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By ectospheno 2026-03-1013:465 reply Once I verify a home video product works as intended I remove its network connection and never connect it again. I then leave its static ip address configured and block any traffic from it on the off chance it’s ever connected again.
The sole exception is my PlayStation 5. I use apps on it for all streaming.
I also had to take this approach with my LG TV. The OS actually had its use for a while but Apple TV has become my driver. I no longer wish to consent to LG’s EULAs which are starting to look like the legal corpus of a small nation. I’m also not interested in their software updates. Internet privileges: revoked.
It’s concerning nonetheless as others are pointing out that in the current trajectory the TVs may soon refuse to display any content unless connected.
By user3939382 2026-03-1014:193 reply I’ve read reports of these devices turning on wifi and auto connecting to known public wifi networks. Seems we went from a generation of technologists dismissing Stallman as paranoid to one living in his nightmare and not being appropriately familiar with his work, issues of art vs artist aside.
By ecshafer 2026-03-1014:41 Stallman has always been right. Hes a radical, but he was always been right. He is basically prescient with seeing how private software would be used. He was just so early that people thought he was a crazy radical, but now he seems to be stricken with a case of being Cassandra.
By RiverCrochet 2026-03-1016:36 There hasn't been open public wifi networks near where I live for over a decade. It also seems increasingly rare for businesses to have them (they usually have an SSID and password posted somewhere). I don't think this is a thing.
But here's where it might go.
Verizon and other cell companies bundle streaming apps with their plans. It's really not a far leap for them to bundle a TV as well. Especially if TVs get really expensive due to whatever factors - get a 120" TV for just $30 extra on your bill over the next 5 years. And Verizon could contract with an OEM to make a Verizon-specific model, and put a 5G modem in it, and lock it to Verizon service. Verizon's just an example here, AT&T, T-Mobile could do the same.
Business idea: a signal-jamming cover for your 65-inch TV.
It looks like shit, is difficult to install, and costs an arm and a leg, but at least it prevents egregious privacy violations from your average chaebol or CCP-intervened corporation!
By adamsmark 2026-03-1020:59 Why not just change your wifi password so that the TV can't connect again (after you've got your OTAs but I guess you could have loaded them on a USB stick to flash instead of wifi)
By LargoLasskhyfv 2026-03-1019:591 reply How would you look at the panel, then? Do you think it is impenetrable?
I'd doubt that any such coating would be good for viewing quality.
> How would you look at the panel, then?
You only view your TV from inside the Faraday cage, of course.
By LargoLasskhyfv 2026-03-1111:131 reply Living bunker-style in a SCIF just for TV? Nah!
Don't forget your car. Definitely can't trust that without airgapping it.
By LargoLasskhyfv 2026-03-1113:56 I'm using a nukkular subterrene. No worries there.
By greatpatton 2026-03-1014:063 reply It's simple: not buying them is the way. There is enough competition to just buy a screen that will not do that.
By HelloMcFly 2026-03-1014:131 reply There is not a ton of competition in the OLED TV space
Who cares? Companies are using your need to have the latest and greatest against you. It's overt manipulation. I'd rather watch an old CRT or nothing at all than allow some company to forcefully show me ads.
By HelloMcFly 2026-03-1020:58 > Companies are using your need to have the latest and greatest against you
This is a false dichotomy.
My love of cinema drives me to have certain features in my TV: 4k, OLED, HDR. My hatred of ads drives to me buy certain products to use my with TV: Apple TV.
By mrweasel 2026-03-1014:39 You don't really get a lot of options anymore. When people around don't really care and just buy this junk because it's cheap, and they "need" a new TV ever three to four years, for some reason, then you get priced out of the market pretty quickly. Even if you look for TV, and yes I want a TV, not a monitor, without all this junk, there's not really any options available locally anymore. I believe my only option is the Thompson Easy TV, which is great, if I needed a 43" TV or lower.
