Basics Of Setting Your Own IPTV Network

IPTV offers a platform not just for big names in the digital entertainment business but also for smaller companies as well as to individuals in order to distribute video content to the viewers across all types of devices and all over the world.

Internet Protocol TV or IPTV as it is commonly known is the present and future of home entertainment. Over the last few years, many IPTV service providers have started making big in this segment. This gives an impetus to other entrepreneurs to think on this line too. However, setting up one’s own IPTV network can be a daunting task for many but this can be taken care of by having basic knowledge about the networks.

Technically, these networks are intranets. The web browser is not just on the PC, but also on the set top box. For setting your own IPTV network, you don’t need large development teams working with complex and expensive servers or specialized set top boxes. If you can set up an intranet or public website, you can also set up own IPTV and do what you want to.

Basically there are 3 types of IPTV services-

Video on Demand, Live Streaming and Time Shifted TV which is nothing but the content available anytime after the initial broadcast. These services are already available to millions of consumers across the world via various IPTV service providers, but it is also possible to have your own IPTV network so that you can provide the content you like to the subscriber of your services.

Of all the things, there are 3 essential things you have to pay due diligence to while setting your own IPTV network.

What Video quality you are going to provide

Depending on the type of video resolution and the stream type you are going to provide, you can make decisions on the bandwidth usage and other support mechanisms to ensure that your service does not go down.

Ensure that the switches in your network can do multicasting

Basically, there are two types of video distribution methods: multicast and unicast. You should ensure that all the switches in the network can do multicasting and it has been enabled. Opposed to unicasting, multicasting sends IP packets to a multiple recipients on the network. It is a one to many method distribution as against one to one in multicasting. It enables the organization to distribute single to multiple displays by using the same amount of bandwidth. Thus it is a more affordable and efficient way of getting things done.

Your network capacity should be good enough to hand future surge in requests

You can add more distribution points and increase the capacity of handling your requests in the future too. However, it is advisable to have a scalable model from the beginning itself. Try to predict your network usage in the future and plan for it accordingly. You wouldn’t want a situation when the your network breaks down due to surge in request.

Setting up your own IPTV network gives you complete control over the content that is provided via your network. It also gives the network owner full control over how the advertisements are going to be displayed and when are they going to be displayed. You also get the opportunity to reach a mass audience because of the kind of internet penetration we see these days. Everyone with an internet connection can watch your content via your network. Still, if you do not want to start your own IPTV network, you can get into reselling IPTV services. For example, you can avail MyWifi TV reselling services at a very nominal cost with full technical support to kickstart your business in the IPTV domain.

David Folding, an online broadcasting subject matter expert, worked closely with content creators and Publishers from around the world to deliver the highest quality entertainment experience with customers globally.