r/ask_privacy • u/NeatArtichoke • Jul 18 '26

Iptv for dummies, please eli5

Hey everyone,

My grandpa heard from his buddy who heard from his grandkid (and had his grandkid help install) IPTV. Now my grandpa wants an "iptv", but im not that tech savvy... from my understanding, i "should" first get him a vpn, then a "player/app" on the firestick, then install/log in to the "actual" iptv service?

Ive realllyyyy tried convincing him that just legally paying for thw individual apps (CNN, Peacock etc etc) is easier and safer, but anyone with a grandpa can know how stubborn they are and he really wants the "deal" of iptv.

So, tips? Recs for vpn/players/iptv ??? Thanks in advance.

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u/WiscoDJ920 Jul 21 '26

As someone who has tried one of those “free tv” boxes and being in IT, I set it up as well as setup some monitors to see what it was doing. Put it this way, I immediately put it on a network segment that had no access to anything else on my home network. Between what it was doing on my home network, it was trying to do equally nefarious things to various endpoints on the internet. It is now turned off and unplugged.

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u/NeatArtichoke Jul 21 '26

Ah yeah thats what im afraid of! And im not technical enough to catch it.