Problems with Hulu Plus

B

balky

Expert Member
Joined
Dec 4, 2010
Messages
1,028
Reaction score
2
Location
Mypos
I have 2 problems with Hulu plus.

1)There is terrible buffering using Hulu plus. Initially the setting was on auto. The picture quality looked like 1080 and it buffered every 10 seconds. I then set it to manual, and with the Hulu app on my TV you can choose the speed, so I chose 650kb/s (minimum). The resolution dropped to what looks like SD, but it still buffered every minute or so. With Netflix there is no buffering and the quality looks better than SD. I have a 4Mb line with Axxess and when I do a speed test using speedtest.mybroadband on international I typically get 1.5Mb/s. Any suggestions or comments please.

2) The second problem may make the first problem academic. One time when I restarted an episode, I got a message that I was using an anonymous proxy and the streaming stopped. When I restarted the episode it worked without the message. I have just started my free 8 day trial, and I am using Unotelly. Am I going to be blocked?
 
balky said:
I have 2 problems with Hulu plus.

1)There is terrible buffering using Hulu plus. Initially the setting was on auto. The picture quality looked like 1080 and it buffered every 10 seconds. I then set it to manual, and with the Hulu app on my TV you can choose the speed, so I chose 650kb/s (minimum). The resolution dropped to what looks like SD, but it still buffered every minute or so. With Netflix there is no buffering and the quality looks better than SD. I have a 4Mb line with Axxess and when I do a speed test using speedtest.mybroadband on international I typically get 1.5Mb/s. Any suggestions or comments please.

2) The second problem may make the first problem academic. One time when I restarted an episode, I got a message that I was using an anonymous proxy and the streaming stopped. When I restarted the episode it worked without the message. I have just started my free 8 day trial, and I am using Unotelly. Am I going to be blocked?
Click to expand...

Hi There,

Your first problem here is your international speeds! 1.5Mbps aint gonna give you smooth playback on Hulu! Hulu is not that good at low bandwidth streaming like Netflix. 4Mbps stable International will give you good streaming on Hulu.

Then there is also the factor of the device you use! I Stream Hulu and Netflix in full HD on my 10Mbps line(Note:i get full 10Mbps local and International) on my Apple TV 3, but on my WD TV Live Hulu sux big time and the same for my Samsung Blu-Ray system. Netflix however is perfect on all!

Try playing from your Pc and compare that to your app on the TV.

Unotelly: Been using them for the past 9 Monyhs and no problems at all!
 
Valken said:
Hi There,

Your first problem here is your international speeds! 1.5Mbps aint gonna give you smooth playback on Hulu! Hulu is not that good at low bandwidth streaming like Netflix. 4Mbps stable International will give you good streaming on Hulu.

Then there is also the factor of the device you use! I Stream Hulu and Netflix in full HD on my 10Mbps line(Note:i get full 10Mbps local and International) on my Apple TV 3, but on my WD TV Live Hulu sux big time and the same for my Samsung Blu-Ray system. Netflix however is perfect on all!

Try playing from your Pc and compare that to your app on the TV.

Unotelly: Been using them for the past 9 Monyhs and no problems at all!
Click to expand...

How do you get 10Mbps international ? Unshaped uncapped business ADSL ?

If I'm not mistaken Netflix Super HD would be Full 1080P on the Apple TV 3 ?

Thanks.
 
thewusman said:
How do you get 10Mbps international ? Unshaped uncapped business ADSL ?

If I'm not mistaken Netflix Super HD would be Full 1080P on the Apple TV 3 ?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

@thewusman

Correct, Netflix does Full 1080P on the Apple TV 3 and also on the WD TV Live! And even then my line average is around 7Mbps.

I'm actually on the 8Mbps Package from Level-7 (Uncapped, Unshaped and static IP) Think they just about the best ISP in this country!

And here's some proof...Speedtest done to a CDN1 in Florida, US - Netflix server Location



<a href="http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/2820349422"><img src="http://www.speedtest.net/result/2820349422.png" /></a>
 
Last edited:
My Hulu Plus picture quality is not that far off being as good as Netflix. Except for the Hulu adverts. They stutter and buffer like crazy. Not that it matters, just unsure why the adverts struggle so much but not the content.
 
Valken said:
Your first problem here is your international speeds! 1.5Mbps aint gonna give you smooth playback on Hulu! Hulu is not that good at low bandwidth streaming like Netflix. 4Mbps stable International will give you good streaming on Hulu.

