Hulu(Plus) vs. Netflix downloads

[Ron Rennie]

We have DSL for internet (only option) at speed of only 1mb. We subscribe to Netflix and Hulu, (formerly called Hulu Plus). We have no problems watching Netflix but only rarely can we watch Hulu. When we try to watch Hulu it takes forever to download and we can only watch very short intervals before it has to download more. Usually less than a minute or so. However, if we watch Netflix, the shows or movies run uninterrupted.
We find if we hit "pause" during the actual video on Hulu and just leave it, (perhaps watch satellite or antenna tv), then go back to Hulu, it will run longer and hopefully long enough to finish our program. What does Netflix do for downloading that works so well compared to Hulu, and is there any solution for us snail streamers?

 

[mike123abc]

More likely Netflix is using a different path from them to your ISP that works better.

One thing to check for sure is that you are using your ISP DNS servers and not a public one like Google's 8.8.8.8. Content delivery networks resolve the address to best match the local DNS server. So if your ISP has a better connection to one network than another, the DNS should resolve to the better connection.

 

[Ron Rennie]

Thank you Mike.
How can I display/change settings for a Roku box?

 

[klang]

Thank you Mike.
How can I display/change settings for a Roku box?

I'm not Mike but the DNS settings are on your router.

 

[mike123abc]

If you are using the router without changes from your provider you should be OK. If you manually changed your DNS settings on your router then you would have to change it back to automatic to get them from your ISP, or use the settings given to you by your ISP.

An example as to why people would change their router settings would be to use a service like open DNS to put in child blocks.