Is there a way to set preference on downloads?

I'm wondering if it's possible to set preference on downloads. I will often be streaming netflix or hulu, and if someone else in the household starts a download (say a game, or a large file) the streaming slows to a crawl and has to buffer often. I want to set it so that when something is streaming (youtube, netflix) that downloads are throttled down, so they don't take preference over the streaming.

Is this possible?

 

Yes, it's called QoS, but there is no way to give priority to a particular traffic stream that is of the same protocol on the same host, like two individual HTTP downloads on the same machine. You would need to do that on the machine itself via software.

Figure out if your router has QoS, and see what settings it offers. Then you can try and formulate a plan based on your need for smooth streaming.

 

In the QoS settings, I get a list of applications/games that get priority, and the level of their priority. if I wanted to add something, like steam, or netflix, would I be able to do that? it gives me the option to add a Priority Rule, but the screen that follows is confusing to me. it gives me a list of things to fill out:

QoS Policy for: (fill in blank)
Priority Category: (drop down menu with 3 options: online gaming, applications, MAC address)
The next option is defined by the selected option in the Priority Category, it gives me a list of applications (most of which are not used on any computer in the house) and the option to add a new option.

if I select the add a new application/online gaming/MAC address, it gives me a seperate menu to fill out, entitled specified port range, witht eh options:

Connection type
Starting Port
Ending Port

Is there anyway I could add steam or netflix/hulu to this list and set their priority?

EDIT: using a Netgear WNDR3700v2 for reference.

 

You would need to give your computer's HTTP traffic the higher priority. Netflix works over HTTP, there is no specific port for it, so you can't select "netflix" as a unique service. That is what I was hinting at earlier.