Is it technically possible to run media services from two providers at the same address?

[lesleyb-]

Hi 

I am wondering if it is possible to have two different providers running at the same address. 
I'm talking about pulling down Virgin TV, landline and Internet bundle and doing the same with another provider.

I imagine there could be interference internally between the wifi boxes,  but what else could make this a non-starter?  Any hardware issues e.g. feed from the street, etc?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Kind regards

LesleyB-

[carl_pearce · Accepted solution]

VM use their own infrastructure for broadband and TV.

Quite a few areas don't even use a conventional phone line anymore as there is a port on the HUBs VM supply.

Interference between WiFi routers would be similar to interference from your neighbour's devices, which should automatically select the least congested channels available.

[lesleyb-]

Hi Carl,

Thank you for your reply.  

From what you have said, given the property has media services from another supplier, and the property has previously had Virgin then everything should 'just work' if there are no hardware conflicts.  Awesome, thank you,

Kind regards

LesleyB-

[carl_pearce]

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@lesleyb- wrote:

Hi Carl,

Thank you for your reply.  

From what you have said, given the property has media services from another supplier, and the property has previously had Virgin then everything should 'just work' if there are no hardware conflicts.  Awesome, thank you,

Kind regards

LesleyB-

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Correct, just be cautious around VM's wall boxes, inside and out, as you don't know what previous owners may have done to the cabling over the years since original install.

Technically you can actually have two services from VM in the same home, although you haven't mentioned the reasoning behind your question?

[Tudor]

I don’t know exactly what you are trying to achieve, but here is a scenario that would certainly work. 
Get a router that supports 2 broadband connections, usually they can either be set up as one prime and one secondary for redundancy purposes  or both can be active at once as load sharing. 

[Adduxi]

As Tony has said. Get a DualWAN router and run both ISP together. I had this setup for years for work redundancy. VM and BT running concurrently as load balanced supplies. A really great job 👏 

[pete_at_home]

+1 on use a Dual-WAN router.   I also have been doing this for years with VM & BT.   Switch off both providers WiFi, and use separate access points, mesh or whatever with a single SSID throughout your home.   Family will be unaware of which WAN connection they are using.

One issue I found is banking & other finance sites like nsandi.com don't play well with load-balanced connections, so had to add rules to force single WAN for these. 

[jem101]

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@pete_at_home wrote:

Snip....

One issue I found is banking & other finance sites like nsandi.com don't play well with load-balanced connections, so had to add rules to force single WAN for these. 

....Snip

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Yes it depends on how the load balancing is set up, if you think about it from their perspective, you start a session which appears to be coming from one IP address and suddenly it changes mid-session to be from a different address. You understand why any financial institution is going to say, 'sorry; but no'!

[pete_at_home]

yes I know, hence why it’s in load balance for most traffic, and single WAN for banking, etc.   Tried sticky connections but then it doesn’t balance nicely for devices that are always on.  Rest of family don’t even notice.

my inbound VPN can use either connection so I can access remote even if one isp fails. 

VM TiVo, V6 need to use VM Wan, but the new mini STB works on any.