A glimpse inside Virgin Media’s secret broadband testing home
Virgin Media has built two large life-size houses inside a warehouse located in High Wycombe where it tests its latest broadband technology.
Fitted with a spacious living room, a kitchen and bedrooms, the homes are furnished and feature an entire plumbing system, which can impact WiFi connections, to provide a realistic testing environment.
![Living room](https://i0.wp.com/content.assets.pressassociation.io/2019/03/15110510/e6c231c4-b7e1-4a44-bbac-dffc1c3b0b08-e1552647920478.jpg?w=1170&ssl=1)
![Entrance](https://i0.wp.com/content.assets.pressassociation.io/2019/03/15110631/d0221118-9f58-44e7-a117-e957c30c1ade-e1552648328380.jpg?w=1170&ssl=1)
The 450 square metre houses are at one of the company’s newest secret testing locations. They are three floors high and took 18 months to build.
A metallic composite is used around the facility to block any radio frequency signals from getting in, while a sponge-like material is coated on the inside to absorb WiFi.
![Doormat](https://i0.wp.com/content.assets.pressassociation.io/2019/03/15110711/34f6eaea-57d1-41dc-8dc9-98087da36241-e1552648042297.jpg?w=1170&ssl=1)
![Virgin Media's test house](https://i0.wp.com/content.assets.pressassociation.io/2019/03/15110815/295acfd4-df89-45b0-ac83-455715cad189-e1552648208535.jpg?w=1170&ssl=1)
One of the bedrooms uses a metal mesh which turns the room into a WiFi black spot. Other interferences can be brought in to see how connections react.
A robot tunnel runs through the houses to see how wifi works as the person walks through the house. A trench also runs from each house to the other, allowing the robot to test connections further afield.
![Kitchen](https://i0.wp.com/content.assets.pressassociation.io/2019/03/15110856/942f4f69-776b-422f-b096-cfc25f86cef9-e1552648170431.jpg?w=1170&ssl=1)
![Children's bedroom](https://i0.wp.com/content.assets.pressassociation.io/2019/03/15111036/0d7e7516-b7ae-4aa7-a301-123cdcd7918a-e1552648260727.jpg?w=1170&ssl=1)
Engineers are currently looking at the possibility of a new robot solution that goes from room to room, so it can test upstairs too.