IPTV Wood Buffalo

Fort McMurray isn’t a city on its own. Since 1995 it has been the urban centre of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, a single municipality with about 60,800 square kilometres of land and hamlets spread far beyond the town. For streaming TV, that matters: a house in Timberlea and a home in Conklin or Fort Chipewyan can be on very different kinds of internet. Here’s how home internet works across Wood Buffalo, and what Boom TV needs to run smoothly on your connection.

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One municipality since 1995

On 1 April 1995, the City of Fort McMurray and Improvement District No. 143 were amalgamated. The new municipality took the name Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in 1996. It has specialized municipality status, a form meant for a municipality with a large urban centre and a large rural territory with a small population.

Fort McMurray is now an urban service area within it. The town sits where the Athabasca, Clearwater, Hangingstone and Horse rivers meet, 435 km northeast of Edmonton on Highway 63, the only highway between the two. Its neighbourhoods include Timberlea, Thickwood, Abasand, Beacon Hill, Gregoire and Parsons Creek.

The hamlets: from Conklin to Fort Chipewyan

Outside Fort McMurray, the municipality includes hamlets such as Anzac, Janvier, Gregoire Lake Estates and Fort McKay, the acreage hamlet of Saprae Creek Estates, and Conklin, its most southern community. Fort Chipewyan is reached only by plane or boat in summer and by a winter road in winter.

So “Wood Buffalo” covers town streets, acreages and remote communities, and home internet changes as you move between them.

Who owns the lines

An independent coverage map built from CRTC network-owner filings divides the whole municipality into 265 zones. Across that much land, wired networks appear in only a small share of them:

• Cable: the network that was Shaw’s and now belongs to Rogers is listed in under one in twenty zones. Rogers completed its purchase of Shaw on 3 April 2023.
• Fibre: Telus is the largest fibre owner listed, in fewer than one in ten zones, with a few smaller owners in a handful of others.
• Fixed wireless and satellite: Telus fixed wireless is listed in about four in ten zones, and satellite from Xplore in all of them.

The map counts network owners only, so a reseller may sell you service over one of these lines under its own name.

A rural fibre build, co-funded by the Municipality

In July 2021, Telus and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo announced a joint investment to connect Draper, Janvier, Fort McKay, Conklin, Anzac and Gregoire Lake Estates directly to fibre, along with several First Nations and Métis communities. The Municipality had issued a request for proposals for rural broadband in 2020. Telus said construction would start in spring 2022 and that it expected more than 90% of homes and businesses to be connected by the end of 2023.

Federal records also list a Universal Broadband Fund project for Telus fibre to 916 households in seven communities in the municipality, running from May 2022 to June 2024. If you live in one of these hamlets, ask your provider what actually serves your address today.

Boom TV works on any home connection that meets the speeds below. Test it on your own line with the free trial. Boom TV is an app you install and sign into, nothing is installed on the line, and Boom TV doesn’t change anything on your internet account.

How much speed you actually need

Boom TV’s recommended speeds, per stream:

If a fast connection still buffers, the cause can be inside the house:

• Use 5 GHz Wi-Fi rather than 2.4 GHz. It’s faster, and less crowded in apartment buildings and attached homes.
• Plug the main TV in with Ethernet if you can. A wired connection takes Wi-Fi out of the picture.
• Keep the router out of basements and cabinets. Walls and floors cost signal.
• Count everyone else on the network. Downloads and video calls share the same connection as your TV.

Getting set up in Wood Buffalo

1. Start the free 24-hour trial. Test it in the evening, on the TV you actually use.
2. Install the app on a streaming stick, TV box, smart TV, phone, tablet or computer, and sign in with the details sent by email.
3. Connect to 5 GHz Wi-Fi or Ethernet and watch for a full evening. If it plays cleanly, choose a plan on the plans page.

No installer, no new wiring, and no change to your internet account.

Frequently asked questions

Does Boom TV work on Rogers or Shaw internet in Fort McMurray?

Yes. Shaw is now part of Rogers, and Boom TV runs on that cable network the same as on Telus. Boom TV doesn’t change anything on your internet account.

I live in Anzac, Janvier or Conklin. Will it work?

Boom TV works on any home connection that meets the speeds above. Test it on your own line with the free trial.

Will it work on fixed wireless or satellite?

Boom TV works on any home connection that meets the speeds above. Test it on your own line with the free trial, in the evening, on the TV you actually use.

What speed do I need for 4K?

About 25 Mbps per 4K stream, and about 10 Mbps per HD stream. Add them together for several screens.

Is there a free trial?

Yes. It lasts 24 hours and is free. Start the trial or see the plans.