Hulu Not Working on Samsung TV (9 Fixes)

Is Hulu not working on Samsung TV for you? Hulu is one of the top streaming services for movies and TV shows, so it’s not fun when you have trouble watching Hulu.

Why does this happen with Hulu and Samsung TV? And what can you do to fix it?

I’ve tried everything from reinstalling Hulu to changing DNS settings to uninstalling and re-downloading Hulu. After hours of research and testing, I have the top solutions to try when Hulu stops working on your Samsung TV.

Related article: TV Apps Not Working on Samsung TV

Table of Contents show

1. Soft Reset or Cold Reboot the Samsung TV

If some corrupt settings on the Samsung TV prevent Hulu from working, then a soft reset, or power cycle, can help. It will shut down the TV completely and stop all the background processes and applications that might be causing issues with Hulu.

There are two main ways to perform a cold reboot and restart a Samsung TV.

Method 1 – Follow these steps to soft reset a Samsung TV:

Unplug the TV’s power cable from the power outlet for at least 60 seconds.
Plug the power cord into the surge protector or wall outlet.
Wait for the TV to finish rebooting.

Method 2 – To cold reboot the Samsung TV:

Unplug the TV power cable.
On the Remote Control, Press and Hold the Power button for 30 seconds.
Plug the TV back into the power outlet.
Wait for the TV to finish starting up.

2. Check for Samsung TV Firmware Updates

Sometimes an update for Hulu won’t be compatible with older Samsung TVs and their software.

New software and firmware updates will be released by Samsung periodically to address bugs. Downloading them when they’re available is better than downloading them later. Upgrading to the latest TV firmware can sometimes help fix some issues with Hulu and other TV apps.

You can download firmware updates for Samsung TVs by going into the TV’s settings menu. You can also download an updated version of the software from Samsung’s website if one becomes available.

Follow these steps to update the Samsung TV firmware:

1. On the Samsung TV remote control, Press Home.

2. Select Settings

3. Select Support.

4. Select Software Update.

5. Select Update Now.

6. The TV will automatically reboot for the new firmware to fully install and take effect.

You can also download a new version of the Samsung TV firmware and transfer it to a USB drive. Follow these steps:

On your computer, head over to Samsung’s download page and search for your TV model.
Download the latest software version to your computer.
Extract the files and transfer them to a USB drive.
Insert the USB drive into one of the USB ports on the TV.
On the TV remote, Press Home.
Select Settings.
Select Support.
Select Software Update.
Start the Software Update Process on the TV.
The TV will restart and use the new firmware on the USB stick. Make sure you don’t unplug the USB drive before the TV has completely rebooted.

3. Remove and Reinstall App

If Hulu stops working properly on your Samsung TV, there may be an app conflict causing the problem. If you notice that HULU isn’t working correctly, remove it and re-install it. It might help solve the problem.

You can always try installing an updated version of the app if one is available first. Or you can just ry deleting and reinstalling Hulu right away to give it a fresher start.

If you want to remove Hulu from your Samsung TV, be sure to save any login credentials for Hulu before uninstalling the app. You will be logged out of the app. To log back into the app, you must first sign in again.

Follow these steps to uninstall and install Hulu on a Samsung TV:

1. Press Home on the remote control.

2. Navigate to Apps.

3. Select Settings.

4. Navigate to the Hulu App.

5. Select Delete. If Delete is grayed out, you won’t be able to delete it because it’s a recommended app. Instead, Select Reinstall.

6. Press Return on the Remote.

7. Select Search.

8. Enter the Hulu App Name.

9. Select to Install the Hulu App.

4. Slow Internet Connection

If you experience the Hulu app freezing or having other streaming issues, it may be because your internet connection speed is too low for high definition video streams.

To watch high definition videos online, you must be able to download at least 5 megabits per second (Mbps). To stream 4K videos, you’ll need at least 50Mbps.

There might be multiple reasons why the Wi-fi download speeds are slow. Here are the most common causes and fixes for a slow connection status.

1. Weak Wi-Fi Signal to the Samsung TV

If the Wi-fi signal is weak between the TV and wireless router, the internet connection might occasionally stop working and disconnect. Streaming with the Hulu app may have issues.

If the Wi-Fi signal between the TV and the wireless router isn’t strong enough, then it won’t be able to connect to the Internet. To see if the Wi-Fi connection strength is sufficient, follow these instructions.

On the Samsung TV remote, Press Home.
Select Settings.
Select General.
Select Network.
Select Open Network Settings.
Select Wireless.
In the list of wireless networks, see how many signal bars your wireless network has. 1 to 2 bars is the sign of a weak signal.

Your wireless network router and Samsung television may be located far enough apart from each other.

One of the reasons why weak Wi-Fi connections might be present is because there could be many obstacles between the TV and the router, like walls, which block the connection.

It would be easier for you to put the router closer to the TV instead of trying to get the TV closer to the internet modem. Shorter distances between the router and the devices connected to it will improve the quality of the Wi-Fi signals.

