How to Run Hulu Smoothly

Hulu offers paid subscribers access to hundreds of TV shows.

As Hulu acquires more and more new members, the strain on its video servers has grown larger. This can lead to lagging videos and frustrated viewers. You can play videos on Hulu smoothly by closing all windows and tabs on your computer, shutting off other computers using the Internet, playing the video in small-screen mode and using Hulu in off-peak hours.

Instructions

1. Close all other windows and browser tabs other than the Hulu video you want to watch. Many Internet users slow down their Hulu video by playing a video with multiple browser windows and tabs open. Each of these tabs and windows takes up computer bandwith that should be put towards playing the Hulu video.

2. Turn off all other computers using the Internet within your network. This will free up a lot of bandwidth that can then be used to stream your Hulu video without interruption.

3. Turn off the full-screen mode while playing the video. Although many users enjoy full-screen mode, it drastically slows down the streaming speed of your video. Full screen also often leads to video stuttering on Hulu.

4. Play the Hulu video in off-peak Internet hours. The Internet has peak usage around 4 p.m. and 11 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, and a large number of users will be accessing Hulu's servers at these times. This will strain the servers and slow down video streaming speeds and sometimes prevent videos from loading at all. Play the video at least two hours away from these peak times.

References

• ArborNetworks; The Internet After Dark; August 2009
• TechGoPal; How to Do Better Browsing With Low Internet Speed; Olawale Daniel; June 2011