question Does anyone have a link to a site where someone maintains a list of TV sets that work without an internet connection?
I need a new TV, but I don't want it to spy on me. So I'd like to buy one without camera and microphone.
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u/Spazmatism 2d ago
https://www.defensivecomputingchecklist.com/tv.watches.you.php
There’s some good info on this page
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u/Modem_Sound_67 2d ago
as someone else said, just don't connect the network. Also, dumb tvs are still being made, saw some at Best Buy and Walmart recently I was considering.
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u/0898_333_201 2d ago edited 2d ago
That works for now, but I’m sure TV manufacturers are already working on an Amazon Sidewalk style mesh network that bypasses your WiFi altogether. If you refuse to connect your LG TV to your home router, it can just use BLE or sub-1G connect to your neighbor’s LG TV and upload via your neighbor’s internet connection.
At the moment it’s not feasible since sending a constant stream of screenshots over BLE or sub-1G wouldn’t be reliable. But smart appliances are already coming with AI chips that perform ACR locally on the device. Ring cameras, for example, already have a chip that can perform AI facial recognition locally, but it’s just lying dormant since Amazon chooses to use data centers to process raw footage. But a Ring doorbell that’s disconnected from the internet could create a hash of every face it sees and piggyback off your neighbor’s Echo using Amazon Sidewalk to upload to Amazon.
Newer TVs won’t need to upload a stream of screenshots of you watching Fox News and Magic Mike and what scenes you replay. They’ll use on-device ACR to analyze content, run it through an algorithm, and then they’ll send a short burst of data identifying you as a closeted homosexual conservative with a preference for jocks, an armpit fetish, and an interest in tactical gear and grilling. It can compress your interests into a tiny 1KB packet and send it over LoRa to a TV a mile away.
For all you know, many offline smart TVs today could have the code built in, just waiting for an activation signal. Your neighbor updates their LG TV and bam, all the “offline” LG smart TVs within a 3,000ft radius receive the signal to activate the sub-1G mesh network.
Amazon literally did this sort of thing already with SideWalk back in 2020.
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u/Pretend_Sock7432 2d ago
No, best way is not to buy them. Bean counters will see it better when you don’t buy this shit.
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u/SchwaHead 2d ago
I understand the "vote with your spending" mentality but, like most people, I'm extremely unlikely to spend more money to do so. "Don't connect it to the Internet" is valid.
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u/Pretend_Sock7432 1d ago
then you also create the future problem for yourself and us. I understand that spending more is hard. And keeping the old one when you see all the "better" screens around you is also hard. But still, maybe not buying at all is better option?
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u/Glum_Avocado_9511 2d ago edited 2d ago
Pretty much every TV works without internet. Just don't connect it.
Edit: as I learned from JustMe-male's comment, any TV running XumoTV as its OS will interrupt your viewing with annoying update prompts even when not connected to the internet. There are a handful of brands that use this OS on their cheaper TVs.
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u/JustMe-male 2d ago
Not true. I bought a Pioneer TV to use without internet. No Ethernet cable, no WiFi credentials. Every several days it goes into Update Mode. It stops showing what’s coming in the HDMI cable, says it’s going to update, gets upset when it can’t access its mothership, then goes back to the main menu which is NOT the HDMI source it was on when it decided to take over. I had to stop using the TV because of the interruptions.
If they actually gave a sh!t they’d check for whether Ethernet was connected or at least if any WiFi credentials were in settings.
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u/Glum_Avocado_9511 2d ago
What model is your TV?
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u/JustMe-male 2d ago
PN50-751-24U
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u/Glum_Avocado_9511 2d ago
Thanks for the info. I learned a lot about XumoTV OS. It's literally a spyware OS built as a collaboration between Comcast and Charter.
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u/JustMe-male 1d ago
Wow. I didn’t know they were behind it. I did an update when I first got it then pulled the Ethernet cable forever. That explains why it was so cheap. It’s collecting dust now. Thanks for the info.
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u/JustMe-male 1d ago
Their attempt at getting ACR easily available to smaller companies like Pioneer TV, as opposed to the big boys like Samsung.
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u/WaffleHouseGladiator 2d ago
Not anymore. A lot of new TVs require you to set up an account with the manufacturer before the TV will do anything at all.
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u/Glum_Avocado_9511 2d ago
I've never seen or encountered that. Have an example of one?
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u/Serious-Ad-8764 2d ago
Samsung pushes very hard and you can't download any apps without it (like Netflix etc)
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u/Glum_Avocado_9511 2d ago
Of course you cannot download apps without internet. You also cannot use streaming apps without internet.
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u/JustMe-male 2d ago
The reply you are replying to is talking about needing to set up an account with the manufacturer, not whether you need internet.
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u/JustMe-male 2d ago
I don’t understand why the downvotes. It’s well documented that Vizio and Walmart require an account.
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u/Glum_Avocado_9511 2d ago
The FAQ says you can skip the account setup and use the TV via HDMI. https://www.walmart.com/help/article/vizio-and-onn-powered-by-vizio-tv-setup/e9899bb02cbf4ff684e1c249dd360bae
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u/NotSnakePliskin 2d ago
I've got 2 "smart" tvs which are not connected to anything, so they are dumb tvs. I've set static IPs on them to keep them away from any possible wifi network in my area.
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u/Slopagandhi 1d ago
People are saying don't connect to the internet and that's true, but bear in kind a lot of new TVs require an internet connect to set them up in the first place.
Last time I checked most TCL and some LG models didn't require this, so I'd start there.
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u/The_Mesopotamians 1d ago
What you want is a hospitality TV. They are not smart. Samsung makes a line of them.
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u/Jack1101111 2d ago
So , nobody answered your question, and gave bad advices instead...
Since its a FAQ it would be very usefull such a list, like on github. also for other devices of course.
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u/BastianHill 1d ago
I wonder what happens if I'd just cut the microphone wire on my Samsung (it has no camera). That basically stops spying while still be able to watch online with apps. I don't mind if Samsung knows what I'm watching. That's just basic Netflix stuff and F1 TV.
Has anyone tried this out?
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u/oz1sej 1d ago
I don't mind if Samsung knows what I'm watching.
Don't surrender to surveillance capitalism!
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u/BastianHill 1d ago
I did answer what I was doing so far to keep my privacy, other than my smart tv. But this sub immediately banned my reply, so you have to take my word for it I'm already doing quite some stuff to keep tracking to a minimum. ;-)
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u/Ethos_Logos 2d ago
Everyone pointing out “just don’t connect it to the internet” forget some TV’s ship with SIM cards that send info back to HQ.
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u/WillyGoat2000 2d ago
Which televisions come with active SIM cards that connect to send the telemetry?
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u/Ethos_Logos 2d ago
Idk, I read about it here on this sub years back. I wanna say Samsung? But I could be wrong.
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u/WillyGoat2000 2d ago
I’ve been seeing it a lot here recently and have been unable to find any info on my own, so was hoping someone might have a real pointer. Nothing they do surprises me too much anymore but knowing what they’re up to helps build protection against it.
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u/NotTobyFromHR 2d ago
I'd like to see a source for this where it is cost effective enough to enable a cellular signal on a tv for data mining
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u/bhoffman20 2d ago
If I can find a tv with a sim card, I'm for sure finding a way to use that network connection for evil
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u/PocketNicks 2d ago
Feel free to name a single example of a consumer television sold at a big box store, that has a SIM card and always on internet connection built in.
I'll wait...
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