Then there is also the factor of the device you use! I Stream Hulu and Netflix in full HD on my 10Mbps line(Note:i get full 10Mbps local and International) on my Apple TV 3, but on my WD TV Live Hulu sux big time and the same for my Samsung Blu-Ray system. Netflix however is perfect on all!

Try playing from your Pc and compare that to your app on the TV.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that advice. I tried it on my PC and experimented with the quality settings. On "low" quality, it streams flawlessly on my PC although the quality seems to be worse than SD, and the speed averages about 800kb/s although the speed is all over the place. On my PC with the quality set to "medium" there is some buffering although not nearly as bad as the TV and it seems to be SD quality.

On my TV with quality set to "low" it appears to be SD, but it buffers very badly. I tried using the web browser on my TV with Hulu+ and it streamed perfectly although I had stability problems with it. What I mean by "stability problems" is that some shows played and others caused the browser to freeze. On my TV Netflix works perfectly with good quality video and when the TV browser doesn't freeze, it streams Hulu+ perfectly, so I can only assume that the Hulu app on my Samsung TV does not work properly. As for the browser on the TV, it is a mickey mouse browser, so I don't expect it to work properly with video.
 
Last edited:
Milano said:
My Hulu Plus picture quality is not that far off being as good as Netflix. Except for the Hulu adverts. They stutter and buffer like crazy. Not that it matters, just unsure why the adverts struggle so much but not the content.
Click to expand...
When I view shows with the quality set to low it seems that the adverts are in HD, so maybe that is the reason.
 
balky said:
so I can only assume that the Hulu app on my Samsung TV does not work properly.
Click to expand...
there's your problem - the app does not stream very well.If I switch to my media player the buffering disappears.
 
ajules said:
there's your problem - the app does not stream very well.If I switch to my media player the buffering disappears.
Click to expand...
What TV and what media player are you using ? ...and I assume you are referring to Hulu+?
 
Had an ATV3 and sold it. Just don't compare with the Roku.
3 x Roku's and 1 x WDTV Live. WDTV is up for upgrade to a Roku.
Roku is the kingpin of media streamers IMO. Even the adverts stream well (which the PC buffers and stutters with).

Nuff said.
 
Mike Smit said:
Had an ATV3 and sold it. Just don't compare with the Roku.
3 x Roku's and 1 x WDTV Live. WDTV is up for upgrade to a Roku.
Roku is the kingpin of media streamers IMO. Even the adverts stream well (which the PC buffers and stutters with).

Nuff said.
Click to expand...

Agree with Mike!

Roku is the way to go for online streaming!
 
I have canceled Hulu... too many adverts and it has the most issues out of all the services I use.

Using a Ps3, I like Netflix and AmazonPrime.
 
Nerfherder said:
I have canceled Hulu... too many adverts and it has the most issues out of all the services I use.

Using a Ps3, I like Netflix and AmazonPrime.
Click to expand...
I must give AmazonPrime a try. Do you use an app or web browser?
 
I've been on the Amazon Prime trial (PS3 + Roku 3) and I find that the quality is terrible when compared to Netflix and Hulu+ on a 10mb line. Dunno if it's Unotelly that's not optimised for the service because they don't advertise Amazon as being one of their supported services.
 
Update for anyone who may be interested. I purchased a Roku3 from Amazon and have been using it now for 2 weeks. The Roku definitely solved the problem. On my Samsung TV, Netflix works perfectly but Hulu+ buffers terribly. On the Roku, Netflix is much the same as the Samsung, but Hulu works very well. Every few days it buffers once or twice, but overall it works very well. Someone mentioned above that the adverts buffer, well that has not happened on the Roku, and my my line speed is less than 2Mbps.
 
balky said:
and my my line speed is less than 2Mbps.
Click to expand...

Therein lies your problem methinks. I find the video quality better on Hulu than on Netflix which may have something to do with it. Remember that 2mb is the bare minimum (which you are below) and 4mb for a decent experience.
 
SL1v3R said:
Therein lies your problem methinks. I find the video quality better on Hulu than on Netflix which may have something to do with it. Remember that 2mb is the bare minimum (which you are below) and 4mb for a decent experience.
Click to expand...

Is this really the case?
I've been running Hulu on my TI 2mb line viewing HD content for the last week.
I can even go as far as watching 2 simultaneous streams on separate devices without issues.
I was originally concerned about the 2mb being incapable but it has more then exceeded my expectations
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X