This is Plan B when you already have an LG product.
Plan A is to not buy LG anything, ever.
this post was submitted on 09 Sep 2026
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I knew a guy years back that would pop open any device with an internet or GPS connection and physically disable it. He was telling us about it at work one day. Most of our coworkers told him it was paranoid overkill. I bet that dude is laughing his ass off right now.
Me being paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after me.
A friend of mine's household got a smart tv with speech commands. They didn't really understand why I didn't like. The kicker? They're also somewhat paranoid about government and corporate overreach, but not to the extent that they'll do anything.
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You missed the 2nd one
OP, how did you isolate and identify the chip from the rest of it: did you have a service manual, or just relevant experience that told you where to look? Also, was it hardwired, or was it something you could just detach?
I am definitely storing this away for future use, hence the questions. Right now I've got very old totally non-networked, non-exploitable sets, but I'm sure that will change some day. Hook a brother up so I know what to look for when I have to buy something new.
I did the same thing and made a post about it with pictures. https://piefed.social/post/2362076
I looked up pictures of wifi modules for my model beforehand and found a few replacement parts. So i had a general idea what to look for. Theres also a chance somebody opened the exact same tv modell and documented it on youtube.
And yeah its a simple internal flatwire connector. If you ever want bt or wifi again you only need to reseat the cable again. Cant speak for every TV ofcourse.
Edit: never mine I saw wrong
It says "RF module"... That would be one hint.
Not sure about the older LG models, but in the newer ones, the wifi and bluetooth or on the same board. Cutting off the module means the remote stops working.
Personally, I've isolated and blocked the network, factory reset the TV, and set it up to power off when not in use. It only gets content from an ancient AppleTV box.
I paid and own the glass. They can go screw themselves.
Well, the appleTV box likely does similar things, just for apple ad network instead. Which is better than a data broker at least!
Sadly it seems like a Linux SBC (something with the newest encoders like Orange Pi 5 plus & Pro) is the best way to go with Plasma Bigscreen which I think is still in Beta. Plus the SBCs now cost like 150€ instead of 80€ because of stupid corporate AI scam bubble...
Yeah the price jump killed me making a vanilla android tv unit this year. Chromecast is an outright spy but we dance for a little while longer
I also removed the module with both wifi and bt. Atleast my remote still has IR and the only thing that has stopped working is the wiimote like magic mouse. Well, and the mic on the remote which i never used.
I was mostly worried about closing a wireless attack vector to a device which will never get a security update again. The chances are small. But malware spreading over bluetooth doesnt sound impossible or far fetched considering how fucked everything already is.
How dare you slightly modify a thing you own!
No no, LG own glass. We know this, because they kept telling everyone.
Straight to consumer prison for depriving shareholders of their profits!
criminal scum
Psssshhhh!!!! Get a load of THIS guy! Thinking he owns something just because he pays his own money to buy it.....
Lobotimize your smart TVs!
I use my old PS4 to connect to my local media server all behind a pi hole
My “smart” tvs all get a firewall rule to ban their MAC address from the outside world
The problem is researchers found out that lg tvs will scan available ssids and connect to any network available to deliver its payload back to LG, without your knowledge or consent
I have an offline LG TV and an open isolated guest network it could theoretically connect to. I check periodically and it has never attempted to do so.
Just an anecdote, but I personally have seen no evidence of this happening.
what the hell
Do you have neighbors with a non password protected gateway or router to the open internet? Open unsecured networks seem so rare these days.
Some devices can create unadvertised networks, they might just go over a list of possible ids
Insane
Sanity has left us all since, erm, about 2001? Might be off with that estimate, but definitely before 2007!
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I'm a hardware guy. So I think: how can they scream if they have no mouth? Mr. Anderson?
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I'm ahead of the trend, I haven't used smart tv functions in forever. They never beat google or apple, so I never bother getting them on the internet
You don’t need to, if your neighbors have the same brand tv it can connect secretly on its own.
Or if it can reach open wifi later it will send all the already collected data.
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