Apparently I can attempt to import one from Romania, but that seems fairly complicated. Even sites that recommend dumb TVs just recommend SmartTVs that works well as a dumb TV.
By ducktastic 2026-03-1014:222 reply It's ridiculous that going to a Target/Bestbuy/etc you cannot find any non-smart TVs generally. I have had several older models of non-smart tvs that suddenly stop working after a few years. It's disgusting
By hellojesus 2026-03-1015:05 It's either because the non-ad-driven tvs cost more, resulting in too few sales to sustain (because no lifetime revenue from data sales) or the lifetime revenue from data sales is so profitable that companies take the risk on being undercut by a market entrant that will sell dumb tvs.
My guess is that the vast majority of people will trade data for a cheaper price point every time (my wife is certainly one of these people), so the market just can't support the volume of sales necessary to make the price point of dumb tvs competitive.
By gtowey 2026-03-1015:39 A smart TV just means one that can show you advertising and hoover up personal data. This is additional revenue. What company would sell you anything else?
LG TVs may be rooted. You probably can also run a pi-hole sort of thing to block any traffic except whitelisted domains.
Not that I've done it, I don't get enough value out of it to justify the hassle or the privacy intrusion.
By abdullahkhalids 2026-03-1015:551 reply According to Root My TV, it seems like all methods of rooting recent LG TVs have been patched.
By koakuma-chan 2026-03-1019:431 reply You mean there is no way to break it even though you have physical access to it? How is that possible?
By abdullahkhalids 2026-03-1115:00 We don't really have physical access to it - in the sense that on your desktop computer you can boot off a usb drive and reinstall the OS. There is no way you can boot your TV off external media. So you have to hack the existing OS while running it.
The way rooting working on a TV is that you run some javascript in the TV browser that targets some vulnerability in the browser/OS to run some code that then gives you a way in. Or if it has a USB port (to watch videos off a usb drive), you play a specifically crafted video that targets some vulnerability in the media players, to again install some program that then lets you do more serious changes to the OS.
Over time, LG fixes these vulnerabilities.
By aerhardt 2026-03-1014:41 The thing stopped being so needy when I neutered its internet access. Maybe it’s still exfiltrating data but at least it has stopped making me anxious that I may need to consult a civil rights lawyer every time I saw their EULA.
By slumberlust 2026-03-1018:37 They patched that out many moons ago. If you havent updated in a few years you might have a shot, but most people cannot.
Even some cheap Kindles came with a SIM card.
I expect this to happen if enough people block ads on TVs. (They'll probably promote it as a "backup connection" or something.)
The sim card in a kindle was a global connect-to-any-network SIM card. Your Kindle was always online and ready to download more books no matter where you were in the world. It was legit actually useful and valuable to customers.
What's Amazon gonna do with a Kindle with an embedded SIM? Spy on the books you read? They already know that shit!
By ceejayoz 2026-03-1110:14 The point is that a similarly cheap always-on SIM in a TV can be used to serve ads if blocking them at the network level becomes common.
By xyzzy_plugh 2026-03-1015:121 reply I think you're confused. Kindles need to be connected to the Internet so you can purchase and read books on them. The SIM card removed friction from the process e.g. buying books while on vacation or at the airport or whatever.
They didn't put SIM cards in there to spy on you. They were always an opt-in (at additional cost) option for a better user experience.
By ceejayoz 2026-03-1016:15 > They didn't put SIM cards in there to spy on you.
I'm sure Amazon tracked all sorts of activity on those, but that's not the point.
It would be quite trivial to add them to TVs to avoid ad blocking and track behavior when wifi isn't available.
Pro tip for devices that refuse to simply remove working WiFi credentials (cough Samsung), is to connect them to a different “dummy” WiFi and then simply turn that off.
I’ve yet to see a device that caches more than one set of credentials. But I suppose it’s only a matter of time.
Cat and mouse.
