FYI for those using DNS-based adblocking: I discovered that my AndroidTV box asks 8.8.8.8 when my local DNS server blocks a request.
this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2024
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Depending on your router you can forward all request on port 53 to your DNS server regardless of the IP they try to use.
Block all port 53 traffic from your network outside of your DNS server/pihole itself.
Block all known DoH servers.
If you want to get REALLY fancy you can write a NAT rule that will force any outgoing request on port 53 to route to your dns/pihole.
I do all of this. It's actually funny to see the requests that were hardcoded to go somewhere. Giant fuck you to those companies.
I connected an old laptop with linux mint and put the TV always in HDMI mode. Problem solved.
What a shower of twats. Don't block the request in that case, just redirect it to your local server that returns a 1x1 transparent png for all requests.
Dang, so you'd have to block Google's DNS at the router level too?
I set up my firewall to block all outgoing traffic to ports 53 and 853 (except for the upstream traffic from my pihole). I suppose DoH could still sneak through though.
I wouldn't mind doing it. I run my own DNS so it wouldn't affect me, but I figure if they're already trying 8.8.8.8 they may as well try 8.8.4.4 and perhaps more, so it'd require a bunch of firewall rules.
Now, all of that is moot point cause I hate the whole "smart TV" thing, so they'd never be connected to the internet.
Right. It's probably easier to give it a whitelist instead of a blocklist.
Anyone know of a reasonably priced OLED/QLED, >60", 4k TV without smart features?
I really don't want the spyware and adware that come with newer smart TVs, and I'm willing to pay a bit of a premium for it. I'd also be happy with a unicorn smart TV that doesn't have any of those anti-features.
What about just not connecting it to the network? Then put a video device on it like Roku or Apple tv or whatever.
just not connecting it to the network?
Some TVs require connecting to the network to set it up, and I'm concerned TV manufacturers will get more brazen going forward. If there's a company that doesn't do this nonsense, I'd rather reward them for being good instead of working around misfeatures in popular brands.
Roku
Has ads that can be disabled, at least as-of last year. Not sure how long that'll last...
Apple TV
Apple also seems interested in ads.
Any other option will likely degrade to having ads at some point. I could probably get rid of them w/ a PiHole or something, but that could end up being a game of whack-a-mole.
I'll probably end up w/ a Raspberry Pi or something running Kodi or similar, which is really annoying because that's yet another thing I have to self-host just to avoid this stupid obsession with ads.
I hear Sony is a good bet
With the way Sony is treating their gaming customers lately I consider it a dead brand.
Awesome, I'll check them out. :)
I know this isn't purely TV-related, but there used to be a secret menu for Roku where you could disable home screen ads. That stopped working for me several months ago. So I recently bought an Onn box (which is basically Android TV, but had as very cluttered UI) and side-loaded one of the open source launchers onto it. It's been a much better experience than Roku, not least because there's are no more home screen ads.
there used to be a secret menu for Roku where you could disable home screen ads
That's the first link. If it no longer works, I guess Roku isn't an option anymore. 😟
I should clarify: the secret menu can still be navigated to and the options there set. But ads now appear regardless. I went back into the menu and verified the options hadn't changed (they hadn't). It's like Roku has gotten wind of the exploit and 'fixed' their OS to ignore those options.
Yah, as much as I hear people looking for non-smary TVs for this reason, that's the correct answer. Mine is connected for convenience, and I'd rather save every mb of space on my xbox, right now there's occasionally the small ad tucked into the input selection menu, but if it starts showing me full screen ads I'll deny it internet and install streaming services on Xbox.
I hooked mine up to wifi once to download an update to fix a bug. Then immediately removed the network settings.
The performance on most of these TV apps is terrible anyway. And Samsung has been caught listening to mics before. Baffles me that people would leave these connected.
An ad giant already owns and controls my current TV’s OS
normal people can't just.... grab a single board PC and... install Linux on it! What are they supposed to do!?
I dunno, suffer, I guess. Pass the keyboard. I'm feeling Friends.
edit: my cousin and his wife came over about four months ago and saw we used a keyboard and the TV was just a computer and he went "why the fuck haven't we just done that?". He doesn't know know Linux, but he has a Steam Deck and got by alright.
Sometimes, they just need the idea, a little push.
I want a TV with NO OS.
It’s hard but not impossible, as even ‘retail displays’ run an OS in the background to control input switching, image settings etc.
Honestly the best thing to do is buy whatever TV you want (we have a couple of the LG OLEDs in our household), and don’t ever plug them into your network (or WiFi). Otherwise, with updates OS and apps become sluggish, with more ads crammed in.
Instead, use a seperate media player (e.g. Apple TV if you’re already on the iOS ecosystem, Nvidia Shield or similar for Android, HTPC if you’re so inclined etc.) - they’re more powerful, arguably more secure & private, and portable between displays if/when you upgrade.
Unfortunately EtherNet over HDMI exists so your your TV can still access the Internet if the Apple TV or Nvidia Shield has Internet access. To prevent that you have to make sure use older HDMI cable less then HDMI 1.4.
I didn’t think any devices even adopted Ethernet over HDMI
I don’t want an OS on my next TV…
My current TV is clawing my firewall like squirrel with rabies. I'm sure the next one will too.
I just give smartTVs no network at all
Please enable internet access to setup your new TV, otherwise no TV for you.
Then you turn around and return it. Don’t encourage that behavior by just letting it happen.
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Now all you need is a built-in camera to prove Orwell was right... only off by a few decades, really.
I have an old 60 inch 1080p TV from the early days of smart tvs. It has a built in app for plex and youtube, a remote that works as a pointer, it's insanely slow but it has zero ads and I'm never ever getting a newer model.
Up until that TV dies.
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Don’t ever connect them to the internet. Period.
If it’s required, buy a different tv. It’s not difficult to look that up beforehand.
I suspect in the near future it will be impossible to buy a TV without spyware/adware. The only option will be to not connect it to the internet and run your own Raspberry PI/SBC based solution.
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Googles been a TV OS for a while now.
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