Nothing is installed on your line and nothing changes on your internet account.

I’m in Westmount (or Pointe-Claire, or another demerged city). Is anything different? No. The reconstituted cities have their own councils, but they’re served by the same networks as the rest of the island: Vidéotron cable plus Bell fibre and DSL. Where your city boundary falls makes no difference to streaming.

Is Bell DSL fast enough? It depends on your plan, so check. You need roughly 10 Mbps per HD stream and 25 Mbps per 4K stream. Run a speed test in the evening. If you’re near the line, stick to HD or limit how many screens play at once.

Why does it buffer when my internet plan is fast? Usually it’s Wi-Fi inside the home, especially in older Montreal buildings with thick walls. Switch the TV to 5 GHz or plug it in with Ethernet, and most buffering disappears.

Can I try it before paying? Yes. The 24-hour trial is free, so you can test it on your own connection first.

Where do I see the plans? All current plans are on the plans page.