Then we shall only ever connect to a throwaway wifi ssid created for the sole purpose of setting up that TV and deleted promptly afterwards.
Samsung will then use NFC / QuickShare transient hotspot to helpfully sync all useful info from your Samsung phone nearby.
Then we block that IP address or MAC ID from router side.
Then smart TVs will switch to open mesh networks hosted by unsuspecting ISP customer boxes in neighborhood.
And maybe even starlink.
=====
Maybe wifi standard should stop using static passwords and create a device specific hash to let it connect. Wifi admin should get to approve each device connection request.
By richardhawthorn 2026-03-1014:211 reply I'm going to convert my living room into a Faraday cage, only bringing in pre downloaded content via hard drive. That should solve this problem.
Although I'm not sure my family will be too happy.
By adamsmark 2026-03-1021:00 Why not change your wifi password? Or just set up a temporary guest one and delete it?
By droopyEyelids 2026-03-1014:22 I have a TCL so maybe it's different, but did your TVs require connection to set up?
The TCL can still act as a HDMI switch with CEC, and that can be labeled through the remote if you want, so there was never any need to connect to a network.
TV's last a long time. Get one with a bypass today and you can be set for decades.
By shantara 2026-03-1018:09 With the widespread move to OLED across the TV and monitor manufacturers, this might not be the case for much longer. They look and perform great, but are ultimately a consumable product.
I have had my Sharp 65" TV since 2012. It works great, has multiple HDMI ports and a USB port, but I am worried that one day I will need a new TV.
Copy that. I have a 2007 Kuro Elite 50" Plasma whose picture is still so beautiful after 19 years it's almost 3D. Not.One.Repair/Problem/EVER. I dread ever having to buy a new TV.
By oxbloodcomma 2026-03-129:36 2008 Kuro Pro 111FD here; not a single issue to report, either. I honestly don’t know what I’ll do once something eventually happens; I’m seriously considering hoarding any similar Elite models within drivable distance.
> Pro tip for devices that refuse to simply remove working WiFi credentials
Is there examples of such devices? AFAIK every smart TV can be switched to HDMI input without being ever connected to the Internet.
My parents got a new smart TV; if you don't give it wifi access it will nag repeatedly about it. Very annoying, and it only takes one time for it to go "Yay! I'll store these forever now."
(It will also wheedle you to re-enable the AI features and telemetry if you turn those off. Which you do like eight levels of confusingly and scarily named submenus.)
By hn_acc1 2026-03-1120:20 Tell your parents that with this stuff enabled, it's giving another way for scammers to steal their data to use against them.
I.e. We're from the internet company. Really, you are? Yes, didn't you watch XYZ on Netflix last night? Oh, right, ok, here's my password.
By drnick1 2026-03-1017:02 The best course of action here seems to return the TV. Any TV that cannot be permanently switched to HDMI input without nags is unfit for purpose and should be rejected.
By CyberDildonics 2026-03-1019:54 You can also open up the back and remove the antenna connection.
This is outrageous and we need to stand up against it. You're merely avoiding the danger of uber-enshittification of hardware (now once software is enshittified enough), but this will crawl further and further. Meanwhile rating companies are lowering ratings of firms that DO NOT have 'subscription model' in their products, that's why we're intended to pay for enabling heating in car seats from now on.
The TV manufacturers know they can get a guaranteed $30-50/year spliff out of the platform vendors per unit for allowing the shitware in the first place and that these TVs will last long enough to get them a nice several hundred dollar subsidy on the TV.
I’m afraid there’s not going to be a great affordable path out of this hypersubsidized trap we’ve set the market into.
By everdrive 2026-03-1014:35 Consumers just keep putting up with it. TVs are not a necessity; it's not like electric bills or healthcare. There are more ways to consume content than ever before, and more content available than ever before. Not owning a TV in the 80s or 90s was something of a big deal. Now, it couldn't matter less. But people are still putting up with whatever crap manufacturers are putting out. It should be easy to vote with wallet (even that means simply not purchasing a TV) but consumers just keep buying this crap.
