How to set up your own IPTV network

---

So you may have to look for some additional ways in order to increase your viewers. IPTV is the one way through which you can reach people who may not watch videos online. IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) is the method for video or television services that is to be distributed over the Internet. It allows the users to stream video content through TV. The content even may originate online.

Some big players in the IPTV industry are Amazon, Hulu Plus, and Netflix. Though these are large companies. But IPTV also offers a platform for smaller companies as well as to individuals in order to distribute the video content to the viewers across all types of devices.

IPTV network is easy to set up if you have the basic knowledge. Basically, these networks are intranets. The web browser is not on the PC, but it is also on the set top box. You don’t need large development teams working with complex servers, specialized set top boxes or expensive and massive servers. If you set up an intranet or public website, you can also set up own IPTV and do what you want to.

Why build your own IPTV:

Make an IPTV showcase for the clients to visualize opportunities

Convert the existing client websites and applications to IPTV versions

Create a new application or idea which would work well on IPTV

Make an internal IPTV system for advertising, training or information display

Evaluate the existing IPTV technology without any massive expense

Integrate the current web based systems into IPTV environment

IPTV is categorized into 3 categories:

Pay Per View/Video On Demand: The users can browse the catalog content which has been broadcasted previously. If necessary, the video creators can charge for content to generate revenue.

Time Shifted TV: Content which is accessible anytime after the original broadcast

Live Streaming Video Content: You can watch the content as it is happening

4 essentials of setting up IPTV

1. Multicasting is critical

There are 2 types of video distribution methods: multicast and unicast. An organization can deliver video from different sources through an IPTV system over a packet switched network like internet or LAN. Make sure all the switches in the network can do multicasting and it has been enabled. A unicast sends IP packets to a single recipient on the network. It is a one to one method distribution. On the other hand, multicast offers one to many distributions. It enables the organization to distribute single to multiple displays by using the same amount of bandwidth. It is more affordable and efficient.

2. Video Resolution

IP networks support several different resolutions and resolution profiles. You can make choices about the bandwidth and resolution usage depending on who is watching the display and stream type.

3. Future proofing the network

You need to future proof the network when setting your IPTV system. So think what your network capacity will look like in next 5 years. Factor in the room to grow unless you are sure that the number of video and users’ assets will be the same. It is advised that build a 10GigE infrastructure, depending on the requirements of the end user and network. IP networks are scalable. You can add more distribution points and viewers with ease without any additional expense.

4. Future Forward

IPTV is transforming video distribution, so that the organizations can improve bandwidth use and video quality, provide seamless video experience to the users and increase scalability and flexibility with streams that include on-demand, pre-recorded, live and the Internet.

Benefits of creating own IPTV network

Creating own IPTV network offers a host of advantages compared to the online only providers or traditional television.

Control

If you have your own IPTV network, you don’t have to think about the content you are producing. However, you can publish any content you want. Traditional cable television networks have strict regulations as what can and cannot be shown. So if you have your own IPTV network you can avoid all these needless things while producing own content.

Avoid advertisements

Most of the online providers monetize all the videos that are hosted on the sites with advertising. In that case, you will have very little control on how and when the advertising is displayed along with the videos. It can affect and have a problem to understand that how much the users are engaged when they are viewing the videos. So if you create your own IPTV network, you can not only control all the content but you can also control whether you will have any advertisements or not and if what are those.

Reach more people

Try to get your content in front as much as possible. The Internet is a big platform to stream content. Still, there are many who watch videos from televisions. However, with IPTV you can reach the population to grow your following. IPTV allows you to reach more people. As long as you have an Internet connection, you can watch your content easily.

Ability to adopt

You can tweak the videos constantly based on the viewers wants and needs with IPTV. Unlike television, changing content is simple like recording new content and streaming to IPTV channel. This difference can mean a lot. If you want high-quality video content, you need to tweak your approach consistently as you learn what the viewers prefer. 

---