[maxton]

Stuff like this is the reason I don’t connect smart TVs to the internet. If I need web content on the TV, I can connect my laptop with HDMI. The TV should be no more than a display and speakers with a tuner.

[dividuum]

Can't confirm this myself, but in previous threads about similar topics, people noted that some of those "smart" devices probe every open WiFi they find and use that without your explicit consent. So it's not always possible to disconnect them.

[Silhouette]

people noted that some of those "smart" devices probe every open WiFi they find

Given that this would potentially expose them to criminal liability under unauthorised access laws in various places, I have always been sceptical of this claim, and I have yet to see any convincing evidence that it actually happens. Does anyone know definitively that it does?

[coryrc]

Solder the antenna to ground on the wifi module. It's what I'll be doing on my next TV.

[dawnerd]

Correct thing is to "connect" them to the internet but blackhole them so they cant actually talk to anything. It's what I've done and so far it's blocked a lot.

[JMTQp8lwXL]

With the exception of coffee shops and big box retailers, there aren't many unsecured networks left in even dense residential areas, so I'm unsure of how much impact this has.

[flanbiscuit]

I've also found smart TV systems, especially Samsung's (this was quite a few years ago now), to be quite terrible. I would constantly have connectivity issues and app crashing issues. Now I have so many external devices (Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast, PS4) with all of the streaming apps that I will never buy a smart TV again.

[SlowRobotAhead]

Not only are the built ins awful. Their lifespan is very short. I had my Samsung for about a year before it would let me know that “XYZ service was ending in one month”.

Disconnected that thing from WiFi and have never hooked it back up. Xbox/PS are just far superior smart devices.

[Koshkin]

Soon enough, failure to connect your TV to the internet within, say, one month will void your warranty (and the TV will refuse to work in two months after that).

[Silhouette]

Given that the above would potentially be illegal on both counts in many places, that seems like hyperbole.

[soared]

To each their own - 100% of the content I consume is Netflix or YouTube. For me a non-smart tv is useless unless I hook up something smart to it.

[bitwize]

The thing is, the smart thing you hook up to it is under your control. It could be a laptop or Raspberry Pi.

[thematt]

But you could plug in a Roku or a Fire TV, right? The TV can't proxy through those. It's maybe cringeworthy to say, but I probably trust those companies more than I do Samsung.

[Koshkin]

Netflix is watching you. Youtube, on the other hand, in a private window over a VPN is as far as you can go privacy-wise.

[83hajfjeijg]

"The content I consume". When the fuck did people start actually talking about themselves like this, it sounds like it's straight out of a dystopian sci-fi novel from the 80s.