By ectospheno 2026-03-1013:524 reply My car has heated and ventilated seats. These do not require a subscription.
By john_strinlai 2026-03-1014:012 reply https://www.thedrive.com/news/bmw-commits-to-subscriptions-e...
"But while BMW ultimately backed down over heated seats, the company still believes in the features-as-a-service model, and will continue to offer post-purchase upgrades through its ConnectedDrive platform. "
By greatpatton 2026-03-1014:091 reply And then they will complain that Chinese company are simply crushing them... As a European, I have been buying only Asian cars for ages as I don't want to play their "add options" game, and I think that more and more people are tired of that.
By soco 2026-03-1014:26 The enshittification and lack of market understanding (or care) of the major European car brands is a topic by itself. They may be rightfully complaining right now but a lot of their woes are self inflicted.
I drive a Cupra (a Spanish brand, a spinoff of SEAT, owned by Volkswagen) and when I was driving my car out of the dealership I had to tell the salesman I was not interested in signing up for the free app they were trying to foist me. He was dumbfounded. The model was selling like hotcakes yet I was the first customer that had outright refused to sign up for their shitty app. They pulled off the inevitable switcheroo, it now costs a monthly fee and I don’t want to think about what insidious things they can do with it.
Chances are the dealer and manufacturer can still get telemetry data through the cellular modem built into the car. You will need to remove it to be reasonably sure that data isn't extracted.
>Chances are the dealer and manufacturer can still get telemetry data through the cellular modem built into the car.
Exactly why I have a car without a cellular modem. They're getting quite rare, though, and I imagine will soon be impossible.
By p0w3n3d 2026-03-1110:30 I believe you're required to have it due to EU regulation for "automated 112 calling"
I know they are because they called me for service at the 10k km mark, but at least they’re not charging me for the pleasure.
By drnick1 2026-03-1017:06 The issue is that data is also shared with third parties, such as insurance companies and possibly the government. I could not, in good conscience, drive a car that spies on me and can be effectively controlled remotely.
By array_key_first 2026-03-1022:13 Because it would be unpopular, not because it can't be done.
Rest assured, when the time is right and the average consumer complacent enough, they will require a subscription. Yes, I can see the future. Call me an Oracle. No, not that Oracle.
Over the past many decades, we're seeing standards slip and slip as our standards for goods are constantly challenged. What was unthinkable just 10 years ago is now business as usual.
If you told someone in 2005 they would have to upload their ID and scan their face to use a chat application, they would call you crazy. If you told someone in 2015 that Google Glass was gonna come back and this time people would like being recorded and would willingly give up their camera feed, they would think you're insane.
By loloquwowndueo 2026-03-1015:01 My car’s seats are warmed by my butt. They’re very happy and comfortable and I didn’t have to pay a dime.
By dwedge 2026-03-1013:55 For now
Searching for "commercial display" will get you some dumb TVs. They tend to cost 2x, but you get what you pay for.
We just gave away our 55" Hisense to our friend. I hope she doesn't think it means we hate her now. ;)
(Side note: not having a TV in the living space allowed us to freely design it to be a living space.)
What do you do with this living space without a TV? Serious question from someone who grew up with a TV companion. I imagine this is what the current generation feels when thinking about smartphones.
By ProllyInfamous 2026-03-114:281 reply >What do you do with this living space without a TV?
My main social space is my front porch, which is a semi-enclosed dogrun with ample seating (no TV). My "living room" doesn't have a couch, which naturally forces you towards seating (aforementioned outside). There is a small table, with two chairs only; bookshelves, artwork, and projectspace mostly for standing room only.
Not really much of a socialite, but I really don't like TVs (nor people in my small space).
