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Modern smart TVs will aggressively connect to the internet themselves without you needing to do it for them. If your neighbor has an open wifi hotspot, or of a
by PeterisP 5y ago
Modern smart TVs will aggressively connect to the internet themselves without you needing to do it for them. If your neighbor has an open wifi hotspot, or of a local cable monopoly has all the routers acting as hotspots under their control, that's enough. Also, simply including a mobile connection is a possibility - cars do it, TVs can as well if the manufacturer considers the price is worth it.
- crackercrews 5y agoHow can you tell if this is happening? If it's not showing ads, should I even care? It can't tell who I am if I've not logged into it or logged it into my wifi. It's surely bad for TVs to do this. But I'm not quite sure what the issue is if it has no idea who I am.
- heavyset_go 5y agoWireshark
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- andrei_says_ 5y agoConnect the tV to a guest network with no access to the internet?
- esperent 5y agoI've heard people say this quite a bit but at least with my LG C1 (which I use as a monitor) that doesn't seem to be the case. I connected it to the wifi once to download a firmware update, then deleted the password. It's never complained or attempted to connect, or shown me any kind of advertising. I also have a TCL tv (didn't buy this one, it was provided by my landlord). It is connected to wifi - it was already connected when I moved in. I use it once a week or so to play Netflix through my laptop. I've never seen adverts on it so I haven't disconnected it. I have seen people mention that it might depend on the region. But I'm in Vietnam where I don't think there's any amazing level of consumer protection around advertising.
- julianlam 5y agoI can't speak for LG, but my anecdata is: I own a Vizio TV. I put a wifi password on it when I first got it, but took it off later on when my TV started turning on in the middle of the night. Since then, even through a factory reset, it's somehow automatically downloaded firmware updates and installed them. They've changed how the power button worked, and other UI changes. The system menu reports no wifi set up.
- kevin_thibedeau 5y agoBlacklist the MAC.
- mschuster91 5y agoSome TV sets can grab firmware updates over the cable TV network.
- kevin_thibedeau 5y agoI had a Samsung TV for work related testing that never got connected to the network and it would hang for annoyingly long times whenever you connected an input source because it didn't have a fresh database of signatures to spy on you with.
- yywwbbn 5y agoYou can still buy a brand which doesn’t do that, had an LG, Phillips and a Sony TV in recent years none of them did that or had any ads.
- 20after4 5y agoBrand new LG tvs have ads in the interface that can't be turned off.
- matthewdgreen 5y agoNobody’s gotten there, but I remain convinced this is the future for networks like Tile and Apple’s AirTags. Not the tags themselves, obviously. The idea of having a huge phone/app network that can relay messages for simple embedded devices that don’t themselves have a working Internet connection. Imagine having a $.50 BT chip in your device and any mobile phone that walks near it acts as a messaging relay to the Internet.
- apexalpha 5y agoDo you have sources for the statement that TVs will auto-connect to open Wi-Fi, even if you don't tell it to? Which brands do this?
- _fat_santa 5y ago> Modern smart TVs will aggressively connect to the internet themselves without you needing to do it for them. Mine went a step further where you couldn't use it before downloading the app and setting it up with the app. I put up with it because I just go straight into my console as soon as I boot up but man was that the most infuriating experience.
- philsnow 5y agoDon't forget Amazon Sidewalk. You pretty much have to live on some acreage to be free of this stuff.