886
Your TV set has become a digital billboard. And it’s only getting worse.
(arstechnica.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Disconnected my TV from the Internet. I stream media from a PC on my lan to Kodi running on a fire stick. Setup openwrt to drop all packets to wan from the fire stick. These companies can get fucked and if they ever figure out a way to stop me from owning my devices, I'll just take up some new hobbies and be done with it all.
Yep. LG OLED disconnected from all web connections - literally has its MAC address blacklisted from my router, changed the launcher from stock Google for my NVIDIA Shield to a non ad-riddled launcher called WOLF, side-loaded SmartTube for ad-free YT, and Plex = non-dystopian media experience.
My next experiment will be to install a glue-tun bound Invidious instance via docker on my NAS, and then point Yattee on my iPhone to it for a mobile version of YT that’s not filled with non-stop ads… now if I can just figure out how to launch it correctly… 😓
Yep, same here.
Samsung TV cannot reach the internet. Nvidia Shield is running Flauncher as the default launcher. I watch all my content through Jellyfin and SmarttubeNext.
I have not seen an ad in years.
That's great for you, but people like you vastly underestimate how much hassle people are willing to go through as far as setting up tech goes.
I connected my PC to the TV via HDMI. i use Firefox with ublock.
See, that's more realistic.
I'd need a dedicated computer, because my PC doesn't live in the lounge, but I'm seriously considering doing it. My Chromecast has been pissing me off lately.
Look at some n95 NUCs on Amazon, or any mini pc really. Often less than 200$ for a full windows PC that can stream anything you throw at it.
You can get decently capable machines for under $100 if you go used
You can buy small PCs for cheap now. A lot of them don't even need active cooling
This is the only way for me.
No Amazon or Google or Nvidia stuff. Just an old PC, a cheap wireless keyboard with a touchpad and you are good to go.
Overestimate
Your TV may still search for open network and send telemetry back home this way. Connect it somewhere and drop all packets here too if you want to fix this.
Didn't think about that, thanks.