>current generation feels ... about smartphones
I don't use those, either. Hate that everything is now an app (including parking).
old_man_yells_at_clouds.gif (early forties)
While I sadly have to have a phone for some things (Okta, for example, for work) and in general for phone calls / texting, I try to install as few apps as possible. If there's a web interface and I don't need the info with me, I'll use the web interface.
By ProllyInfamous 2026-03-1311:10 My last W2 job (~2017, estimator) eventually provided me with a smartphone because they wanted me to immediately send pictures from jobsites. This is a fair business requirement; offhours, I'd leave the phone charging at work.
Bossman one day informed me that I'd need to start taking the phone home with me, to which I told him that would not happen: "my free time is my free time." He told me about this cool new tech that'd allow him to 'reach out' any time he had any questions — nah'brah, "I'll quit before doing that."
Eventually I held true.
----
Good luck in your own phoneless quest...
By beej71 2026-03-1016:34 We curl up on the couch and look at our phones. ;)
Actually we've made an effort to have people over more now, and we gather around the coffee table to chat. And even when we don't have people over, we're more likely to talk and be social.
Ughh.. I recently turned on my 1000EUR+ LG Oled TV to find that it had automatically installed a Copilot app.. And keeps doing it every few days.
Is there any smart TV that I can actually just use a TV how I want? Or am I reduced to buying an Apple TV device and unplugging the TV from the internet entirely ?
Right, never give a TV internet access now. That's where we are.
This means they can't surveil, brick, or change your hardware after you bought it.
So yes, then add whatever dongles to provide content. If the dongle turns bad (evil), chuck it and get a different kind. You preserve your privacy, hardware ownership rights, and freedom to choose.
By bzzzt 2026-03-1112:59 > This means they can't surveil, brick, or change your hardware after you bought it.
They can however continuously display 'NO NETWORK' popups until you give the device the access it wants. Of course, only after it's been active a while and the return window is closed.
One of the main aims of 5G rollout was for the eventual inclusion of sims in these devices
By nszceta 2026-03-1014:06 For 5G enabled devices the medicine is to cut the antenna off
I'll believe it when I see it. The numbers simply don't pencil out. Streaming ads over cellular networks is going to be insanely expensive at rates that IOT/esim providers are currently offering. Not to mention that most people would connect to wifi anyways so they can watch neflix or whatever without a second device. If a 5G module costs $25 but only 10% of people actually never connect to wifi, you're basically paying $250 just to get that incremental customer connected.
By imglorp 2026-03-1014:25 Not for ads, but maybe the numbers work out if you're selling intel. How much is a household's watching habits worth on the market? How about keyword mentions in the room?
> an Apple TV device and unplugging the TV from the internet entirely
Had this setup on different tvs for 10+ years, can confirm it is excellent.
I guess it's a matter of time until TVs include GSM modem for ads and DRM.
By floatrock 2026-03-1014:01 Protection of one's attention is our generation's luxury product.
Whether it's the TV hardware or the streaming service in your house, your standard of living is now judged by whether you pay extra for the ad-free tier.
Apple tends to skew luxury purchase, so it makes sense it hasn't been riddled with adware yet. The Apple logo is a status symbol that you're not being bombarded with ads in every corner of underutilized screen real-estate.
By vikingerik 2026-03-1014:19 One workaround is to buy a computer monitor and use that instead. Most of those are still pretty dumb HDMI or USB terminals that you can plug any signal source into. They don't come in huge sizes like TVs (although search "digital signage" for some options), and you'll need a dedicated sound speaker system, but this route could be an option.
By newscracker 2026-03-1014:291 reply > Is there any smart TV that I can actually just use a TV how I want?
I’ve heard that large computer monitors and TVs intended to be used as displays can be used without connecting them to a network.
> Or am I reduced to buying an Apple TV device and unplugging the TV from the internet entirely ?
