Step 1) don’t connect it to the internet.
Thats all the steps.
That’s all fine and dandy, but some TV makers require Internet for first time setup and won’t let it work without Internet now. It’s fucking stupid.
That said, you can probably connect it via Ethernet for JUST long enough to get past it and then never connect it again.
I wonder if any have started shipping with prepaid cellular
Or that will automatically connect to insecure WiFi.
You may only purchase state sponsored routers.
^^^^^ This.
PiHole your network and block all their telemetry/spy shit, or never connect it to WiFi to begin with and connect your own stuff to play.
Any recommendations to easing the transition to removing the tv from the internet?
My LG is connected to a less trusted vlan and behind a pihole (which matters somewhat, but no clue what goes around it without digging into other logs). I looked at rooting it the other day and I can’t with my firmware and honestly not sure what else would need to be done even if I could to avoid things.
I’ve got a mini pc setup connected to it, but forcing others in the house to use it over baked in apps seems like an uphill battle. Maybe setup some passwordless, generic account that can only open Firefox (somehow limited to just a few sites like YouTube), Plex, and idk what else. Would still lose out on apple tv I think since it’s a Linux box.
Curious if there’s a simplified, safer route that’s easy enough for non tech folk.
On the mini PC set up a homepage in Firefox that has links to all the streaming platforms and stuff. I use Heimdall but there’s many others out there and a lot are probably better. You can just use a browser homepage addon, really.
Get a dongled mini keyboard to use as a remote.
Remove password login from the PC, set it up to auto update every now and then at night when it’s not in use, and forget about it.
If people in your house can’t use that instead of thebaked in apps then they don’t deserve the Wi-Fi password.