If the router and TV cannot be moved, then a Wi-Fi repeater will serve as a middle point for Wi-Fi signals between the two devices.

A WiFi repeater is also known as a WiFi extender. The one below is one of the best ones and works well in smart homes. They can be found on Amazon:

2. Soft Reset the Wi-Fi Router

If your Wi-fi router hasn’t rebooted or been turned off for some time, there could be an issue with its configuration or something else might be causing the problem. It can slow down your internet connections and even cause interruptions if you’re using a wireless network.

If this is the problem, power cycling and restarting your networking equipment like your router or modems can help.

To soft reset the WiFi Router or Modem, follow these steps:

Unplug the Wi-Fi Router from the power outlet for at least 60 seconds.
Plug the Wi-Fi Router back in to the power outlet.
Turn On the Router if there’s an On/Off switch.
Wait a few minutes for the Router to start up and connect to your Internet Service Provider (ISP).

3. Try a Wired Connection

Your router may be unable to share the internet connection through the Wi‑Fi signal. Wired connections are usually more reliable than wireless ones and easier to troubleshoot.

You will want to use a wired connection to get a high-speed connection to your Samsung TV. You can also use an ethernet cable from the TV to the router to test the internet connection.

Follow these steps to connect and use a wired internet connection with your Samsung TV:

Connect an ethernet cable from the LAN port on the back of the Samsung smart TV to a LAN port on the router or modem.
On the Samsung TV remote control, Press Home.
Select Settings.
Select General.
Select Network.
Select OK for the TV to use the wired network to access the internet.

If you have an Internet connection, the Wi-Fi router’s ability to connect wirelessly might be having issues. If none of these solutions work, then you may need to replace your router’s firmware, perform a factory reset, or replace its internal Wi-Fi adapter.

4. Disconnect Other Devices from the Wi-Fi Network

Connecting multiple devices to a single wireless router simultaneously could cause them to slow down the overall performance of the network.

For example, if you have four laptops, three smartphones, and two tablets connected to the same wireless network, the internet speed for each device will be very slow. You’ll definitely notice it when they’re all streaming HD videos on Hulu or other streaming platforms.

Older Wi-Fi equipment tends to be particularly bad at handling multiple simultaneous connections.

To improve your internet speed on a Samsung TV for Hulu, turn off any other devices connected to the network. Then disconnect the Samsung TV from the Wi-Fi network and connect it again.

If this solves the slow internet issue, then it means that there was something wrong with your old router, which wasn’t capable of supporting multiple devices. If you’re using an old router, consider replacing it with one that supports simultaneous connections from several devices.

5. Change DNS Server

Sometimes unstable internet connections can cause Hulu to stop working on the Samsung TV. If the issue persists after changing the DNS servers, then there may be an error with the network configuration.

If you’re using an internet connection provided by your ISP, you can usually set up the Samsung Smart TV to use the automatic DNS servers provided by your ISP. However, if you want to use different DNS servers, you can easily change them. When you type in a website URL into the browser, the webpage may potentially load faster.

If your ISP uses its own DNS servers, they might cause disruptions when accessing Hulu’s servers. However, if you use Google’s public DNS servers instead, you shouldn’t experience any disruptions. Google’s DNS servers provide a better alternative than using most public DNS servers.

Follow these steps to manually change the DNS settings and use Google’s DNS servers on the Samsung TV:

On the Samsung TV remote control, Press Home.
Select Settings.
Select General.
Select Network.
Select Network Status.
Select IP Settings.
Select DNS Setting.
Select Enter Manually.
Select DNS Server.
Enter 8.8.8.8.
Try to open and reconnect to the Hulu app again.

6. Reset Smart Hub on Samsung TV

One of the other apps that you are signed in to on the Samsung smart TV could be conflicting with Hulu and causing a problem.

Resetting the Smart Hub on the Samsung TV can help by signing out of all the apps to remove the conflict. But before a smart hub reset, be sure you have all the login information, usernames and passwords, so you’ll be able to log back in.

For newer Samsung Smart TV models made after 2020, follow these steps:

On the remote control, Press Home.
Select Settings.
Select Support.
Select Service Care.
Select Self Diagnosis.
Select Reset Smart Hub.

For older Samsung TV models made before 2020, follow these steps:

On the remote control, Press Home.
Select Settings.
Select Support.
Select Self Diagnosis.
Select Reset Smart Hub.

If the Samsung TV asks for a security PIN code to restart the Smart Hub and you didn’t change the PIN code previously, use the default PIN: 0000.

You might also need to download Hulu app again after resetting.

Hulu Not Working on Samsung TV Final Thoughts

There are several things that can go wrong with Hulu on your Samsung TV. The majority of issues with the Hulu app not working on your Samsung TV can be fixed with the solutions above.

Here are some other apps that can have issues working on a Samsung TV:

Image source: samsung.com