An Apple TV is a good choice even otherwise. I’ve never seen a smoother and quicker interface on a native Smart TV (granted that I’ve only seen Android and webOS). I use my Apple TV as the only network connected device while my TV is not connected to any network ever. Once in a while, I update the TV’s firmware by downloading it to a thumb drive and plugging that into the USB port of the TV.
By drnick1 2026-03-1016:24 Better yet, use a Linux HTPC. The Apple TV box is comically restricted. For example, because there is no web browser, there is no straightforward way to watch YouTube ad-free on it.
A Shield is the better choice because you can install apps that Apple would never approve of.
By newscracker 2026-03-1014:261 reply But the Nvidia Shield has (or had?) ads from Google, right? I recall there was news coverage and some uproar when this happened a few years ago.
By Larrikin 2026-03-1014:47 The default Google launcher is a disgusting mess. But since it is an Android, you do not have to use it and can use one of the many ad free ones. I use Projectivy
> Or am I reduced to buying an Apple TV device and unplugging the TV from the internet entirely ?
At least until TV makers wise up to that strategy and build a TV that requires internet access to unlock the HDMI port, that's the way to go.
By drewg123 2026-03-1013:58 I don't have a reference, but I remember reading that some Samsung TVs require internet access to get past initial setup and allow access to HDMI. So we might already be here..
>Or am I reduced to buying an Apple TV device and unplugging the TV from the internet entirely?
Why would this be something that you're "reduced" to? Why would it be a bad thing?
It kind of defeats the initial purpose of buying a smart tv though. I wanted to avoid having an extra peripheral for connectivity.
By everdrive 2026-03-1017:14 No such device exists, though. All smart TVs are as user hostile as manufacturers believe they can get away with. If they could make them worse for the user, they would. They're just pushing the boundaries as far as they can.
Alternatively, dns block the update domains, wait a few months to few years for someone to discover an exploit for rooting, root and sideload.
By hellojesus 2026-03-1015:22 What happens when they move from default dns to ech with pinned dns servers? I was reading about ech a bit yesterday so I could keep up with apps trying to circumvent dns filtering on my kids' devices.
Usually I require a root cert so devices can have their traffic inspected or be isolated into an unsafe network where most nonessential traffic is blocked by default. I suppose letting an iot device connect will become more risky in the future when I can't control the dns resolver or can't confidently block requests through dns alone.
By tjpnz 2026-03-1014:25 I bought a Sony Android TV a few years back which has yet to be enshitified - doesn't shove ads or shovelware down my throat, acts like a TV. It's a model made for the Japanese market though and they may have incentives to play nice with domestic customers.
By smusamashah 2026-03-1014:201 reply IF its an android, connect to it via ADB and disable all the BS apps, even launcher. I am using projectivity launcher on mine, even has child lock which we really need. No ads or popups etc at all. YouTube is all we watch on this TV anyway, and retro gaming and movies.
I also have Nvidia Shield connected to it, that one is setup the same way.
By lostmsu 2026-03-1120:18 Do any Android-based TVs allow you to install and use a custom launcher?
By steveBK123 2026-03-1013:461 reply I would also like to know the answer here because I see similar slop across brands/prices/sizes/generations of TV now.. its inescapable
By zvqcMMV6Zcr 2026-03-1014:051 reply It is totally bonkers. For long time the low tech recommendation (without setting rules on router/firewall) was to never connect TV to network, and use cheap TV box, to use streaming services. And then community's favorite - TiVo - started to show their own ads. Everything based on Android TV is also hit or miss. And might get enshitified with an update at any time. I think NVidia Shield is the only device other than AppleTV that works as expected. Only it didn't have an hardware upgrade in 5+ years.
By steveBK123 2026-03-1014:27 It's unfortunate that the 2020s era Apple is so big/rich, in a way. Old Apple used to dabble in all sorts of niches, but now they need to sell 10M units/year to move the needle. So they'll never just make a TV now.
