4 ms·

Just because you disconnected it from wifi does not mean they cannot connect it through lte without your knowledge

nmstoker 5y ago
Maybe your comment was tongue in cheek but if the product did not reveal it contained a radio transmitter, this would undoubtedly be illegal in the US, EU & UK.
- jen20 5y ago
  And what will you do when there are no TVs to buy that do not contain LTE transmitters to force more spying upon you?
  - oblio 5y ago
    Do most of them contain LTE transmitters? Is their share increasing?
    - jen20 5y ago
      I don’t know, but it’s not long ago that TVs did not spy on you or serve you personalised ads, and now they all do, so it’s not exactly a huge stretch.
wwn_se 5y ago
Well that's illegal in almost all (western) countries. A device need to have an declaration of all radio equipment inside in some form (depending on locale). It also would be a lot harder to profit from ads when you have to pay for lte bandwidth especially with the prices in the US.
- zinekeller 5y ago
  (not op) > Well that's illegal in almost all (western) countries. A device need to have an declaration of all radio equipment inside in some form (depending on locale). I agree, but I'm pretty sure that it will be buried on the declarations page. > It also would be a lot harder to profit from ads when you have to pay for lte bandwidth especially with the prices in the US. You vastly overestimated the costs of wholesale network access, which is surprisingly cheap, that's why Kindles (for the most part) do have Amazon-provided SIM cards. Bad news is that you can't get it: basically you need commit to a minimum bandwidth (in hundreds of terabytes range) with a minimum subscription count (in hundreds of thousands range) to get these cheap prices, which would be more expensive than individual plans.
  - GoblinSlayer 5y ago
    Can you extract that SIM card and use for free internet?
    - zinekeller 5y ago
      Depends? Amazon's SIMs are locked to the specific Kindles, so you need to clone at least the radio identification codes (like IMEI) that is used, and you need to relay that to a specific proxy operated by Amazon because the network-in-question would block (on behalf of Amazon) other servers. I imagine that in case someone has implemented this, it would be locked in a similar way to ensure that it can only access those ad servers and nothing else.
GoblinSlayer 5y ago
Wrap it in tinfoil.
throw03172019 5y ago
That’s true. But it does help with the blocking their ads.
Forbo 5y ago
See previous discussion about this problem here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27701977 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27701977 TL;DR- TVs are using their own cellular connections and/or neighboring open wireless networks.
- gsich 5y ago
  >L;DR- TVs are using their own cellular connections The link doesn't say that.
  - rovr138 5y ago
    It links to https://venturebeat.com/2019/05/01/huawei-reportedly-plans-first-5g-8k-tv-to-one-up-samsung-and-apple/ https://venturebeat.com/2019/05/01/huawei-reportedly-plans-f... And it opens with, > Though its 5G products are not entirely welcome in the United States, Huawei is reportedly pushing forward with a unique new product: the world’s first 5G television. As Nikkei reports this morning, the Chinese company plans to use the cellular-enabled TV and new PCs to challenge Samsung’s and Apple’s dominant positions in the global consumer electronics market.
    - kelnos 5y ago
      That's not really what's being talked about, though. The fear is that if you don't connect your TV to your wifi network, it will have a secret, hidden LTE radio that it uses anyway. It doesn't seem that Huawei is being at all secretive about this; they are advertising it as a feature.
      - Forbo 5y ago
        You're ignoring the part where Samsung TVs are actively connecting to open networks.
    - gsich 5y ago
      That's a single TV, also is this on the market, the link said "reportedly"? The other comment is also correct.
throwawayboise 5y ago
I guess that's one benefit of not having a usable mobile signal at my house.
tshaddox 5y ago
It's also true (by definition) that literally any device that you own could be connecting through LTE without your knowledge.
- GoblinSlayer 5y ago
  Is LTE a synonym for free internet? Who pays for connection?

Maybe your comment was tongue in cheek but if the product did not reveal it contained a radio transmitter, this would undoubtedly be illegal in the US, EU & UK.

jen20 5y ago
And what will you do when there are no TVs to buy that do not contain LTE transmitters to force more spying upon you?
- oblio 5y ago
  Do most of them contain LTE transmitters? Is their share increasing?
  - jen20 5y ago
    I don’t know, but it’s not long ago that TVs did not spy on you or serve you personalised ads, and now they all do, so it’s not exactly a huge stretch.

wwn_se 5y ago

Well that's illegal in almost all (western) countries. A device need to have an declaration of all radio equipment inside in some form (depending on locale). It also would be a lot harder to profit from ads when you have to pay for lte bandwidth especially with the prices in the US.

zinekeller 5y ago
(not op) > Well that's illegal in almost all (western) countries. A device need to have an declaration of all radio equipment inside in some form (depending on locale). I agree, but I'm pretty sure that it will be buried on the declarations page. > It also would be a lot harder to profit from ads when you have to pay for lte bandwidth especially with the prices in the US. You vastly overestimated the costs of wholesale network access, which is surprisingly cheap, that's why Kindles (for the most part) do have Amazon-provided SIM cards. Bad news is that you can't get it: basically you need commit to a minimum bandwidth (in hundreds of terabytes range) with a minimum subscription count (in hundreds of thousands range) to get these cheap prices, which would be more expensive than individual plans.
- GoblinSlayer 5y ago
  Can you extract that SIM card and use for free internet?
  - zinekeller 5y ago
    Depends? Amazon's SIMs are locked to the specific Kindles, so you need to clone at least the radio identification codes (like IMEI) that is used, and you need to relay that to a specific proxy operated by Amazon because the network-in-question would block (on behalf of Amazon) other servers. I imagine that in case someone has implemented this, it would be locked in a similar way to ensure that it can only access those ad servers and nothing else.

GoblinSlayer 5y ago

Wrap it in tinfoil.

throw03172019 5y ago

That’s true. But it does help with the blocking their ads.

Forbo 5y ago

See previous discussion about this problem here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27701977 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27701977 TL;DR- TVs are using their own cellular connections and/or neighboring open wireless networks.

gsich 5y ago
>L;DR- TVs are using their own cellular connections The link doesn't say that.
- rovr138 5y ago
  It links to https://venturebeat.com/2019/05/01/huawei-reportedly-plans-first-5g-8k-tv-to-one-up-samsung-and-apple/ https://venturebeat.com/2019/05/01/huawei-reportedly-plans-f... And it opens with, > Though its 5G products are not entirely welcome in the United States, Huawei is reportedly pushing forward with a unique new product: the world’s first 5G television. As Nikkei reports this morning, the Chinese company plans to use the cellular-enabled TV and new PCs to challenge Samsung’s and Apple’s dominant positions in the global consumer electronics market.
  - kelnos 5y ago
    That's not really what's being talked about, though. The fear is that if you don't connect your TV to your wifi network, it will have a secret, hidden LTE radio that it uses anyway. It doesn't seem that Huawei is being at all secretive about this; they are advertising it as a feature.
    - Forbo 5y ago
      You're ignoring the part where Samsung TVs are actively connecting to open networks.
  - gsich 5y ago
    That's a single TV, also is this on the market, the link said "reportedly"? The other comment is also correct.

throwawayboise 5y ago

I guess that's one benefit of not having a usable mobile signal at my house.

tshaddox 5y ago

It's also true (by definition) that literally any device that you own could be connecting through LTE without your knowledge.

GoblinSlayer 5y ago
Is LTE a synonym for free internet? Who pays for connection?