this post was submitted on 20 Jun 2025
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My question is: Can you block the IPs it's phoning home to without breaking other TV functions, like OS/app updates, etc? Is there a list of IPs available for smart TVs specifically that keep the fingerprint from being received by the mfg?

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Most likely it's calling home using a fqdn. Set up your own DNS, force all your devices to use it (use dnat in your firewall). Then watch which fqdn's you TV uses and blacklist those. That's how I do it ( I use technitium DNS)

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[–] [email protected] 41 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (4 children)

There's no need. This is a very simple fix. Block your TV from the internet using your router. Then plug in a $20 Google TV box or Apple TV. Problem solved.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Some TVs have been found to continually scan for open wifi networks to connect to in order to ship back the telemetry they gather.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Do you happen to have a source for this claim? I did some cursory searches on this just now and found nothing except for one reddit thread where one person said the same thing but again with no source.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I would also love a source. I keep seeing the claim made over and over. It's certainly plausible, and should be easily provable.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Who has unsecured networks anymore?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 week ago

Public Wi-Fi hotspots are typically unsecured, and if you happen to live in a city that has a lot of Wi-Fi hotspots, it could hop onto one of those networks.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 week ago (2 children)

All but one of my TVs is a smart TV, none of them are connected to the internet. I tried with one, it was slow and difficult to use. I use a set top box instead. Even when I was using a 10+ year old Roku it performed better than the TV did.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I recently bought a smart TV with google because it was more responsive than other TV’s on display. After I got it home, connected it to the internet, and updated everything it slowed so much that it’s unbearable to use now. There is a 2-5 second delay for every button press including changing the volume.

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